Mike Klonsky gathered some memorable quotes.
The most appalling is this one from the director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney:
Mick Mulvaney on after-school programs that feed kids
“The way we justified it was: these programs are going to help these kids do better in school and get better jobs. And we can’t prove that that’s happening.” — Undark
So if kids don’t get better grades and test scores, they don’t need to eat.

Not quite. You see, in schools where kids are high achievers there is apt to be a lower percentage of free and reduced price meals. So, in order to improve achievement, it follows that removing food programs from poor schools will result in better scores.
Taken straight from Cause and Effect for Dummies.
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Look, I follow Diane because she is plugged in way better than I am. Actually I don’t even know where the cord is! I have no formal degrees. I am an avid reader, I do have a lot of technical training, some college, but as I said I never turned any of that into a formal degree unless Master Mechanic counts. However there is a humane way to live, a right and wrong that to my way of thinking is universal, it is not something you can parse out or budget out of existence. Kids, older folk, anyone up against it really, deserves to eat, stay warm, and live. (inside) Now that does not mean luxury by any means, but we, as humans, with a brain, conscience, and basic intelligence should not be debating this. As one of the richest countries in the world with all of the attributes that entails, it should just take care of its citizens, period. We can get into how we break the cycle of poverty, the dumbing down of America, the huge differences between poverty, middle class, and the upper crust, if you will, but we don’t put our basic humanity on a shelf while we figure it out! It does not take a genius to figure out right from wrong. I served my country, Sgt. USMC two tours in Nam as an avionics tech. I worked for 40 years. I never went on welfare and I worked for the same company for 30 years as a civilian before I got my second job! I am a proud liberal because I have a brain, a conscience, and I know right from wrong. I also know the GOP is totally out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent, and the current President has mental problems. As I said before I do not have a degree, in psychology or any other medical field, but I know a rabid dog when I see one!
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Thank you, John Love, for defending civilized behavior.
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There’s no evidence vouchers “help kids do better in school and get better jobs” yet they’re planning on pulling 20 billion from public schools and directing it to private schools, so no one should believe any of them on “evidence”
20 billion is an enormous sum of money. The entire RttT program was 4.3 billion. This privatization effort is a huge experiment and it’s based on nothing. They don’t have a shred of evidence private schools are “better” than public schools yet they’re making an enormous public investment in them, to the DETRIMENT of public schools. They’ve gone from not supporting public schools to actively and energetically harming public schools.
They use “evidence” selectively and arbitrarily. It’s all politic rhetoric in pursuit of a far Right ideological vision.
DeVos pushes garbage ed tech product constantly. None of this stuff has been proven to “improve” anything. They can’t point to a single gain attributable to the purchase of Chromebooks, but they all sell ed reform as “science” to public schools.
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Chiars,
Spot on! Thanks for your pointed comments. You are right about: NONE of this stuff has been proven to “improve” anything.
In fact, the “stuff” being pushed by the deformers HURT kids and the larger society.
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Here’s another one to add to the mix from Rep. David Brat’s (R-Wingnut, VA) on CNN on March 16, 2017. I rewound it three times to make sure I was hearing what I thought I heard and transcribed it:
“As a free market economist, I could get sued for malpractice if I did vote for this thing [the Ryan health care bill]. We have people with serious health care concerns that we need to block off; they’re uninsurable, they have pre-existing conditions, and that is separable from the insurance problem we have.”
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All the “older folks” following this blog should watch the tween/teen flicks The Giver and The Hunger Games. Makes me shiver every time my kids watch these movies. Fiction that is so close to reality. There is another one of these coming out (Oct?) called The Thinning about having to pass a test in order to live.
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“The Ultimate Test”
To live requires a test
A test to keep “The Best”
And winnow out the rest
The parasite and pest
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Too bad Mulvaney has never tried to teach a hungry child or a deeply troubled one that carries the scars of poverty. He is an ignorant spin doctor.
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Mulvaney obviously has no empathy or heart. So, par for the course in this administration.
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A pity that “Trump” doesn’t rhyme with “milk snatcher”.
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