President Obama's standard response to most problems is either to ignore them or attempt to solve them by spending more money. More government control and spending is the Obama Way.
More government spending and control of higher education is the most recent example of the Obama Way. He wants more government involvement even though our colleges are too expensive and students receive too little in the way of an education to prepare them to compete successfully in the highly competitive global marketplace. And of those who do enroll, most leave without completing a degree, and even if they do manage to graduate, few good jobs await them.
His 'solution' to this problem of too many dropouts, too few jobs and too much student debt is that he wants the taxpayers to foot the bill to keep funding the failing status quo and make community college attendance 'free.' I guess he really does believe that there is such a thing as a free lunch. Either that or he doesn't view taxes as costing anybody anything. Or perhaps that borrowing money to finance huge government deficits is free. But, of course, the reality is that he thinks this will help the Democratic party win votes. And maybe it will.
He certainly doesn't appear interested in improving educational outcomes, reducing the influence of teachers' unions, or controlling costs at any level of government. Instead he proposes to once again silently 'sock it to' the taxpayers of the future, aka the college students of today. And the rest of us too, of course.
Well, there is a very affordable alternative way to attend community college 'on the cheap' for today's serious minded community college attendees. And by the way, it will work for students attending four year colleges as well.
Notable & Quotable: Free Community College? has this solid common sense advice for President Obama and his political allies:
"Jennifer Kabbany writing online Jan. 9 for the College Fix, where she is the editor:
I attended a community college.
That was back in the 1990s, and it was ludicrously cheap. I recall I paid about $90 bucks a class at Santa Barbara City College. I checked my old college’s website Thursday night for a cost comparison, and the price hasn’t gone up too much—it stands at roughly $150 a class now.
My point is—community college is not expensive. It’s not out of reach for low- to middle-class families. Not by a long shot. I paid my way through community college waiting tables at local restaurants. It was one of the best times of my life. Yes, my parents chipped in to help make ends meet, but by no means did I enjoy a free ride.
The experience taught me how to work hard, take care of myself, and be responsible and independent. It was a rite of passage I cherish to this day. I gained discipline, and came to understand the value of hard work and the enjoyment and satisfaction of a job well done.
Perhaps that is why, when I heard of President Obama ’s new plan to make community college free, I immediately groaned. It’s a horrible idea. . . .
The last thing this country needs is another massive entitlement.
And who gets to pay for all this debt? The young people Obama is claiming to want to help. If he really wanted to help young people, he’d propose Social Security reform, or overhaul the student loan racket."
Summing Up
Free lunches are never free. {Please click on the "writing online" link above to get the full flavor of what Ms. Kabbany has to say. It's worth reading.}
Student loans outstanding are currently $1.3+ trillion, and our officially recognized national debt is approaching $20 trillion. In truth, however, total government debt amounts to substantially more than $100 trillion if we're honest enough to count future taxpayer spending for unfunded commitments, including but not limited to Social Security, ObamaCare, teachers' pensions, and student loan obligations which will be forgiven and defaulted upon.
So now President Obama wants to add new debt to the taxpayers of the future, aka the students of today. But he doesn't want the Keystone XL Pipeline's construction, jobs and energy independence. It's all 'placate the base' politics, all the time.
And this 'latest free' college proposal is just one more example of why politics sucks and why college costs are already far too high.
More government control isn't the answer to our problems, financial or otherwise. The solution lies within each of us as free-to-choose private citizens in a free-to-choose private economy.
That's my take.
Thanks. Bob.
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