There is plenty of money for empire while California collapses

Robert Scheer worries about the failure of the Obama regime to address directly and with a workable blueprint for solving California's budget crisis. As well he should given the attack California now plans to make on its safety-net and education system:

Bail out the banks, but not the 500,000 poor families with children served by the CalWorks program, which will be dismantled, or the 928,000 children covered by the Healthy Families program, slated for oblivion.

At a time when the feds are spending with such abandon in an effort to stimulate the economy why is it tolerable to leave states in a position where they are forced to fire teachers? As the Los Angeles Times reported: "Schwarzenegger has proposed slashing state spending on education by $3 billion to help close the budget gap, and the state would pay dearly for canceling classes, firing instructors, cutting class days and shortening the school year, experts said." How can there be federal funds readily available for banker bonuses but not to keep teachers in the classroom with their students? It must have been the kids who caused the meltdown.

Scheer could have also included the money wasted on America's national-security and surveillance state and the empire that state advances.