Hillary embraces Bernie’s free tuition plan
Hillary Clinton announced a plan to eliminate tuition at state colleges for in-state families with incomes of less than $125,000 a year.
Click here for reuse options!While stopping short of Mr. Sanders’s vision, the proposal is likely to hearten the senator and many of his supporters, as aides to Mrs. Clinton work to unite the party before the Democratic National Convention on July 25-28 in Philadelphia.
Mrs. Clinton’s team is eager to attract the young supporters that flocked to Mr. Sanders in the nominating fight, and a campaign aide noted that during her meeting last month with Mr. Sanders, the two discussed the merits of their plans to make college more affordable and the importance of featuring the issue prominently in the general election.
As part of the her package of proposals, Mrs. Clinton, who speaks often on the campaign trail of her plans for debt-free college education, is calling for a three-month moratorium on the repayment of federal student loans.
The move, which the campaign said would be carried out through executive action if Mrs. Clinton becomes president, would allow borrowers to refinance loans or restructure high-interest debt. The moratorium was reported by The Washington Post.
Copyright 2016 Liberaland
28 responses to Hillary embraces Bernie’s free tuition plan
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cathyx July 6th, 2016 at 15:18
Kids, don’t believe it. She’s never going to take this on.
jybarz July 6th, 2016 at 15:47
Pigs fly…
Um Cara July 6th, 2016 at 15:51
Hopefully even the Hillary Bros now understand why Bernie didn’t just roll over and play dead. He may have lost the nomination, but he has steadily chipped away some of Hillary’s right wing positions.
I suspect even Hillary is happy for Bernie’s influence. Obviously she can’t just go full liberal or her corporate donors would freak out – but if she can frame her policy shifts as necessary to win over liberal Democrats and independent voters, she can sell it as a must do, even if they don’t like it.
Thanks Bernie!
Ned Nutley July 6th, 2016 at 15:54
College was free or nearly free until the days of republican ray-gun.
robert July 6th, 2016 at 16:10
I don’t see Hillary getting out of the FBI spot light and the recent news can’t be what Bernie was expecting. Look forward to an upset Bernie at the dnc convention
Obewon July 6th, 2016 at 20:56
00.0% probability of being burned further.
amersham1046 July 6th, 2016 at 18:50
It works in a number of Western European countries , the most talented get in , not those with connections or money
Robert M. Snyder July 6th, 2016 at 20:28
Two twin boys graduate from high school. One decides to go to college. The other decides to become a plumber, electrician, or small farmer. The first son gets $50K free tuition. The second son takes out a small business loan for $50K that he has to pay back with interest.
The average college graduate makes about a million dollars more in their lifetime than people who don’t attend college.
Let’s assume that they both have the same lifetime earnings, and they both pay the same amount of lifetime income tax. One is still $50K plus interest ahead of the other.
How is this fair?
Obewon July 6th, 2016 at 20:49
2 years tuition = $7,600 is not “$50,000” e.g. The numbers:
If all 50 states choose to implement the President’s new community college proposal, it could:
Save a full-time community college student $3,800 in tuition per year on average
Benefit roughly 9 million students each year. https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/01/08/president-proposes-make-community-college-free-responsible-students-2-years
whatthe46 July 6th, 2016 at 21:21
you could have benefited from an education that’s for sure. free or otherwise, cause you’re one big dummy.
arc99 July 6th, 2016 at 23:25
It is fair if each boy is fully aware of all options when they make their choice.
I personally have no opposition to similar subsidies for the building trades. Education, like health care is another area where the United States lags far behinds our closest allies. No one ever mentions the cost of having military bases thousands of miles away from home. But when it comes to spending those tax dollars right here at home, suddenly we cannot afford it. That is horse manure.
In Iraq at the height of the war, we were spending $720 million every damn day in a war for weapons that did not exist. So why not spend a fraction of that amount to maximize the opportunities for our young people right here at home.
If Germany with a center-right government can do it, why can’t we? Or is “American Exceptionalism” defined only in terms of our ability to kill people thousands of miles away?
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/community/la-me-edu-free-college-education-in-germany-but-not-in-california-20151029-htmlstory.html
Why you can get a free college education in Germany but not in California
Robert M. Snyder July 7th, 2016 at 00:58
In 2006, after my son graduated from high school, I proposed to the principal that I start an engineering club. As it happened, the principal’s father was an engineer and also an active member of the IEEE. I started the club and, with his father’s help, secured funding from the IEEE for tools and supplies.
For the first few years, everything was provided to students free of charge. During the second year, we received a $1200 grant that allowed 12 students to build electronic stethoscopes from scratch. We met one evening per week. I taught them basic electronics, how to solder, how to lay out and etch printer circuit boards, etc. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, until wrestling season started. Suddenly we went from 12 students to 3. Those 3 students stuck with it and completed their projects. But I had to submit a final report to the IEEE explaining how their $1200 was used. Frankly, I felt ashamed.
Similar things happened year after year. It was impossible to plan how many supplies to purchase because many students who were enthusiastic at the start would eventually stop showing up. In general, they kept coming as long as the activities provided immediate gratification. But as soon as we started on something that didn’t have an immediate payoff, many would stop coming.
After several years, the school could no longer give us space to meet, so we moved to a new location in a storage room of a local business incubator. They required us to carry liability insurance which cost $500/yr, so we started charging a $75 fee. Suddenly, students and parents took a much greater interest. Attendance was no longer a problem, and very few kids dropped out once they had paid the fee.
My takeaway from this experience is that students and parents need to have some skin in the game. Having to pay a fee causes people to take time to evaluate their commitment to the activity. And once they commit the money, they are much more likely to stick with it.
The biggest reason why so many kids do poorly in public school is because it is absolutely free. If a kid wants a cell phone, his parents will usually find a way to come up with the money. It’s a matter of priorities. When you give something away free of charge, people don’t respect it or appreciate it. If parents had to pay the cost of a cell phone plan each month for their kids to attend public school, they would become more engaged and students would do better.
I realize that I am talking about high school students and the issue is college tuition. But I don’t think that age makes much of a difference. If you take the best running shoes made by Nike, change the name and color, and sell it at Walmart for $10 per pair, few people will want them, and those who do buy them will trash them. People have been conditioned to equate price with value. It’s wrong, but that’s where we are.
If you are a grandparent, and you’re tempted to pay for a grandchild’s entire cost of education, I would say stop and think. Are you really doing this kid a favor? Wouldn’t it be better if the kid and his parents had some skin in the game?
The current proposal may be modest, but we all know how these things go. I have no objection to government subsidized loans and grants to partially cover the cost for those who are truly needy. But I fear that once we stop asking people to repay community college tuition, it won’t stop until every kid at Harvard gets a completely free ride.
College isn’t for everybody. A lot of people are quite happy to work as store clerks or hair stylists, and it’s a good thing. Think about the kids you knew in school. Some of them were simply not college material through no fault of their own. Why should those kids have to pay taxes that are used to provide free education to their more gifted peers, who will then go on to earn a lot more money after they graduate?
This is how Trump voters are created. These folks are tired of getting screwed. In high school, if you decide to attend a vocation school, you are labeled as a dumb kid how isn’t smart enough for college. And its not just students who say or imply these things. The teachers are guilty too. When I was in school, teachers used to say that if you didn’t work hard and do well in school you would “end up working in a foundry”. Well a lot of my classmates had fathers who worked in a local foundry. When kids hear this over and over, they come to resent it and the people who say it. Later, when they go to work in foundries, they often deal with physically demanding conditions while their more gifted peers sit in air conditioned offices. Yeah, that’s a great formula for creating Trump voters. And then the educated elites, including some on this forum, have the gall to post photos that mock Trump supporters as toothless rednecks who can’t spell. This is nothing more than the smart kids picking on the dumb kids. To those being mocked, it doesn’t feel good. As long as the economy was providing everyone with a decent income, people grumbled about this treatment but they endured it anyway. But now that so many can’t find decent jobs, the lid is blowing off this pressure cooker.
Free college tuition might sound good to an educated person whose kids and grandkids are college material. But to the store clerks and foundry workers who have to pay for it while also helping their own kids, who are not college material, to get a start in life, it feels like the smart kids are once again getting all of the attention and praise while everyone else gets the shaft.
FWIW, I worked in a factory for a year before attending college. Several of my relatives and friends work in low-skill jobs. I hear these complaints over and over. There is real resentment for programs like free tuition that take from the less-gifted and give to the more-gifted.
How about the kid who is just starting out as a carpenter or plumber and needs a few thousand to get his truck fixed? You wouldn’t dream of having the government cover the cost of his truck repairs, even though he has a sound business plan. No, that kid has to get a bank loan and pay it back with interest. But if his more highly-gifted classmate attends college, he gets free tuition? And you expect the first kid to be happy about that? Get real.
whatthe46 July 7th, 2016 at 01:09
10 words or less please.
Robert M. Snyder July 7th, 2016 at 01:31
Make America great again!
(Sorry. Couldn’t resist. LOL)
whatthe46 July 7th, 2016 at 01:33
well, at least your comprehension to a simple math question is better than your puppet master’s. i will never resist.
