It was only January when President Obama announced via social media his plan to offer two free years of community college to everybody willing to work hard for it. Within an hour, #FreeCommunityCollege was the No. 1 trending topic in the United States, and tweeters were declaring Obama “the best president ever based on this alone!”
By March, though, that hashtag had become #CollegeOpportunity as the president signed his Student Aid Bill of Rights, promising fair treatment when repaying student loans. Student loans? What happened to free?
Here’s what happened to free: it was adopted by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/600393173416935425
@ezraklein Obviously it won't be free, someone has to pay for it. Probably the 52% of people who PAY for the country.
— BigGerm72 (@PoliSnark2Day) May 18, 2015
well, you know. except for those who'll be forced to pay for it.@ezraklein Bernie Sanders's big idea: Make college free for everyone
— deplorable mule (@jarsthemule) May 18, 2015
@ezraklein No-cost-to-students education may be a good idea and it's certainly worth debate. But it definitively would not be "free."
— B. Roo Sweinberger (@BruceWeinberger) May 18, 2015
@ezraklein OK – as soon as the teachers, professors and administrators agree to work for free and pay the utility bills.#Free – LOL.
— Tom (@BoreGuru) May 18, 2015
@ezraklein I have an even bigger idea: Make everything free for everyone!
— Beelzebub’s Tesseract (@CJHerod) May 18, 2015
Don’t get too excited. The plan is apparently limited to public colleges and universities, so the Ivy League will remain out of your league.
"Big idea." "Free." https://t.co/TJt4JrO8zd
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 18, 2015
@charlescwcooke Again. Can't wait to tell the professors and administrators they are all now volunteers. #FreeEducation
— Mickey White (@BiasedGirl) May 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/ClarkHat/status/600398961934004224
@charlescwcooke Later we'll be asking "Who's big idea was that?"
— Mark O. Van Wagoner (@VanWagoner) May 18, 2015
@charlescwcooke @ezraklein Wouldn't it be easier for Bernie to list what he does want people to (directly) pay for?
— Ricardo 'Rich' Cromwell (@rcromwell4) May 18, 2015
.@ezraklein What sort of moron doesn't understand that nothing is "free"? That alone should disqualify the commie fool. @charlescwcooke
— William Keane (@largebill68) May 18, 2015
@charlescwcooke As long as all of the labor is provided for free, sure. Not like it can be worse than it is.
— Low Rent Ukrainian Sequel (@IKnowBO) May 18, 2015
@charlescwcooke Sanders gives the game away when he uses the word "investing" to describe his scheme. "Free" means "paid for by taxpayers."
— Lucky Eat-Anter (@LuckyEatAnter) May 18, 2015
Vox admits, “Details on how the Sanders plan would work are sparse,” but the legislation is expected Tuesday.
https://twitter.com/suwaneekate/status/600400350798024705
@charlescwcooke Hard to argue with that, the solution to anything that's expensive is just make it free! Elegant in it's simplicity really.
— Stewart Mills (@StewartMills21) May 18, 2015
@charlescwcooke Cake! FREE CAKE!!
— Arthur Kimes (@ComradeArthur) May 18, 2015
@charlescwcooke Also, magic jellybeans.
— Sierra Bravo (@NWInfidel) May 18, 2015
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