Hello Tim,   
      
    >> Everyone seems to be getting all worked up over this free tuition.   
      
    TR> Except it's not *free*!   
      
   Nothing is life is free.  Cheap, yes.  Especially whiskey   
   and whores.  But free?  Somebody has paid the bartender for   
   that drink.  And somebody has paid that whore.   
      
    >> The > proposal by Sanders is PUBLIC institutions wuold be free.   
      
    TR> PUBLIC institutions are not *free*.   
      
   Somebody has to pay the piper.   
   Somebody paid for the brick and mortar.   
   Somebody paid for the maintenance.   
   Somebody paid for the administrators.   
   Somebody paid for the professors.   
   But nobody pays the students.   
   Not at the undergraduate level, anyway.   
      
    TR> When people apply the term PUBLIC to anything they are talking about *the   
    TR> taxpayers*.   
      
   Not just the taxpayers.  But taxpayers do fund a good portion.   
      
    TR> In a PUBLIC institution there is still maintainence, upkeep, utilities,   
    TR> water, employees, instructors, materials, etc etc.   
      
   For sure.  But not everything is funded by the taxpayers.   
   For example, renovations to Tiger Stadium at LSU is funded   
   by the LSU Alumni Association.  Not a dime is spent by the   
   taxpayers.   
      
    TR> None of that is *free*. Professors don't work for *free*. Administrators   
    TR> don't work for *free*. Desks chairs, black boards, and all the   
    TR> infrastructure that goes with a `college' are not *free*.   
      
   They are free to those who use them.   
      
    TR> Somebody PAYS!   
      
   Everybody pays, in a manner of speaking.  But not everybody   
   benefits.  We all pay for the Louisiana Superdome.  But how many   
   people in Shreveport actually use the Louisiana Superdome?  Does   
   that mean we should have torn the Louisiana Superdome down after   
   Hurricane Katrina basically destroyed it?  Some say refugees   
   destroyed the inside of it, while the storm did the damage to   
   the outside.  The federal government has since named the Superdome   
   to the National Register of Historic Places (thank you, Obama) ...   
      
    >> In dealing with   
    >> private institutions, they have to pay for their sports scholarships   
    >> somehow, so the non-jocks will still owe $200K when their done.   
      
    TR> And when we run out of the money of that *somebody* who's footing the   
   bills   
    TR> for all this...it fails.   
      
   It's all fiat money.  Play money.  Just like that monopoloy game   
   kids like to play.  When you run out of dough, the bank just prints   
   some more.  As much as needed.  For as long as the game lasts.   
      
    TR> Community college has been around for a long time. I had friends who went   
   to   
    TR> a community college in my home town who got excellent jobs later on in   
    TR> life.   
      
   Graduates of 4-year institutions have returned to school, attending   
   community colleges in order to learn a new skill or trade.  Sometimes   
   without having the need to take out a student loan.  That's right.   
   Somebody has to pay the bill for going to community college ...   
      
    TR> People who can't afford Harvard or Yale do very well in community   
   colleges.   
      
   Many people cannot afford to attend community college.  Should we   
   condemn those people to a lifetime of misery, forcing them to work   
   at substandard wages, making it impossible for them to pursue, much   
   less live, the American Dream?   
      
    TR> But..we are already paying for healthcare for people who aren't even   
    TR> citizens, educating children of people who don't even belong in the   
    TR> country, paying food stamps...welfare....yadida yadida....   
      
   It is the least we can do for our brothers (and sisters) in need ...   
      
    TR> What we DON'T need is more financial burden added to the vast burden of   
   debt   
    TR> THIS president has saddled us with.   
      
   He ain't heavy, he's my brother.  We owe it to ourselves to help   
   others in need.  Most especially those less fortunate than ourselves.   
   Even if it means sacrificing a small part of ourselves to do it.   
      
   --Lee   
      
   --- MesNews/1.08.05.00-gb   
    * Origin: news://eljaco.se (2:203/2)