Robert M. Snyder July 7th, 2016 at 01:44
I suspect that you will vote for Hillary for the same reason that I will vote for Trump. We each consider one of them to be the lesser of two evils. Frankly, if POTUS were a job and I was hiring, I would re-advertise the position. There are over 300 million people in this country. Surely we can find two more suitable people than Trump and Hillary. For example, Diane Feinstein. I wonder why she never chose to run. She is way better qualified than Hillary.
whatthe46 July 7th, 2016 at 01:59
“I suspect that you will vote for Hillary for the same reason that I will vote for Trump.” are you stup…? nevermind. i’m voting for her because she’s the best candidate. i’m voting for her because she has experience. i’m voting for her because she gives a damn about this country. i’m voting for her because she gives a damn about women’s rights, equality, education, because she isn’t looking out just for, as romney put it, the white 47%’ers or tRump’s white race only, must be a racist and bigot to matter, and etc., etc. and because her being president, means these traitors and disgusting bigots, racist and sellouts will never be:
ted cruz; jeb bushy; scott walker; rand paul; chris christie; sarah palin; and last, but definitely not fricken least dumb donald tRump.
Robert M. Snyder July 7th, 2016 at 02:03
Well, it’s pretty clear which one of us is controlled by a puppet master.
whatthe46 July 7th, 2016 at 02:09
yep, you finally looked in that damn mirror! see, taking the white sheet off made you see the light. i’m proud of you.
whatthe46 July 7th, 2016 at 02:08
now, you will be voting for tRump, in simple terms, because you’re a racist, a bigot, a bastard, a liar, a supporter of murder, of brutality, of inequality, of hatred, a sympathizer of child rapist, a 4 time bankruptcy champ, someone who stiffs their creditors, even in the face of “i’m a 10dollar billionaire” asshole, a fraud, a wife who is a ferner who posed naked (yet you have an issue with Michelle Obama wearing a sleeveless shirt) for all eyes to see, oh crap i almost forgot, she’s an immigrant, just like his second wife, you appreciate his mail order brides who marries him to become a US citizen, but, hate immigrants, a hypocrite, someone who wants the AG to investigate a bribe when he himself bribed the texass AG and the Fl AG not to allow a civil suit against him, oh crap, whatever, you’ll still love him. show your true support for him, dye yourself orange and place road kill on your head.
Robert M. Snyder July 7th, 2016 at 02:27
You forgot to mention that I crush little kittens under the wheels of my monster truck just for fun. Yep, I’m the devil incarnate.
whatthe46 July 7th, 2016 at 02:30
you said it not me. should i be surprised?
Obewon July 7th, 2016 at 01:13
You answered your own question in your first post above: College grads earn and pay taxes on $1 M+ more income on average.
“Why should those kids have to pay taxes that are used to provide free education to their more gifted peers, who will then go on to earn a lot more money after they graduate?”-Snyder!
Taxpayer cost? A measly $7,600 for C students and above vs $300K+ average federal income taxes paid on $1 M+ greater college grad income.
Robert M. Snyder July 7th, 2016 at 01:26
You make a good point about the college grads paying a lot more into the system after they graduate. Point taken. Thanks!
arc99 July 7th, 2016 at 01:45
Resentment held by some people who are unable or unwilling to utilize the benefits of subsidized college is about the worst reason I can think of against such a proposal. It is in my opinion a net gain for society if those who do attend college are not saddled with burdensome debt the day after they graduate. I would wager that your friends in low skill jobs do not resent it all that the airline pilot taking them on a trip, the physician treating their child, the lawyer defending them in court, or the computer programmer providing software for their Ipad and laptop has received a world class education.
Conservatives constantly tell us that we must guarantee equal opportunity, not equal results. I tend to agree. So why does that not apply here? If every person has the same opportunity, the personal resentment of those unable to take advantage of that opportunity is entirely irrelevant. I used to resent the interest deduction on income tax which was available to homeowners, with no equivalent benefit to those who rented. I got over that childish attitude, the first time I filed taxes after buying my first home.
Robert M. Snyder July 7th, 2016 at 02:02
“I would wager that your friends in low skill jobs do not resent it all that the airline pilot taking them on a trip, the physician treating their child, the lawyer defending them in court, or the computer programmer providing software for their Ipad and laptop has received a world class education.”
No, it’s the liberal arts major working alongside them at the fast food joint whose tuition they would resent having to pay for. If you can’t get a decent job after college, then you either entered a field where there is no demand or you didn’t learn anything. And if you do get a decent job, then repaying your loans shouldn’t be a problem.
whatthe46 July 7th, 2016 at 02:14
you really don’t see the stupidity in that response do you? fk’n amazing. truly amazing.
Obewon July 6th, 2016 at 20:44
Many Red states already pay 75% of 2 years college tuition, Take that Greedy Oil Pigs at the trough! POTUS Obama’s February budget, begins FY-17 on 10/1/16 paying two years of community college tuition for “responsible students” maintaining a C- average GPA. https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget
U.S. record $18.5 T GDP maintains 25% of Global GDP meaning of every $4 spent on Earth, $1 is spent within USA borders. Surely we can easily afford to dump Corporate welfare for Wal*Mart Waltons, Koch’s and eliminate $60 B+ in Big Oil subsidies. GFYS Robert M. Snyder.