I’ve had a busy day, which is rather strange, given that I’m supposed to be “semi-retired.”
Still, I’m winding ‘er down tonight and am listening to some cable news discussion of the day’s political events.
I heard the following: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders held a rally in Salem, Ore., in which he said that it’s time to provide free college education for every American who wants to get one.
I keep coming back to this question: How in the world are we going to pay for this?
Sanders’ pledge to provide free college education has helped him draw big support among young voters, who’ve added huge numbers to the rallies to which he’s been speaking.
Free college is a noble goal.
It’s also utterly unrealistic.
I have plenty of friends who are backing Sanders. Some of them are old folks … like me.
To be honest, I haven’t crossed paths with too many college-age students who are backing Sanders because of this pie-in-the-sky promise. I’ll need to catch up with some of them to get a better grip on how this free college pledge is resonating.
From my standpoint, though, a promise made from the campaign stump quite often doesn’tĀ translate toĀ responsible public policy.