Invest in the future, don’t cut funding to higher ed

[white cloud]

The immediate future of UH is being fought for today in Austin.

University President Renu Khator is addressing the Senate Finance Committee to ask for at least a reduction of the threatened budget cuts.

The biggest problem lies with a state legislature that does not know what the plan is. Gov. Rick Perry said on Tuesday that higher education in Texas is too expensive and froze tuition increases — while the legislature proposes cuts from $80 million to $100 million from the UH system alone.

For public universities, state funding is vital. Public institutions rely on state funding to operate at a low cost to students. Now Perry wants universities to do more for the students — and at a cheaper cost.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to provide a Tier One experience on a shoestring budget. Tier One means being the best — having the greatest faculty, facilities and staff possible. It means providing the best education possible, not the cheapest. For Perry to think that UH (or any public university in Texas) can provide a quality experience with a severely shortened budget is simply wrong.

http://thedailycougar.com/2011/02/14/invest-future-don%E2%80%99t-cut-funding-higher-ed/

[sonias]

1. Cutting nose to spite face

"needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem" Yes that's the republican m.o.

Except the punishment and self destruction tendency is always viewed as punishing someone else, not themselves. But we all pay for it in the long run.

It's our race to the bottom on the bullet express. :eyes:

[sonias]

2. Eat the Future

This column by Paul Krugman is spot on. This is exactly the republican mind set right now in Texas.

New York Time 2/13/11
Eat the Future

(snip)
Which brings me back to the Republican dilemma. The new House majority promised to deliver $100 billion in spending cuts — and its members face the prospect of Tea Party primary challenges if they fail to deliver big cuts. Yet the public opposes cuts in programs it likes — and it likes almost everything. What’s a politician to do?

The answer, once you think about it, is obvious: sacrifice the future. Focus the cuts on programs whose benefits aren’t immediate; basically, eat America’s seed corn. There will be a huge price to pay, eventually — but for now, you can keep the base happy.

If you didn’t understand that logic, you might be puzzled by many items in the House G.O.P. proposal. Why cut a billion dollars from a highly successful program that provides supplemental nutrition to pregnant mothers, infants, and young children? Why cut $648 million from nuclear nonproliferation activities? (One terrorist nuke, assembled from stray ex-Soviet fissile material, can ruin your whole day.) Why cut $578 million from the I.R.S. enforcement budget? (Letting tax cheats run wild doesn’t exactly serve the cause of deficit reduction.)

Once you understand the imperatives Republicans face, however, it all makes sense. By slashing future-oriented programs, they can deliver the instant spending cuts Tea Partiers demand, without imposing too much immediate pain on voters. And as for the future costs — a population damaged by childhood malnutrition, an increased chance of terrorist attacks, a revenue system undermined by widespread tax evasion — well, tomorrow is another day.

:kick: