A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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April 21, 2005Unfunded MandateListened to the NPR story on the lawsuit by several school districts against the Department of Education regarding "No Child Left Behind". I heard that magical phrase "Unfunded Mandate". So what qualifies as an unfunded mandate? Wikipedia defines it as statute that requires government or private parties to carry out specific actions, but does not appropriate any funds for that purpose.As examples it cites "No Child Left Behind", "ADA" and my personal (and professional) favorite the "Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)". So if the feds feel access to public spaces regardless of physical ability or access to emergency care regardless of ability to pay or access to measurably high quality education regardless of where you live is a good thing, what's the obligation of the feds to fund that conviction. Interesting that Wikipedia also cites the provisions in the United States Constitution that provide for direct election of Representatives, Senators, and the President as another example of an "unfunded mandate". Posted by c3 at April 21, 2005 12:08 AMComments
I have a hard time regarding Wikipedia content as authoritative. I suppose a comparison between, for example, print media and blogs can be applied to real encyclopaedias and Wikipedia. But, while I value blogs as a medium for broader discussion, I don't consider blogs a source for authoritative information. Just because one person who edited the Wikipedia entry you cite had the ironic sense of humor to refer to direct elections of federal officials as an unfunded mandate doesn't necessarily mean that such a reference is ideologically accurate. When one makes one's own definition of a phrase, it's easy to include or exclude whatever one chooses, and for whatever purpose. Perhaps the advantage of Wikipedia is that if someone doesn't like the definition, one can change it. I remain unpersuaded. Posted by: The Jaded JD at April 21, 2005 09:06 AM |
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