Hello Tim,   
      
    TR>>> why pay anything? It'll all be free!'   
      
    TR>>> It's time some of them were held accountable.   
      
    >> Over the last thirty years, college tuition has increased   
    >> by over 1,120 percent.  That is according to the Wall Street   
    >> Journal.  I'll take those numbers as being credible.   
      
    >> The cost of college tuition has increased three times   
    >> faster than the consumer-price index.  And twice as fast   
    >> as medical care.  That is in the last ten years.   
      
    TR> That's because the government is footing the bill for a large number of   
    TR> those `going' on student loans.   
      
   Loans are paid back, with interest, over time.  Students gain   
   by getting an education, thus better jobs.  Taxpayers gain, as   
   the cost is repaid, with interest, plus future taxes (revenue)   
   are increased as a result of students graduating (better job   
   offers equating better pay meaning higher taxes).   
      
    TR> Any time you get the government (make that read `taxpayers') paying out   
    TR> money to fund something...outfits are gonna milk it for everything they   
   can   
    TR> get.   
      
   Oh, come now.  You have to spend money to make money.  The best   
   way to do that is by spending other people's money, rather than   
   your own.  Now doesn't that make sense?  I mean, that is the   
   purpose of government, is it not?  Government is supposed to work   
   for us, given the fact that government is us.   
      
   Getting government to fund something that benefits me is a good   
   thing.  If you could get government to fund something that benefitted   
   you, you would undoubtedly think it would be a good thing as well.   
      
   Making college free would benefit everyone, not just you and me.   
   Why?  Because those graduates would then be earning higher incomes,   
   meaning they would be paying higher taxes, thus enabling government   
   to increase the number of government programs.  See how that works?   
      
    TR> My anger gets raised whenever I see some high-falutin professor or in   
    TR> industrialist get in front of  microphone and start off by saying how   
    TR> honest and upright their `opponent' or competitor `ought' to be...and then   
    TR> without batting an eye start talking about how `costs' are going up so   
    TR> their prices or tuition is going up as well!   
      
   It's all relative.  So what if the cost of gas is $100 a gallon?   
   If you have the dough to buy the gas, everything is fine.  But if   
   the cost of gas is 25 cents a gallon and you do not have the dough,   
   then what does it matter what the cost is?  Right now, the cost   
   of oil is $29 a barrel.  There are 42 gallons of oil in 1 barrel.   
   Do the math.  What is the cost of gas today?  Talk about do a 69.   
      
    TR> A good example of that was the `$600 ash trays they were installing in jet   
    TR> aircraft built for the military.   
      
   That was either an accounting error (most probable), or a glitch.   
   Hard to imagine being an intentional act, as that would be considered   
   being a form of embezzlement (very illegal).   
      
    TR> That would have made me, as a congressman on a military purchasing   
    TR> committee, demand a close scrutiny of any and all government contracts set   
    TR> up for the military.   
      
   There are bound to be some (accounting) errors, especially in areas   
   of defense, given the massive costs necessary to spend in order to   
   keep this nation safe.   
      
    TR> They probably never did.   
      
   Look at the OMB.  It is massive.  Spending on defense is just part   
   of that budget.  There will be some errors, not just in the area   
   of defense.  That does not mean $600 per ashtray or hammer or other   
   trinket is actually spent.   
      
    TR> Or if the did it was quickly glossed over because the `taxpayer' is the   
    TR> biggest cash cow in the nation!   
      
   Computer dollars and real dollars are often two very different things.   
   The so-called $$$ that politicians often cite as having been cut from   
   the budget are fictional $$$.  Those $$$ never existed in the first   
   place.  Cutting nonexistent funds and then claiming to have cut the   
   budget is a form of gloating that many politicians have mastered.   
      
   An example is food stamps.  Everybody who needs food stamps is   
   able to get them.  The (annual) total amount of food stamps equates   
   to the cost of 5 fighter aircraft.  Only about 30 percent of the   
   total amount of food stamps are actually "spent" (administered by   
   states to those who need them).  Politicians then "cut" the food   
   stamp budget, so as to do away with government waste.  But no   
   actually funds are actually cut.  It is just computer dollars.   
   The same number of people continue to get the same number of   
   food stamps.  But on paper, the federal budget was "cut" by   
   a certain percentage.   
      
   Meanwhile, inflation continues to rise.  Taxes on the middle   
   class continues to rise.  Underemployment continues to rise.   
      
   Salaries for working people have remained stagnant.  The costs   
   of health care continues to rise.  The costs for those on fixed   
   incomes continues to rise.  No COLA in three of the past seven   
   years for those on social security ...   
      
   Republicans want to nominate a billionaire for president.   
   Democrats are flirting with the idea of nominating a socialist.   
      
   What is this world coming to?   
      
   Scary thought, isn't it?   
      
   --Lee   
      
   --- MesNews/1.08.05.00-gb   
    * Origin: news://eljaco.se (2:203/2)