We don't do nation-building

As I read this article about American's declining reading habits, I had a thought. The article points out that:

Sixty-one percent of those holding managerial or professional jobs were proficient readers...70 percent of the people rated as poor readers felt their lack of skills had limited their job opportunities...57 percent of those [with] proficient reading skills [have] performed volunteer work, compared with 18 percent of the people with poor skills...[and] the better a person's reading skills, the more likely that person voted in the 2000 election.

Now here's the thought: Have you ever heard a Republican saying "we need more people to read"? Ever hear a Republican advocating a national literacy campaign? I haven't. But Hillary Clinton has been thumping that tub for 15 years. (To be fair, Republican Congressman Michael Castle seems to work on this issue, but he seems to be something of a lone gun as far as his party is concerned).

Reading obviously improves people's work productivity, thus helping the nation. But it also makes people more likely to vote, and since non-voters support the Democrats more than voters do, more people voting means a loss for the Republicans. Thus, no Republican support for literacy programs.

George W. Bush famously said "We don't do nation-building." Apparently that includes our own nation as well. What Republicans do do, however, is asset stripping.