Fisking the DNC

The DNC have brought out a press release which contains some of the dumbest arguments ever in the history of mankind, and thus, deserves a fisking.
The White House this weekend announced that President Bush received good news during his annual physical. Doctors pronounced the President to be in "superior" physical condition, which media reports attributed to his rigorous, six day a week exercise routine. While President Bush has made physical fitness a personal priority, his cuts to education funding have forced schools to roll back physical education classes and his Administration's efforts to undermine Title IX sports programs have threatened thousands of women's college sports programs.
Actually, education spending has gone up by a lot; not cut.
"President Bush's has dropped the ball when it comes to fully funding physical education in public schools and women's athletic programs at the college level," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Josh Earnest. "His personal habits indicate that physical fitness is not just fun and games for him. Don't our kids deserve the same opportunities to be physically fit? President Bush should stop running from his responsibility and make sure that all American children have access to physical fitness programs."
President Bush is paid to run the country, he is not paid to run six days a week. Likewise, most fit Americans are not paid to exercise - many of them pay for gym memberships instead. How hard is it to exercise without being forced to?
Doctors gave President Bush a clean bill of health in his annual checkup this weekend and White House spokesperson Dana Perino proclaimed him to be "in superior health." However, America's youth are not so lucky. While obesity has been declared an epidemic in this country, Bush's education policy is putting children at risk with cuts in physical education and school athletic programs.
Because health and fitness is entirely a matter of government funding, of course, America's youth aren't given enough money to be fit? I'm not sure I see the point, but I do see the hypocrisy. His "superior physical condition" is attributed to his "rigourous, six day a week exercise routine", yet American youth not being fit is entirely the fault of Bush's education policy, which actually increases funding. Thus, the logic of the DNC can be easily seen:

On one hand, an exercise program keeps Bush fit.
On the other hand, lack of an exercise program has nothing to do with lack of fitness.
Bush's 2006 Budget Cut Physical Education By 25 Percent. Bush's 2006 budget request cut physical education funding for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade by $18.4 million. The 2006 cut is the "first year of a 2-year phase out of the program in order to redirect resources to higher-priority activities" according to the Department of Education.
So now we see that when the Democrats said "cuts to education funding", they really meant "cuts to physical education funding". Once again, you do not need the Government forcing you into sporadic physical education, where most of the time you stand up doing nothing, to be fit. And it is not the sole difference between being fit and being unfit.

The DNC seems to believe that the difference between obesity and fitness for roughly 75 million Americans is $18.4 million a year. Apparently 25 cents per student, per year, would have made every young American fit! This is like the 'Christopher Reeve will walk again because of John Kerry' lunacy, only on steroids.
School Systems Nationwide Forced To Implement Pay-To-Play Athletic Programs. USA Today surveyed state high school sports associations and found 34 states in which associations say at least some school districts are charging students to play sports. Pay-to-play fees have cropped up or ballooned at schools in Alaska, Ohio, Massachusetts, Michigan, Kansas and other states. The fees grew from $75 to $250 in one Massachusetts school district two years ago.
But what the DNC doesn't tell you is the truth. From the USA Today article they've sourced the information from, we find that these pay-to-play fees started in the 1970s - which is more than 20 years before Bush was President. We also find out that it's a district-by-district thing to counter falling education budgets. But we've already established that there was a large increase in educational funding under Bush. So how is this Bush's fault again?

Yeah, I'm not sure either.
Bush Weakened Title IX Rules. The Bush Administration's Education Department quietly issued a new clarification of the regulations interpreting Title IX. The new rules allow colleges to demonstrate that they are satisfying the demand for women's sports with an online survey showing that female students have no unmet sports interests. Even if the non-response rate is high in the survey, non-response is to be interpreted as a lack of interest according to the Education Department.
I interpret this as "if you don't respond to a question, you're not interested in answering yes". There's a huge problem with this? Of course, because Bush=Hitler.
NCAA President Says Rules Could "Reverse the Progress Made Over the Last Three Decades." "NCAA President Myles Brand joined in condemning the guidelines, saying they could 'reverse the progress made over the last three decades.' He added his disappointment that officials issued the clarification 'without benefit of public discussion and input.'"
Yawn. No public discussion and input? The Democrats kindly remind in the next paragraph that there was actually three years for discussion and input, as this has been on the table since 2002:
Bush Recommended Undermining Title IX Rules In 2002 As Well. In June 2002, Bush's Education Secretary Roderick Paige created the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics to review Title IX, the federal law that has expanded athletic opportunities for women and girls for 30 years by barring sexual discrimination. This January the commission came back with recommendations that would ease the regulations of Title IX. A statement by the National Women's Law Center opposed the Bush Commission's proposals, "Some have characterized the Commission's long list of proposed changes as minor and moderate. Nothing could be further from the truth. Make no mistake about it. If accepted by the Bush Administration, the Commission's proposals would dramatically reduce the sports participation opportunities and scholarships to which women and girls are entitled under the law."
So after it was around for over three years, now they complain there was no public discussion. You've had plenty of time for public discussion. But you didn't take the chance - your loss.
The Rate Of Childhood Obesity Has Skyrocketed In Recent Years. The rate of childhood obesity has skyrocketed in recent years, and more than 9 million children over age 6 are now considered overweight. The rapid rise has alarmed public health experts, because overweight children are far more likely to develop health problems. Currently, the U.S. government estimates that 30 percent of the nation's kids are overweight or on their way to being too heavy. Nearly twice as many children and three times as many teens are overweight now compared to two decades ago.
And this is all the fault of Bush budget cuts that haven't yet come in. I get it.

The DNC's descent into pure lunacy should never have gone this far.

(Cross-posted to The House Of Wheels.)

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