I had to take some time to digest some of the President’s remarks from his State of the Union address before I wrote this, hence it being almost a week after the fact, but I have to ask….Did President Obama get one right in his State of the Union Address?

Wow; did I actually type that on the BoBoFiles!!? The Clown should be yanking my author rights in 5,4,3,2….

His comments about cutting Federal Aid for college funding pricked my interest, and the reason for that is simply that I’ve long said college tuition and higher education costs are completely out of control.

College tuition has out-paced the rate of inflation by margins that simply make no sense at all. I don’t have the exact figures for it at my finger tips, but one article on Fox news stated tuition had risen 8%…In one year. You can read that here: Fox News / Associated Press  Article Reports in one year, a 8% raise in tuition for a public school.

Now as you read on keep in mind that 8% rise in one year is in the middle of a economy that by any measurement is growing far slower that normal and some almost 30 million Americans are out of work.

I have my own theories of why this out of control tuition situation has happened and I will get to those shortly, but before I do, does any one see the irony in Obama’s staking a position like this? Overwhelmingly  the education industry in this country went for Obama. That’s simple fact. 3 of 4 College Employees, be they Professors, administrators or staff identify themselves as Democrats.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you….As you can see in the referenced FoxNews / AP article College administrators ain’t real happy with the presidents rhetoric…

For Obama to stake out a position as he did took me by complete surprise, note here, I am not saying he is right on the subject, I tend to agree with him on the issue in part, however coma, for different reasons.

So why is the price of college rising at 8% in a single year in a faltering economy with a reported  8.5 %  unemployment rate?

Two Words..First word, Oh wait, we can’t play charades on here…

Federal Student Loans.

Okay that was three. It’ Sunday morning …bear with me I’m still digesting my daily caffeine charge.

The institutions of higher learner have a golden goose, and they are loath to kill it. That Goose’s name is Federal Student “Stafford” Loans and Pell Grants , among a variety of other Federal government schemes to make college education “affordable”.

When Barak Obama took the helm in 2008, he immediately helped jack grants and Federal Loans by …go figure 8+ %.

Cause and Effect anyone?

The Universities know this, and they react accordingly, they know that Federal Goose is going to lay that golden egg every year, and they just keep on tacking on more and more costs and overhead to the price of a college education, cost of living and inflation be damned, it’ full speed ahead to belly up to the trough of Federal goodies.

A tenured professor’s average salary? In 2006, 81,491.00 According to this CNN Money article:  CNN Money Article

That was 5 years ago. If you figure in a 5% raise every year, it goes to 100K with ease for 2012. The median average income for the “middle class” in 2006? 43,000 and change, and I’ll bet the average income the last 4 years has, if not stagnated to a stand still, it’s going slightly backwards because if inflation.

This Federal subsiding of the Higher Education industry has served to completely distort the market place in higher education.

Progressives are quick to scream loud and long about the “Military Industrial Complex” and the cost of the Defense budget, yet they remain strangely silent on the matter of out of control college costs. Curious don’t you think? When you look at it though, it’s not actually, it’s not curious at all, the progressives as I noted above, own the Eduction Industry.

Having said that, it becomes simply a matter of selective beliefs, ergo defense spending is a waste of money, but don’t dare cut into the ” higher education” budgets.

And we’re the ones fo0ting the bill for it, via higher taxes, and miring ourselves with 10′s of thousands of dollars in debt to obtain a degree for ourselves or our children.

Another distortion brought on by both the Federal Government and Higher Education Complex  is the philosophy or conventional wisdom today  that everyone needs or is “entitled” to a degree, and the simple matter of it is that mantra is nothing but hog wash. Not to be flip but the world needs ditch diggers too, just like it needs people that can build a home, build a car, fix a truck, drive a bus, weld a ship…you get the idea.

College is a privilege, not a right, and due to the education industries and Federal Government’s meddling in the market place, you now have a many headed hydra called College Tuition that outstrips the pace of inflation, is causing almost a TRILLION dollars in public debt and is churning out “graduates” that are nothing more than indebted slaves to the banks as they try to pay of staggering amounts of loans.

Some think tanks see the looming higher education debt we are amassing as the next “housing crisis”, the next house of looming debt cards that is going to collapse the economy into another deep and painful recession… and the Neros in DC fiddle while Rome burns.

So was Obama right on this one? Maybe, I don’t think he was right per say in his thought process, he seems to ignore his actions of early on and is now once again as he has so many times prior looking for a “bad guy” to pin the blame on.

His rhetoric was more of a threat to me if anything, and predictably the howls of outrage started right on cue.

