$26 Billion In Aid for Teachers And Low Income Overcome GOP Filibuster

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a 140,000 teachers and thousands of low income citizens in need of health-care will have the $26 billion to sustain them for the immediate future. This victory was hard fought with the usual suspects lining up on their side: the Republicans wanting the largess paid for and not adding to the deficits and Democrats thinking in the now… not worrying about how to pay for it. The $26 billion aid had to overcome a GOP filibuster and the debate was contentious - but in the end, the Democrats prevailed. Many states governors were so dependent on this aid package passing that they had gone ahead and made it part of their respective budgets.

The States are said to be in arrears for some $12 billion – and this is just for this year alone. The argument by the Republicans that the bill should be paid wasn’t part of their focused argument this time because the $26 billion was paid for by tax cuts and closing tax loopholes; however, the Republican said that the Federal Government shouldn’t be in the business of bailing out the states and that such aid was just payback to the teacher’s union for supporting the President and the Democratic House and Senate.

I suppose that the Republican are worried about the “flood gates” concept… meaning that henceforth… that when the states are in trouble fiscally, that they will turn to the federal government to help them out of their mess. The problem is that those who are hurting do not want to hear this philosophical argument, even though it may have valid points.