davidvanwert.com

Our Leader

In a little talk last month in New Hampshire, President Bush was patting himself on the back for his accomplishments over the past year. He said his education legislation marked “the biggest increase in education spending in a long, long time.”

In reality, Bush’s increase (15.8%) was smaller than the increase (18.6%) under Clinton’s budget the previous year. If you convert the percentage increase to a flat dollar amount, Clinton’s increase was bigger by about 10 cents per dollar, which adds up pretty substantially. And Bush had actually wanted a much smaller increase than Congress approved.

So how does he claim “the biggest increase in education spending in a long, long time” when it wasn’t as big as the one we got last fiscal year? I mean, we can only get, at most, one a year anyhow. It’s the equivalent of saying “This is the best Thanksgiving we’ve had all year,” and not meaning it as a joke.

Someone should explain to Bush that when comparing yearly budget increases, one year does not count as a “long, long time.” It is, in fact, the shortest block of time measured. I know a year can seem like a long time (will it ever be Christmas again?), but in annual budget terms, it just ain’t.

Most of our past presidents have been able to look at a couple of three digit numbers and quickly determine which is the larger — just by looking, with no help. It’s not unreasonable to expect that level of math proficiency from the current fellow.

Based on the fact that he bankrupted every company he ever had a hand in running, I’m guessing Bush isn’t that great with numbers. But if information can be presented to him in an engaging way that incorporates an element of play, the President will be having so much fun, he won’t even realize he’s learning!

Alan Greenspan

I remember back when I was 4, Grover the muppet explained the difference between “near” and “far” in a simple, visual way that was easy to grasp. To this day, I still know the difference. We need something like that for President Bush for “bigger” and “smaller” numbers.

Once he’s got that down, we can move to some language skills. Maybe try to increase his unscripted vocabulary beyond the average for twelve year olds.

I realize that’s a lot to accomplish in just two years, and perhaps I’m being overly optimistic. But we owe it to America to try. No child left behind!