Santorum: Watch and Learn

As the radical right continues its war on our children's education by wielding charter schools and vouchers to bleed public money from public schools, a potentially revealing--if hypothetical--situation has just become a little more likely. With the expiration of John Bolton's recess appointment as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, enraged members of the moral minority like Kathryn Jean Lopez are now calling for his replacement by outgoing Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. So here's the big question: Would an Ambassador Santorum, with a diplomatic posting in Manhattan, continue to claim that a Pennsylvania "Cyber Charter School" is best for his children? Remember that the appeal of the "Cyber Charter School" was that he could home-school his children in Leesburg, Va., while billing his impoverished Pennsylvania school district, where he claimed he lived, $100,000 for an alleged online component of their schooling.

One suspects that the Ambassadorial perks and the siren call of NYC private schools--plus the reduced need for focus-group driven schooling methods--might lead to a sudden lost of interest in "alternative" education.

--Dr. Frank Galton, D.Phil, Resident Scholar

Class Warfare

On the same day that the White House announced the menu for 10,000 of George and Laura's closest friends at this year's Christmas parties (e.g., "Display of Specialty Cheeses and Winter Fruits Served with a Bountiful Display of Lavish Specialty Crackers and Spiced Pecans"), the War on American Families continued with a seemingly innocuous notice posted on the White House website. Flagged only as a letter from the President to the House and Senate, George Bush announced his intention to slash by nearly 100 percent the planned pay raises for many Federal Government employees. These are employees who were due for locality pay adjustments in the New Year, but will not now get these adjustments. And what is the excuse for taking expected money away from hardworking Federal Families?

Such cost increases would threaten our efforts against terrorism or force deep cuts in discretionary spending or Federal employment to stay within budget. Neither outcome is acceptable. Therefore, I have determined that a locality pay increase of 0.5 percent would be appropriate for GS and certain other employees in January 2007. Our national situation precludes granting larger locality pay increases at this time.

It's really quite an achievement for the man who is borrowing $300 billion a year on the taxpayer tab to argue that an expense of a few billion dollars would break the budget, not to mention the ludicrous claim that we might not be able to catch Osama if hardworking Federal employees in Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Truckee, for example, got their scheduled payraise. So while the elite dig in to their "Colossal Shrimp Cocktail and Jonah Crab Claws," the Federal workers in the trenches have to plan on more coupon-clipping in 2007. Perhaps the white House expects that they'll be encouraged knowing their boss is such a regular guy that he serves "Chicken Fried Beef Tenderloin with White Onion Gravy." But in fact they'll see that the real War on Christmas is being fought on their paychecks.

--Dr. Frank Galton, D.Phil, Resident Scholar