Is the stimulus spending spree "dialable back"?

January 30, 2009

That's what House Appropriations Chairman David Obey has been saying, but I've been skeptical, arguing that these new spending levels (on education at least) will become the "new normal" and that interest groups will push hard to maintain them. Today came confirmation of this theory. Note this quote from Mary Kusler, a lobbyist for the American Association of School Administrators, that appears in this USA Today story:

Title I and IDEA "are areas where they cannot cut back three years from now."

"Cut back"? We're looking at $140 billion in new spending for education, and the establishment is already asking for more.

Michael J. Petrilli is the President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Tracking the education stimulus spending May 14, 2010	Policy & Guidance: Overview of American Economic Recovery Act: Spending your education stimulus dollars quickly and appropriately December 22, 2011
Era of big education spending still upon us January 27, 2010	Standards and Spending: Dispelling the Spending Orthodoxy December 22, 2011
Budget cutting and stimulus spending: cui bono? April 22, 2009	Back to the education future July 20, 2010

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