Joel Hefley: “as the Washington Post reported last month, despite a booming economy and a soaring stock market, most Americans think…”

“as the Washington Post reported last month, despite a booming economy and a soaring stock market, most Americans think America is on the wrong track. They are deeply mistrustful of the Government's ability to solve the problems that most concern them. My question is, if 75 percent of Americans do not trust the Government to solve the problems that most concern them, why, why do liberals keep turning again and again to the Government to solve the problems? Most astonishingly of all, why would liberals look to the Federal Government in Washington to somehow make bad schools good or mediocre schools better? Mr. Speaker, certainly the education of our children is one of the most important issues on the minds of those who have kids in school, and certainly we can all agree that if there is one thing Government excels at, it is mediocrity. If our goal is mediocrity, then, yes, we should sing the praises of the Federal Government's wonderful powers to make bad schools better. But if we care about excellence, then look to school choice, local control, parents, educational savings accounts, and more competition to produce better schools for our children.”