US Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was under criticism this week for proposing $17.6 million in cuts to the Special Olympics.

She defended herself on the official Department of Education website, pointing out that:

[Our budget proposal] supports our nation's 7 million students with disabilities through a $13.2 billion request for IDEA funding, the same funding level appropriated by Congress. All of that money goes directly to states to ensure students with disabilities have the resources and supports they need. The budget also requests an additional $225.6 million for competitively awarded grants to support teacher preparation, research and technical assistance to support students with disabilities.

She also made a comment which rekindled the debate over the silly idea that our taxpayer money is allocated to charities en masse:

The Special Olympics is not a federal program. It's a private organization. I love its work, and I have personally supported its mission. Because of its important work, it is able to raise more than $100 million every year. There are dozens of worthy nonprofits that support students and adults with disabilities that don't get a dime of federal grant money. But given our current budget realities, the federal government cannot fund every worthy program, particularly ones that enjoy robust support from private donations.

Thankfully our hero, US President Donald Trump, swooped in to save the day! Gosh!

As he left the racist "White" House, on his way to a victory rally in Michigan, Trump declared:

The Special Olympics will be funded. I just told my people I want to fund the Special Olympics. I have overridden my people. We're funding the Special Olympics.

Nice! Trump turned the negative press coverage of his administration into positive coverage at the drop of a hat.

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