Bernie's Stupid Free College Proposal

Townhall.com ^ | February 7, 2016 | Bruce Bialosky

[ClearCase_guy]

Here's how I see it:

All the 15 and 16-year-olds should vote for Bernie. By the time they go to college, Bernie might be able to give them a free college education!
The problem: 15 and 16-year-olds can't vote.

All of the 24-year-olds who are saddled with $200,000 college loan debts should lament the fact that college wasn't free 6 years ago.
The problem: the 24-year-olds who are saddled with $200,000 college loan debts are going to be taxed up the wazoo so that 15 and 16-year-olds can go to college for free.

Seriously: Among the people who can legally vote, WHO really thinks they will benefit from Sanders??

[Engedi]

They push college on kids, you must go even if you are not the type for college.

There should be a push for skilled-trades for non-college type kids.

I saw an article where companies are in need of skilled trade people; some even offer paid on job training. Most advertisement needs to be going out about this need.

[Steamburg]

At Bernie’s everything is free unless you happen to be one of those fools who produces anything other than votes, riots, or chants.

[Impy]

Obama doesn’t look and sound like the guy arguing with the orange juice at the grocery store. Sanders ain’t gonna be President.

Someone with his platform could win, but only in a more attractive package.

[a fool in paradise]

If college is free, can I go back to get a 4-year degree (plus room and board) in a different area of expertise?

If college is free, can I go back and get advanced degrees?

If college is free, can I get a rebate on the funds I paid as an “out of state” student at the college I attended on my own dime?

If college is free, can dreamers come to this country to partake in free education to better themselves on my taxpaying dime so they can get a job better than the ones they cited when they and their parents came here to do “because no one else wants these jobs”?

How sustainable is this system?

Universities have billions of dollars in endowments. Consumers (students) are being gouged because they can. Government cash makes it so.

[Shugee]

Does “free college” also mean “free lodging, food, and transportation”?...

College kids can get food stamps now even if they are still living with their parents (SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Also, many campuses provide some free shuttle/bus system, even engaging public transportation in free or nominal fares.

So 1) Live with your parents 2) Get on food stamps 3) Bum a ride close enough to catch the free campus shuttle or just use your student bus card to ride the bus all the way in.

[Tax-chick]

Sounds like what many people would consider the perfect life.

[a fool in paradise]

I heard that if we let Obama win for 4 years, Americans would realize the error and toss him out.

I don’t think they would open their eyes suddenly after 4 years of Bernie. Has Bernie Sanders even offered a health physical report to show he is up to the job?

[The Sons of Liberty]

Bernie's Stupid Free College Proposal

Colleges are either private, or state run, so unless private colleges forgo tuition and fees or all 50 (57?) states do the same, then congress would have to pony up the money. Bernie is not black, so even the scum in congress like Paul Ryno won't roll over for him, like they do for 0bama.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

At least in the medical school people should be treating patients, with teaching/training students, residents, fellows etc. as a part of that. Of course, in the university setting there are those in the medical school who do little or no clinical work and are primarily research faculty. If they are working hard and are productive, they should also be rewarded, but the primary responsibility of any university medical school should be provision of excellent patient care first, and education second. After that come the other aspects of the mission.

I was speaking more on the side of the undergraduate side of higher education.

[Shugee]

at least 50% and probably more of the people enrolled should not be there. They require lots of remedial education (things they should be proficient with from attending high school but aren’t)...

In Texas, community colleges have created a cottage industry providing remedial education (high school level courses) to college students. New students generally are placement tested in math, reading, English, etc. and course suggestions are made by counselors based on the results.

I have a nephew who went to a very good public high school but only transferred in for his last 2 years from a state with lower standards. His placement test showed he needed to repeat his high school math via 2 pre-algebra courses. He was naturally hurt, but when I went back to college after a long absence, I chose to do the same thing to build a good math foundation. He listened to his aunt, took the courses and went on to get a science degree with no problems. Many of the kids who chose not to remediate, dropped out of their early math courses. It’s a sad reality that high schools don’t provide adequate preparation in many cases, but community colleges have become very good places for academic redemption.

[Kid Shelleen]

>> Maybe the fact that he's a United States Senator, rather than governor of Vermont. <<



I understand, but he worked his way up through the political ranks in Vermont so I would assume he has a lot of influence in state politics. Since his constituents support his policies, I think socialism would be easy to implement in a small state.

My point is that leftists must always do things on a grand scale. For example, single payer health care was a failure in Vermont (see below) but the only thing leftists learned is they need a bigger pocket to pick.

BTW - In short, if a liberal state electing a Socialist (US Senator Bernie Sanders) to Congress can't or won't put a single payer system into place, then who will?

Costs derail Vermont's dream of a single-payer health plan

[sunrise_sunset]

Most of the Western world has cheap or free public colleges. To say the plan is ludicrous is kind of dumb. We spend like 50 billion on food stamps, with a similar amount to public schools it would essentially be a minimal burden.

[SkyDancer]

But it’s always someone else*s money - taxpayers pay for it so it’s not free. All those European countries are pretty much socialist and when people talk about how cheap this or that is it’s because they’re heavily taxed. Socialism works until the government runs out of citizens money. Look at Venezuela to see how well that worked.

[Tax-chick]

I understand now, and I agree.

[Billthedrill]

There is more mystery to this than there should be. The university that employs me publishes its budget every year. No one in it should be asking "why is it so expensive?" Read your email, kids - we tell you why (the latest one was last week).

The issue Sanders is attempting to address has a couple of wrinkles. First, for debt forgiveness to work it will have to apply to everyone who is still in years-old debt or between those payments and the tax increases necessary to support future debt forgiveness, they'll get clobbered, and not even bankruptcy can get them out of it. Second, about those tax increases - the costs for a university are quite well-established and will have to be recovered from the taxpayer if they are not recovered from the student. Certainly there is waste to be cut, but if it's all "free" there will be absolutely no incentive to do so. My university won't be competing for students with the one downstate, at least on the basis of cost. Why would it? And third, again with the tax increases: a student graduates, presumably gets a job (we hope), has no educational debt load, and then the first paycheck comes in and the graduate finds out where that debt load went. Congratulations, graduate, you're now a taxpayer! Now let us tell you about who pays for that free lunch...

[Engedi]

I was referring to the University/Campus non-medical side of salaries. Example, Professor teaching Anti-White classes and making 250K a year,plus bonuses and perks, no, no way.

And I agree on Medical school side of teaching, should be rewarded to continue excellent patient care.