August 26, 2013
bama's Crackpot Scheme to Make College 'More Affordable'
By Robert Weissberg

On August 22, the White House released President Obama plan to make college more affordable. It began with the usual boilerplate of the importance of "investing" in a college education and noted that the cost of college had soared 250% over the last 30 years, far outstripping inflation. To reduce costs, Obama proposed a medley of government initiatives, none of which will succeed; rather, shock of shock, all will further bloat an already oversized bureaucratic colossus. Nor will anything of educational value be created. But that said, this ill-fated initiative is still important, since it offers valuable insights into how Obama and his ideological kin understand cost-cutting. In a nutshell, the entire enterprise is Orwellian -- war is peace, and freedom is slavery.

Those familiar with business know about cost cutting -- slash payrolls, sell off unprofitable divisions, out-source tasks, automate, hire part-timers, and so on. Hardly rocket science. Indeed, thanks to ObamaCare and countless odious regulations, President Obama's administration has expertly facilitated corporate downsizing, so the Obama people should know the drill.

But matters dramatically differ when putting college tuition on a diet.

Begin with the obvious. A cardinal political rule is that thou shall not harm one vital constituency, and it is hard to think of a more loyal, energetic, and financially generous Democratic constituency than today's campus. These loyal voters will never be given pink slips, at least not by a Democratic president.

Less obvious, but ultimately of greater importance, today's universities, with scant exception, are vital to the long-term ideological health of the Democratic Party's progressive wing. If colleges are slimmed down, who will teach the next generation about "social justice" or the evils of the white male patriarchy? Imagine the ideological catastrophe if millions of students became well-paid plumbers versus reading Howard Zinn in in History 101. The president is right: sending nearly everybody to college is critical to America's future, albeit the progressive-flavored future envisioned by Obama.

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http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/08/o...l#ixzz2d4pB53UH