A win for disabled athletes

Saving Special Olympics funding was right call

President Donald Trump displayed conventional political savvy in his rapid clawing back of a proposed budget cut for the Special Olympics.

The funding was going to be reinstated by Congress anyway, and the president was wise to pick better fights.

The Special Olympics receives $17.6 million, about 10 percent of its overall revenue, from the Education Department

In concept, the Special Olympics probably should be fully funded by the private and philanthropic sectors, unless the program can meet the strict definition of educational programming. But for this beloved American institution to be bandied about by the Trump administration as so much pork-barrel spending does a disservice and undermines a community of people in the United States who need support and encouragement.

Mr. Trump announced that he was reversing course just as he headed out to a rally in Michigan last week. He said, “I heard about it this morning. I have overridden my people. We’re funding the Special Olympics.”

By that point, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had been all over the news for several days defending the budget cut. Despite her passionate defense of whacking the Special Olympics off the federal dime, she seemed relieved when the president intervened, saying she actually had fought behind the scenes to preserve the Special Olympics funding all along.

Restoring the Special Olympics funding was the right move at this time. The Trump administration should look for more systematic solutions for our spiraling multi-trillion-dollar national debt than by shaving pennies and nickels off of needed services.