Every election year, at any level, there are certain “dog and pony show” staples that politicians trot out because of their no-thought sound byte values…education has long been the prime such staple, and this year’s great bill to secure the ongoing employment of teachers (at obviously somewhat higher pay on the whole, given shrinkage to date divided into bill’s dollar value) proves the beat goes on.

Back to about thirty years ago and from there forward to present, it is painfully obvious that those who educate grades K through college doctorates collectively haven’t done much more than teach: “this is how this and that is being done today, so here’s how to go with the flow and keep the status quo”; if it were otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible to have all the Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II, and Obama economic and job scrunchings all essentially repeating each other’s mistakes…too much credit, ever less currency in the money supply, mass job losses, more housing, repeat ad infinitum. Whatever teachers have been teaching, it certainly can’t be learning from one’s mistakes.

Another election staple is “throw a bandaid to little guys”. This year’s entry is the new bill allotting $600 million to folks who have their own mortgage, lost their job, and could use the Feds paying up to twelve months of their mortgage or up to such time as they’re re-employed. Who could criticize that?

Well, for starters, it applies only to those now and in future who are actually on unemployment insurance benefit recipient rolls including the up to 99 weeks “EB” system (a sure sign itself prosperity is known by officials to be so close after your job loss, the years will pass like days). If you are one of the many who lost a job/trade/career before the recent “favored” EB schema went into effect, tough cheese…stay in your netherworld of “affiliated families” (http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2010/03/19/more-multigenerational-families-living-together  ), don’t expect reverse mortgages to Mom or Dad to help you, but do expect to be told YOUR failure to stay current with bills after non-UI extension job loss IS a reason to bar you forever from employment of ANY kind, as well as bar you from new jobs/housing/education things, because, well, Socialistically speaking, when YOU experience this YOU are a deadbeat, chaotic, frenetic, and just plain throwing good money after bad…goodbye, and good luck.

On the other hand, those “freshmen” going through exactly what all their predecessors did are found to be erstwhile, worth saving, to some States worthy of poor CRA report forgiveness re jobs, and in these harsh all-evolution times, “only able to get some scraps if we let the losers fend for themselves and free up cash for bennies, eh, wink-wink?”. But even so, all “freshmen” are getting is up to a one-year mortgage price reduction, which balance they will still then owe in an economy even the government doesn’t think will spawn more jobs for THEM. Worse, as of January 01, 2011, Federal personal and capital gains taxes go up significantly, and a number of local officials nationwide say sales taxes will either have to be started or increased…all just to pay for “who’s left”, and not a harbinger of strong job or wage growth. 

Such is the status of teaching “how it’s done these days”, an educational motif obviously dear to funding officials who’ll pay more to fewer teachers to push it.

Despite the hype, it appears the only ones benefitting from modern feudalist economics are those who gladly don’t work, gladly produce no-tax government-paid lives for themselves by producing children out of wedlock, gladly mock the need for families or ethics, and wouldn’t care if that’s all their kids are taught…or were taught at all…and given the diversity of players it is impossible to say that one race or gender today participates over any other(s); it’s a slacker mentality only.

I may seem to identify three economic classes of people, omitting those WITH jobs presently as a fourth, but really there are just two classes: those the government is culturing, and everyone else deemed and described in academia as undesirable.

Thus is my impression of the value of the latest Federal mortgage help and educator funding bills.

[ Editor's Note: Yes, there ARE mass-media personalities, including licensed psychologists/psychiatrists, who DO say those up to current who have been affected by the weak job market ARE lazy and such; a very handy example of someone who thinks all you have to do to get back on the economic horse is try harder along traditional means is good old Oprah Winfrey cohort Dr. Phil, as he describes his opinion on the relevant matter at http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/138 . Say, didn't the Soviet Union used to have problems with its nationalized psychiatrists mass diagnosing people they'd never met as being willful drains on Russia, based solely on the circumstance of their personal economic situation? And wasn't there a famous Austrian leader of Germany who sent some people to the left, others to the right?]