I haven't written anything in a while - even with the plethora of ongoing events.  I especially enjoy our new government stopping just short of literally branding me with "Right Wing Extremist."  With my being an Iraq War Veteran, Gun-owner, Outspoken, Conservative Christian and all. 

The snippet of a radio interview I heard today was about a topic that I do hold strong opinion on (surprise surprise), but is not particularly moving - especially compared to other topics that have moved in and out of the forefront recently.  However, I began to think of the disparity that the topic hold compared to the partisan norm.

The topic was School Vouchers: essentially giving people (especially School Tax payers) a choice of a public or private school through a voucher system.  The voucher system has shown promising in places like Washington DC, where lower income families are able to send their children to private school instead of their lower income (Title 1) public schools.  Testing data has shown a huge advantage for those who make the change to private education.  The fact that I support vouchers and school choice is not necessarily the aim of my commentary. 
What I find so puzzling is that the Republican wing is the one who pushes for school choice.  For a "Free Market" school system if you will.  A system that would allow lower income families (typically championed as the constituency of the Democratic Party) and the middle class to have a choice - send your children to public or private schools without the expense of private tuition.   Republicans wanting to help the low income, Republicans wanting equality and/or improvement in the education system for everyone.  And "everyone" not being limited to rich white people.  (cartoon-esque double take)  And the Democrats oppose the system that would improve the life of the lower income family...how can it be?

After pondering the oddity I believe I have come across a few reasons behind the disparity:

The number one reason is Government Control.  With the 7% majority they exhibited last fall, the Democratic party has expanded Government Control with a fury.  The strings tied to bank bailouts, the government finger now in state government through stimulus dollars, and an apparent plan to take a 50% stake in Government...errr...General Motors. 
Given this, why would that same party want to surrender control over the education system.  The power to influence curriculum, the power to remove religion.  If education is power (as the slogan goes) then that power must remain in the firm grasp of the Federal Government.

A second reason, as I have long held, is that the Democratic party fears losing its voter base.  The Left's political establishment is firmly built on the perpetuation of poverty.  An amazing amount of people who venture out of the lower income classes on their own by taking responsibility for themselves tend to also grow more conservative.  Or, if you wish, a higher percentage of lower income voters are Democrats.  (Taking into account only the votes of the lower income third, President Obama would have won all but 2 states in the 2008 election and only 18 states if only the top income voters were considered) 
If the lower income have access to a better education and actually start believing in a brighter future they might become more successful and would statistically have a good chance of holding a more conservative viewpoint.  Talk about losing your voter base - a better education would be a strong erosive force.

The education system as it now stands is a bright and shining example of how the private sector can better handle a task or service than can the government.  If you let people experience this first hand you might lose support for things such as Universal Health Care - which would follow along the same lines.  Private school students showed higher scores in reading and math than their public school peers at both the 4th and 8th grade levels.  Private school have to compete with other private schools as well as public schools.  They are not guaranteed government funding an must produce the service that they promise and are paid to produce: quality education.  As any government department or service - the quality of service is less important than the fact that the service is continually offered.  If vouchers were offered, people would begin to see that the government is less efficient/effective at operating services than the private sector and would have negative implications (in the eyes of the Left) in terms of a large Federal Health Care system.