Cutting Governor’s Schools of Excellence is a “Washington Monument Ploy”

The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is an ongoing gag to connect any person to actor Kevin Bacon in under six moves. If news stories count, I am tied to Bacon in just one move – the Patriot News quotes both of us in a story about the proposed de-funding of the Governor’s Schools of Excellence.

Bacon thinks the program is great, I think it is outside the core function of state government. If I had known celebrities like Kevin Bacon and Sylar from Heroes were fighting to force taxpayers to continue funding it, I would have suggested that they – along with the Facebook group supporting the program – raise their own money to keep the $3 million program running.

I also suggested that Governor Rendell’s gutting of the schools is a “Washington Monument Ploy” – cutting a popular program to create pressure for higher taxes, or to make his budget seem “cut to the bone”. Again, the program is $3 million – or 0.01% of the $29 billion budget. We identified 1600 times that amount in wasteful state spending in our report Government on a Diet.