We heard it again at the last Democratic debate. Bernie Sanders spoke about his plan to make college debt free and Hillary, with a smirk, was ready to pounce with her rehearsed one-liner come back she’s used many times on the campaign trail:
What I want to do is make sure middle class kids, not Donald Trump’s kids, get to be able to afford college.
Cue the applause! She sure burned Bernie!
Too bad, like many of her talking points, the line is totally misleading.
First, let’s start with the facts. Bernie Sanders is not proposing that all universities are tuition free. His proposal would make all public college and university’s tuition free.
Do anyone really think Donald Trump’s kids are going to go to a public university? Last I checked, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where several of his kids went, wasn’t a public university:
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League university located in Philadelphia.
Hillary knows Trump’s kids, as well as the majority of the well to do’s children, never set foot in a public institution from elementary school through graduate school. She knows that even if public Universities were tuition free, people like Trump would still never send their kids there to mix with the ordinary rabble. And she knows that no matter what the federal government does to help working and middle class kids, Donald Trump’s kids will be able to afford any Ivy League college they desire.
She knows this. But she can’t help herself. She’s got great zinger! But this illustrates her whole “New College Compact” — its sounds great but is completely misleading.
Bernie wants to make college debt free. Hillary wants to make college affordable. Read that carefully. Bernie = debt free, Hillary = affordable = still in debt.
It’s the disconnect we see over and over with the status quo. Working and middle class families cannot pay for the essential necessities without both parents often working multiple jobs. The last thing their kids need is to start their adult life in a hole of debt.
Bernie’s plan is simple:
- MAKE TUITION FREE AT PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
Straight forward and easy to understand, and paid for in a way most Americas agree with.
Hillary’s plan is not so simple:
1. Attending an In-state College Would Be Cheaper
The core of Clinton’s plan would allow students to earn a four-year degree from state colleges and universities without taking out loans to pay for tuition. She’d do that by providing federal grants to states, as long as the states up their investment in higher education.
[...]
2. But it Wouldn’t Be Free
...Clinton’s plan would require families to make a “realistic” contribution toward tuition costs. Along with money from personal savings and borrowing, the estimated family contribution would include student earnings from 10 hours of work a week.
So as long as states go along with her “compact” and follow a federal mandate, her plan is somehow loan free through federal grants provided to states that cooperate. I’m sure Republican governors will line up for this and not screw it up at all just as they have for the ACA.
But what exactly is a “realistic” contribution? Here’s the problem people like Hillary don’t seem to get: working and middle class families can’t pay for every day essentials now, let alone college now. Demanding people who already struggle to make ends meet make “realistic” contributions is like demanding a starving man reduce his calorie intake to make his grocery bill more affordable. To me, families struggling to get by paying nothing seems pretty realistic.
Personal savings? Last I checked most American families had almost no personal savings.
And of course, more “borrowing” for a family that is probably struggling just to pay the mortgage is a GREAT way to make college more affordable.
Also nice to know my kid will be will be working 10 hours a week. No one ever thought of working through college before. I worked my way though college and still had to take loans. I expect my kid will do the same. But now my kid gets to work two jobs while going to school as I’ll bet the house that 10 hours isn’t going to cut it. I wonder if Hillary would also like to see Trump’s kids work 10 hours a week?
But hey, Hillary is making college affordable! She’s getting’ things done!
As long as Republican governors go along with her plan, families that can’t afford tuition now pay something more “realistic”, turn over any family savings they probably don’t have, take on a few new loans, and their working and middle class kids take on another job on top of their studies.
If it weren’t so rigged against working and middle class families it would be laughable.
About as laughable as that one liner she smirked her way thorough trying to burn Bernie and mislead the voters about her concern for their kids.