We've Had 8 Years Of This

There's an op-ed in today's NY Times about a compromise in the works to increase spending for Abstinence Education to coax Republicans into overriding Bush's veto on the S-Chip bill.

Despite the fact that abstinence education is demonstrably a complete disaster, achieving the exact opposite of its goals, it's still the darling of the conservatives. And, instead of gutting the program, its getting a budget increase (to $200 million) in order to pass a law to give more uninsured children access to health-care.

In the larger picture of the federal government it's a small thing, but it demonstrates pretty clearly that there are no solutions forthcoming to health-care, the Iraq war, global climate change, public education, and nearly any other national issue that you can think.

There's a large element of our government (especially notable among -- though not exclusive to -- Republicans) that appears to be operating in a fantasy world. Perhaps these people, tired of seeing well-intentioned policies turn to rot and destruction, decided the solution was to ignore the outcomes of their policies altogether. Or maybe these people are just completely screwy.

The threat to America's future is not from extremist terrorists, nor from growing economies in Asia and India. The danger is that our government is failing us now, building a domestic policy crisis (involving education, health-care, bankruptcy, the justice system, immigration, pollution, and inflation) that could destroy the prosperity and promise of our country.