Fantasy and Reality

Bush the comedian:

President Bush told the nation's students on Friday that if they studied math and science they would not be joining the "nerd patrol" but helping their own futures and the economic health of the United States.

"You know, a lot of people probably think math and science isn't meant for me — it kind of seems a little hard, algebra," Mr. Bush said at a panel discussion, organized by the White House, outside Albuquerque at the Intel Corporation's largest chip-making plant. "I can understand that, frankly."

Ha ha.....

Let's just think for a second about how hilarious this actually is. This is the centerpiece of Bush's plan for education. Tell students, from an Intel plant, that they should study more math and science. For Bush, this is great leadership. Not by actually getting out there and doing something, spending more money or training more teachers, but just by pontificating. I'm sure in Bush's head his presidenting will translate into children across the country spontaneously picking up algebra books and becoming math geeks (I don't mean that in a bad way) as the words left his lips, but I'm a little unsure.

But wait, he's got an initiative:

In Rio Rancho, he pushed what the White House is calling the "American competitiveness initiative," which calls for, among other things, doubling federal spending on basic research grants in the physical sciences over 10 years, at a cost of $50 billion.

This is as empty as everything else he says. This is probably nothing more than a white paper that calls for more spending. Is this going to become legislation? I doubt it. Do you think the Republican controlled Congress would pass any bill to increase spending on the entitlement of education? In the recent State of the Union, Bush said the country could not bear the cost of the entitlements it was giving out. If you still believe that such measures would pass, let's take a look at what the recently passed budget bill does:

The House yesterday narrowly approved a contentious budget-cutting package that would save nearly $40 billion over five years by imposing substantial changes on programs including Medicaid, welfare, child support and student lending.

The bill does nothing but gut the essential support and services that increase the standard of living in this country, no doubt so Bush can further cut taxes for the highest earners.

There is a difference between making cheap talk and pandering, and trying to implement proposals that will make a difference. Bush is all about the first; I'm sure he actually believes that things will change because he says so. Despite his efforts, I'm also sure that nothing will happen because reality doesn't work that way. Bush's leadership is only successful in his fantasy world. In the real world, he's a miserable failure.