How Conservative do you have to be to react with hostility to school lunches?

Lileks has linked twice to A Small Victory in a previous week (catching up). So I have been reading the whole thing. In this post, a review of another blog appears. John Hawkins complains about school lunches, and Michele Catalano at A Small Victory defends them. A comment on the boards at A Small Victory by Matthew Stinson summarizes his post here.

As mind readers and very close readers of this weblog will have sensed, I am a Hamiltonian. As Hamilton and his successors knew, there are times when it is wiser to pry a few tax dollars from the reluctant grip of Americans. Investing in the human and material capital (and by investing I mean we reasonably expect a return on investment at some point) generally meets the approval of Hamiltonians. That may mean a tarriff to stimulate industry (Hamilton was a tarriff man for these reasons), internal improvements, like canals, to encourage transport and commerce, and school lunches. I have little doubt that I live in a better society because of school lunches, not in some soft compassionate way, but because 1) its a waste of the education funds spent on a student who gains little or no benefit because he is too hungry to learn. I'd rather toss an extra $2 a day on the pile of ed money rather than see the $40 a day already spent go to waste. 2) What social benefits (say in terms of productive labor and future tax paying) can be expected from a well educated youth who was raised in poverty compared to a poorly eduacted youth? What additional costs are incurred by the poorly educated youth in terms of police, court, prison, or even just social services costs that do not accrue to his well educated fellow? Every good Hamiltonian will support any expenditure which saves him money or produces additional money beyond the investment. Hamiltonians will begin to demure as the expected return on the investment falls, though we are not above some consideration of non-fiscal benefits. And we have a phrase to decribe those conservatives who so jealously guard their earnings that they will not: penny wise and pound foolish.

By the way, Hawkins responds to A Small Victory and the comments there and digs a whole for himself even farther down. His mocking sign off, the same as A Small Victory is almost malicious.

As a final note, I am impressed with A Fearful Symmetry and will be making repeat visits.