Lee Iacocca knew when he got the federal government to save Chrysler with loan guarantees in 1979, it was a one-time deal. The current auto bailouts look like a way of life for us going forward.
Just as cities and states turn to Uncle Sam for some trillion dollar love, everyone has to know that once won't be enough. Rewarding the bad habits that got our big-spenders into trouble will practically guarantee it.
In that context, it is interesting to see a Louisville elementary school PTA featured in the Wall Street Journal for "discussing helping to pay the salary of a teacher aide whose job might get cut."
It's not hard to imagine that turning into a trend. In fact, at the end of the article, another parent group extricated itself from just such a mess:
"The Eldorado Community School PTA in Santa Fe, N.M., this year has put the brakes on funding teacher salaries after it raised $61,000 last year to save a physical-education instructor's job. "After that we decided we're not going to pay district responsibilities like salaries" because of concern that it was setting a precedent that could not be maintained, says PTA president Kathy Ritschel. To the district, "we said, 'You guys figure it out.'"
Every school district in Kentucky must post every dime of expenditures on the internet so taxpayers have the information to judge the needs of their local schools. This should be done before any more parents get sucked into a similar scam.
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