I will agree though,  he was right in the assessment that higher education costs are out of control and they need to be reined in, but rhetoric aside,  unforgettably for Mr. Obama, he is part of the problem, not part of the cure, as evidenced by his actions early on in his Presidency which only helped to perpetuate the ongoing higher education crisis in this county.

And on that note, I’m off, I need to go wash my tree killing, diesel swilling, Prius crushing Dodge Ram… See Bobo, I’m still an evil Conservative!!

TNM

Been awhile since I had time to check in here at the Bobo…

Yes CMBlake…I saw you post and was utterly  awash with guilt for not keeping my promise to keep the home fires lit here at the BoBo (um believe that one and I got some good beach front land in AZ for ya too.)…..but hey, life’s busy these days what can I say?

So I guess I will ramble a little about the debacle called the GOP primary ..Here we are for the most part about 9months out from the General Election, with 2 RINO’s and a “cranky old man” (McCain Ver. 2.0)  and  not a true conservative GOP  candidate to be found…*sigh*

These candidates the GOP  sent to forced down our throat are I guess, what we’re supposed to think of as the “best of the best”, the “Statesmen” we’re going to hand the keys to and tell them to run a nation with the largest economy in the world and of 300+ million souls. *Gak* (Sorry I choked on my beer there trying to get the word “statesmen” past my bullshit filter).

BTW ? How’s come I’m still seeing Perry Signs in SC where I am currently at..news flash SC..Perry is no longer running…Jus’ saying…I digress.

I find myself pretty much wincing at any of the three remaining candidates, I don’t know why the F-ing blankety blank  the GOP can’t get it’s act together, I swear it’s always this “lesser of too evils game with them.

Far as I’m concerned…..None of them are particularly “electable”, at least that’s the view from up here in the nosebleed seats.

I’m am going to laugh tho if Cranky Ol’ Ron Paul pulls off an upset, and a part of me leans toward voting for cranky old Paul … what the hell, why not? It CAN’T get any worse than what we have now…can it? Maybe Paul will be the force of  “Change” in the swamps of the Beltway…yeaahriiiight.

In all honesty He’s the MOST right on the issues that matter to me personally, just not so sure I trust this whole “Libertarian” movement thingy yet or not

. I can’t say why I don’t trust them specifically, it’s a gut feeling. Something about the “Libertarian” view / stance makes my brain itch, and since that seems to be where most of his support is, well there’s misgivings there.  His stances on foreign policy are tough to swallow. I’m not saying he’s wrong in his thoughts per say, it’d actually be okay with me, it’s just that it’s no longer realistic in the least to say we’re going to pick up our toys from around the globe and just go the hell home.

Gingrich? Mmmmno, if a man can’t keep his pecker in his pant’s after being married, he ain’t getting the football…nope sorry.

We’ll not mention also his flip flops on AGW,  and 2nd Amendment treachery  either..I didn’t forget Newt, I don’t think a lot of voters who cherish the right to keep and bear arms did either pal…Am I being a one issue voter? You betcha.

Romney..Not in this life time Mr Architect of Masscare which was purportedly  the model for the abortion of a Federal bill now dubbed” Obamacare…and oh BTW?  I know people from MA, & they hated you for  your sell outs on 2nd Amendment issues too..Now you want to sell out the REST of the country’s 2nd Ammendment rights….I donthinkso Lucy……Strike Two Mitt…you’re done.

Who was it that ever said I’m a one issue voter? Mheh.

**** UPDATE ****

Sorry folks, I realized this morning that I totally forgot about Rick Santorum …apologizes in advance for any confusion…..I’ll write about Rick later …I’m off to the salt mines…

Curious..

…because despite the non stop assault on the 2nd amendment from groups like the Brady Campaign and other anti gun movements like …… Mayor Michael Bloomberg (asshat NY) the Obama administration has been cursorily strangely…. even eerily quiet on the issue…why?

Why is it that even the Clinton administration which by all accounts and according to popular theory was a “centrist” administration (Uh…no they weren’t but thanks for playing) pushed and help passed much more binding and strict laws against gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment??

Don’t get me wrong here..I think the Clinton’s and Bloomberg’s of the world can go F themselves, the horse they rode in. and frankly….they can have me guns when they pry them from my cold dead fingers…I’ll give them my 20 plus guns..but it comes bullets first…you get the idea…..

I’m just very curious why the O admin has been so quiet about us “bible and gun clinging” people…could it be they know perhaps that is one briar patch they don’t wish to enter…I think maybe they do..

Maybe even a Liberal  like Obama and his people know..don’t poke sticks at a rattlesnake…..discuss…