MPS Buys iPods

Badger Blogger is spending every day trolling the MPS spending database put together by CRG.  Here’s the gem of the day:

MPS has spent $27,144.00 to purchase… iPod’s

What’s worse is that the iPods were an incentive to get kids to attend school breakfast programs.  You know… because kids who can’t afford breakfast can afford to buy a computer, get internet access, and buy music to load up the iPod. 

Your tax dollars at work. 

1. What does this link do I wonder…

   http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/index.html

   Posted by Kevin Binversie on November 25, 2008 at 1051 hrs




2. Wow, just wow…

   Isn’t being hungry and getting free food enough incentive to go to school breakfast?

   What a joke.  Now we are bribing kids with the entitlement of a luxury item so that they can come get another entitlement called free breakfast.  How f’d up is that.

   Posted by on November 25, 2008 at 1109 hrs




3. What’s really sad about how the system is screwed up is that how many kids they get to sign up for the free food programs directly affects funding they’ll receive. So, they have to spend money to get money to spend money on food they give for free.

   It’s a joke.

   Posted by jimi on November 25, 2008 at 1142 hrs




4. Jimi - you have it nailed. They are doing it to get the funding for the food. There are many stories of the great lengths that these schools go to, to get people to sign up for things.

   Posted by on November 25, 2008 at 1151 hrs




5. I hope “Hope” reads this thread.

   Hope, are the taxes that fund this the “cost” of civilization?

   Posted by on November 25, 2008 at 1155 hrs




6. Some kinda Happy Meal, huh?
   If this is what they give to kids imagine what pot sweeteners they will give their “consultants”?

   Posted by on November 25, 2008 at 1316 hrs




7. are the taxes that fund this the “cost” of civilization?

   What kind of logical fallacy is that? Yes, this particular program is an incredibly stupid waste of money, but your statement implies that all taxes are equally poorly spent.

   Posted by on November 25, 2008 at 1405 hrs




8. When people who control the taxes waste money like this it signals the beginning of the end of civilization.

   Posted by on November 25, 2008 at 1431 hrs




9. but your statement implies that all taxes are equally poorly spent.

   No it doesn’t.  In typical fashion, you need a ‘gotcha’ moment, so you’re going to try to pretend thats what I said but thats your issue not mine.

   My comment was clearly directed at Hope in the context of her comments in another thread.

   Perhaps instead of your drive-by snipe you might have done the logical thing and gone and read the comment in context before you lob an plebian retort out there.

   ....Or you could just snipe away like a typical keyboard commando.

   Posted by on November 25, 2008 at 1517 hrs




10. This whole iPod and MPS database is no big thing.

    The waste of $104 MILLION dollars on schools not being used and not offsetting bussing costs is a hanging crime in my book.

    If I were on the MPS board I would be sighing in relief about this story and that I am not being tared and feathered over the real waste of money.

    I also suspect that there is much more waste going on in giving benefits to those who technically didn’t earn them. A. To get rid of them. or B. Take care of the insiders.

    Buildings and side deal benefits are where the real waste is. This stuff is bad, but piffle in the grand scheme of things.

    Posted by on November 25, 2008 at 1745 hrs




11. Perhaps instead of your drive-by snipe you might have done the logical thing and gone and read the comment in context before you lob an plebian retort out there.

    I did in fact read the entire comment thread from which you took Hope’s offhand comment about the “cost of civilization” out of context and dropped it into this thread. That doesn’t change the fact of your logical fallacy. You ask if the taxes that fund this (admittedly, to me at least) bad program are the taxes that fund the cost of civilization. You’re drawing a conclusion without causation. The happenstance of taxes causing this particular bad outcome doesn’t imply that it will happen in all occasions.

    And speaking of drive-by snipes, what else do you think your comment at #5 was, for cryin’out loud?

    Posted by on November 26, 2008 at 0951 hrs




12. That doesn’t change the fact of your logical fallacy. You ask if the taxes that fund this (admittedly, to me at least) bad program are the taxes that fund the cost of civilization.

    Hope said taxes were the cost of civilization.  I agreed to some extent and indicated as such.  But my point was “how much” and where do you draw the line.  And when I see the things LIKE THIS that my taxes are going for, I would again pose the question IS THIS part of that cost of civilization?

    My point, taxes are too high.  Hope acquiesces that “a couple more percent is fine and dandy with her” When I see stuff like this (though 27,000 is minutia in government spending terms)   I know that there are THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of other “minutia” just like that that collectively amount to huge sums of money (even in the indulgent circles of government spending where billions and trillions seem to be the base number for anything)

    So its time to say NO to the “couple more percent” that hope is fine and dandy with because the “cost of civlization is taxes”

    Its time to reject the brushing-off of MORE government spending as “patriotic” and “doing the right thing”

    its not doing the right thing. Its not patriotic.  Its not helping the economy any more than giving an alcoholic a beer cures his addiction.

    If you care about this country. If you care about the economy. If you care about prosperity and REAL creating of wealth that everyone will benefit from you’d reject the incessant demands for “just a couple more percent” and say no to the drunkeness of government spending and stop enabling it.

    Posted by on November 26, 2008 at 1206 hrs




13. My point, taxes are too high.

    Fair enough. And I know that point will never change, no matter what.

    you’d reject the incessant demands for “just a couple more percent” and say no to the drunkeness of government spending and stop enabling it.

    “incessant demands?” What demands? You do know incessant means without ceasing? There haven’t been any demands over the last 8 years, much less incessant demands.

    I’ll grant that the government can occasionally spend money badly, as this iPod program amply demonstrates. So can businesses, especially the big ones.

    The implications that people who disagree with you don’t care about the country get old, too.

    Posted by on November 26, 2008 at 1517 hrs




14. "There haven’t been ANY demands over the last 8 years” apc… what have I missed.  It sure seems to me like government demands are an every year event.  You may make the case they are reasonable if you want, and we can then disagree on that, but every tax increase or every spending increase is another demand.  The double digit MPS tax increases are not another demand?  The double digit spending increases hitting the state budgets are not a demand?  They certainly play that way to me.  I do love the 8 year timeline though.  I’d love to know why that isn’t an arbitrary number.  You must have something in mind as to the last demand government has made of us.  My clock is more like 8 minutes....

    Posted by on November 26, 2008 at 1630 hrs




15. I’ll grant that the government can occasionally spend money badly

    And I sir will grant you understatement of the century with that perspective.

    “Occasionally” spend money badly… You can’t be serious…

    Posted by on November 26, 2008 at 1640 hrs




16. You know what? I’m going to have to admit to dragging this out into left field. I let myself start talking federal income taxes, and this post is about local school taxes. I apologize.

    And yeah--occasionally. Just because you think all government spending is bad doesn’t make it so.

    Posted by on November 27, 2008 at 0037 hrs