Obama using rural school funds for nasty politicking

Most schools of today feature A/C, heat, great computers and outdoor play yards. But many kids live in CDPs, or “census designated populations” where residents are spread over a wide area of land. And also those in rural areas which are not privy to the infrastructure and revenue which can assist giving our children a great education.

That is why the Secure Rural Schools program was established, to give revenue from the federal government to schools who cannot otherwise afford teachers, police, emergency services and infrastructure. 2012 payments went out in January of 2013, as the sequester was looming.

But Obama was rubbing his hands together just like The Grinch.

How would you like it if you already got your paycheck and the company decided to make cuts. And you were told you had to give back to your employer 5.1% of the money you have already received. And probably spent.

That’s exactly what the Obama administration did after the SRS payments were already made. In order to make the sequester as painful as possible, as we witnessed in other areas, he demanded 5.1% of the money already paid to SRS be given back. Ohio was just one of the majority of states that got letters demanding return of the money which amounts to $13,686.33  That’s a cruel, cruel Indian giver folks.

The National Governors Association got involved and Dan Crippen wrote this letter to Thomas Tidwell of the U.S. Forest Service, h/t Watchdog.org:

Most governors, a bipartisan group, have said they aren’t giving the money back.

Ha ha, but you guys think that’s the worst of it, right??? In this lawless administration stuff always gets worse when you cross Dear Leader. Today Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on this subject. The hearing was supposed to be late last year but the Obama administration “invitees” responded they we just too, too busy and had other commitments. Hastings had and has issued multiple subpoenas for documents and has gotten some, but not all.

But today is when the other shoe dropped. From Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment at the USDA, Robert Bonnie, hinted states that have not repaid the sequester funds may have them taken out of this year’s payment. Bonnie did confirm the Obama administration ordered this retribution in order to make the sequester “as painful as possible.”

You can read the Committee’s findings in their report here.

Chairman Hastings had this comment:

“There should be no retribution towards states that didn’t repay the fund, not one dime should be withheld. There is bipartisan agreement on the Committee for this position and it’s concerning that the Administration refuses to listen to these bipartisan calls,” said Chairman Hastings. “Counties depend on these funds to keep teachers in the classroom and police on the streets and they need certainty that SRS payments are not only coming, but that they won’t retroactively be taken away. I’m appalled that the Obama Administration continues to play games with these funds, and cannot give rural communities any assurance that they will not endure further, politically motivated, cuts to schools, law enforcement, and emergency services.

“It’s especially concerning since the Administration still refuses to turn over all documents and fully answer why the White House made the decision to retroactively apply the sequester against the judgment and counsel of USDA attorneys. I will do everything within the power of this Committee to get answers.”

Using our kids as pawns. Reprehensible to say the least.