By Kevin Brett

As the unemployment problem remains a festering issue, members of the House will reconvene on Tuesday, cutting into their August recess to vote on an unnamed bill passed by the Senate that will allot $26 billion to teachers and other state and local government workers.  

H.R. 1586, which is being referred to as a "jobs bill" or a "state bailout bill," redirects funding that has already been allocated as part of last year's $787 billion stimulus package.  About $12 billion of the proposed legislation will be offset by transferring costs from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which distributes food stamps.

The Senate's bill will not encumber the deficit anymore than had already been expected.  Republican opposition to the bill remains in alignment with partisan contention for the greater issue of stimulus spending, a prevalent campaign talking point prior to the upcoming mid-term elections.

The majority of state employees who will receive funding through this program are members of teacher unions or the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).  These entities are notorious entrenchments of the Democratic activist base who will certainly play a role in the party's get-out-the-vote push in November.

“We are set to launch a robust field plan across the country during the month of August, including advertising and grassroots events,” said Gerry McEntee, president of the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), in a statement. “We intend to highlight the clear choice Americans will make in November between Democrats who are working to protect jobs and move the economy forward and Republicans who are willing to wreck the economy for political gain.”

Reminiscent of the unsuccessful Disclose Act, this legislation is a political tactic attempting to shore up favor with the Democratic constituency prior to elections.  The move will reinforce the prevailing strategy in Washington of wheeling-and-dealing at the Federal level in order to bring home the bacon prior to re-election.  Though many Tea Party candidates have lambasted this practice as being economically unsustainable, DC insiders, such as Nancy Pelosi, remain confident in their belligerence.   “This legislation is about creating and saving American jobs, and preventing a double-dip recession," said Pelosi about the bill.

The idea of preventing a double-dip recession at the current trajectory is laughable by itself, but even worse is the utterly upside-down economic analysis that filters through the halls of Congress on a daily basis.  Proliferous spending cannot fundamentally bolster a flailing economy, no matter how well-intentioned.  

Education is extremely important, and good teachers are surely a necessity for a bright future, but they do not exist independently of the laws of economics.  

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