Heard on NPR today

A discussion about paying kids cash to study. Apparently, the idea was first sounded by Newt Gingrich, who proposed paying for best grades (so that good students have some cash in hands, and not just dealers and pimps). Of course, our do-gooders could not reward excellence - no, we have to reward demerit. So now we're paying by the hour to the junior high students who are learning 24/3=8. And of course, NPR loves it. Moreover, they don't even see how Gingrich's idea was turned upside down.