When President Obama announced via a Vine informercial shot on Air Force One that he planned to guarantee two years of tuition-free community college to anyone willing to work for it, students on Facebook declared the plan “epic” and President Obama the “BEST PRESIDENT EVER BASED ON THIS ALONE!” “Tears came to my eyes after watching this” wrote another student. “This president is incredible.”
Fast-forward five months and, though we’ve heard nothing about the free community college plan, we have watched the New York Times try to paint Sen. Marco Rubio as fiscally irresponsible for blowing around 80 grand of his book advance on a “luxury speedboat” while carrying a mortgage on his house.
That brings us to today, and to a speech by Gov. Chris Christie at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, in which he tried to explain that it is fiscally irresponsible not to go into debt to pay for college — the “typical liberal approach.” How many young minds were blown when they heard Christie say, “If college graduates are going to reap the greater economic rewards and opportunities of earning a degree, then it seems fair for them to support the cost of the education they’re receiving.”
As Salon asks, “Could he have chosen an audience less likely to be receptive to his message than college students?”
Chris Christie to college students: It would be morally “wrong” for you not to go into debt for your education http://t.co/6AQC99rISn
— Salon (@Salon) June 11, 2015
Perhaps he thought that trying to explain his position rather than resort to pandering and giveaways was just crazy enough to work. Readers of liberal outlets like Salon and Think Progress instead responded with charges of slavery and indentured servitude.
Debt-free college, Chris Christie said, is not the answer. “That is a typical liberal approach. It is wrong.” http://t.co/I2tf18qr1t
— POLITICO (@politico) June 11, 2015
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@Salon Another example of small govt and even smaller brained GOP bullshit. Education is an investment, we all gain.
— Matthew Gregory (@MatthewisTall) June 11, 2015
@MatthewisTall @Salon considering how many students are majoring in Useless Shit That Doesn't Matter already, I'm gonna say no.
— may ? @がんばりたくない (@cinnamonderella) June 11, 2015
@Salon That's funny coming from the morally bankrupt.
— Zed941 (@jmhenderson2006) June 11, 2015
@Salon #ChrisChristie, in that case it'd be morally wrong for you not to go into debt for your (waste of time/money) election campaign.
— Gyunghee Park (@GyungheePark) June 11, 2015
https://twitter.com/DickensKarina/status/609077682261868544
https://twitter.com/MykelBeyotch/status/609080138819604482
https://twitter.com/wallybook/status/609129679740534784
https://twitter.com/indydee/status/609090945036853249
@thinkprogress Just another example of how Republicans think of Americans unlike them – this is an insult to the future leaders of America!
— An American Patriot (@Ameriphil) June 11, 2015
The “future leaders of America” expect someone else to pay for their college tuition? Frightening but true.
@thinkprogress is he serious? #rhetoric
— MsButterflyV (@Vanessamiller27) June 11, 2015
@thinkprogress ridiculous.
— David Keegan (@lordkames1) June 11, 2015
@thinkprogress Another sign of his cluelessness. Can't we have at least one Presidential candidate who honestly faces current realities?
— Charles in Exile (@ergoking) June 11, 2015
@thinkprogress didn't we already outlaw slavery once?
— Jeff Treistman (@JeffTreistman) June 11, 2015
@thinkprogress I thought prostitution was illegal
— Jonatha A Swift (@JonathaASwift) June 11, 2015
@thinkprogress 21st-century slavery. Chris is behind it, I'm sure. (What about that compulsive overeating addiction, Gov?)
— Frank McEvoy (@FranktheMc2) June 11, 2015
@Salon as a university student I'm… kind of okay with this. We should think twice about whether that degree is essential.
— may ? @がんばりたくない (@cinnamonderella) June 11, 2015
@politico Forcing others to pay for your college is wrong.
— Chris Rossini (@ChrisRossini) June 11, 2015
@politico insane to think that they have a "right" to a college education on the free…same type of thinking that got us here…broke…
— Henry Parker Willis (@RangerHondo) June 11, 2015
https://twitter.com/LiberalsRNuts/status/609077974294491137
On a personal note:
Chris Christie doesn't want his daughter's annual $61,700 Notre Dame tuition bill going to a rock climbing wall http://t.co/LfuEiWplRx
— Joel Aschbrenner (@JoelAschbrenner) June 11, 2015
The Des Moines Register reports that Christie’s speech covered a wide swath of topics, including teachers’ unions, teacher tenure reform, merit pay, charter schools and greater disclosure of university expenses, such as rock climbing walls.
“Some colleges are drunk on cash and embarking on crazy spending binges, just because they know they can get huge revenues from tuition,” he said.
The most candid moment of the speech came as Christie bemoaned his daughter’s, $61,700 annual tuition to Notre Dame. He said parents should know if 2 percent of their tuition bill goes to, say, a new rock climbing wall.
“Do you guys have a rock climbing wall here?” he asked.
Christie buried his head in his hands when the crowd reluctantly answered, “Yes.”
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