Per Wikipedia, the Third Way is an organization that tries to work with both right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of some center-right and centrist economic and some center-left social policies.
In other words, they try really hard to find ways to make both sides of the aisle happy, which is no easy task in this political climate. Today, Third Way came out strongly against free college, going so far as to call it regressive:
Free college for all IS regressive. Blanket debt forgiveness could actually increase inequality: https://t.co/YpT2D9kuJE
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 24, 2019
From thirdway.org:
In a world of scarce resources, prioritization of funds is critical. Yet the hefty sticker prices of free college proposals on the table today, which range from $47 billion to $97 billion per year, would do little to nothing to help the students who need it most. Instead, policymakers should consider policies that prioritize spending and actually make college more affordable for low-income students.
Making higher education more affordable and accessible is a necessity, but should taxpayer dollars subsidize tuition for the child of law partner or should it target the child of a teacher or the single mom trying to earn a better life for her family? When it comes to the popular bumper sticker of free college, buyer beware. Most free college programs are regressive, forcing working- and middle-class taxpayers to subsidize college costs for wealthier students. Instead of jumping on the free college bandwagon, policymakers should look at ideas that would serve the students who need help the most—because that is the only way to spark real progress.
They also wrote a detailed thread about this topic:
We believe the breadth of voices within the Democratic Party is one of its strengths. Here’s why we don’t believe #freecollege is the best policy solution. #thread
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
The cost of college is part of the problem. Hands down. But free college doesn’t fix the quality crisis in #highered. And we aren’t just talking about for-profit schools—which get attention but aren’t the only problem. https://t.co/5l5tlPUfL3
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
Right now, only 58% of students graduate from college within SIX years. And that stat only covers first-time, full time students—leaving out a growing pool of nontraditional students. The avg grad rate is lower for African-American and Hispanic students. https://t.co/jASaiFkqt7
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
All students—but especially those counting on a degree to get them a middle-class job—deserve schools focused on doing their part to help them. Far too many leave significant numbers of #students with debt and without the degree and increased income they expected to pay it off.
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
That matters because two-thirds of all jobs in the US — including 18 of the fastest 30 growing professions — require some sort of postsecondary education. https://t.co/F8Bx9WIeZL
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
Making college free doesn't do anything about the institutions today that accept money from students and taxpayers and year after year fail to help huge proportions of their students graduate with a degree that improves their circumstances.
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
Top institutions that get high outcomes don’t accept nearly enough low-income students. That needs to change. They could and must do more. https://t.co/63sCEBdJch
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
And there are accredited schools that actually leave students worse off than when they started. 273 four-yr institutions leave most students making less than $28,000 (the avg HS grad) within SIX years. https://t.co/xWYpt5ST83
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
It's unconscionable. That’s not an issue of personal failure—that’s a systemic problem of schools failing to deliver their end of the bargain while students and taxpayers bear the costs.
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
We know a number of institutions serve lots of low-income #Pell students AND graduate them at high levels. So there’s no reason to accept, much less give trillions of tax dollars, to schools that aren’t at or making progress toward delivering a high quality education.
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
Care about equity in education? We should be fighting to ensure ALL schools serve students well—pushing more to learn from high performing institutions and have consequences for schools that fail to take steps to improve outcomes for their students.
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
And we should help students and families know clearly which schools are working as hard as they are to help them complete their degree. Most don’t know that 2 similar-looking schools produce wildly different results for the same degree. https://t.co/I5q8GGfTrZ
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
Making college free without doing anything about the larger quality crisis opens the spigots to upper class students & high-income earners and does nothing to address institutions that actually harm students + hold many back from opportunity.
— Third Way (@ThirdWayTweet) June 25, 2019
In other words, there is a whole lot more to this so-called ‘free stuff’ than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have thought about or ignored. No wonder AOC got so snippy with them … facts often make socialists cranky.
It’s wild to think that Third Way has gotten along with its “sensible Dem” charade as long as it has.
I’ve met Trump voters, Ind. voters, but I can’t recall a single voter I’ve met in the US that IDs as a “Third Way Voter.”
Just admit you’re a Wall St advocacy group & move on. https://t.co/5VOFByEUhV
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 25, 2019
Interesting how AOC can’t be bothered to actually debate their points and instead just goes after them with a personal attack.
So typical.
They’re right.
— Dr. Cheeseburger (@tomburkart) June 25, 2019
Which is why she’s so mad.
Screech it seester
— Sandpit (@rev_entertain) June 25, 2019
I don't like your ideas so you must be a Nazi or a Wall St shill.
If you have a economic degree, draw the supply and demand curves.
— Bernie for Politburo 2020 (@FuTB12) June 25, 2019
AOC: Trick question. Supply & demand curves are a tool of the racist patriarchy. In a truly free & democratic economy, "supply" is replaced with "loving acts of kindness & giving" & "demand" is replaced with "loving need to pay it forward"
Bec economy should be based on love pic.twitter.com/B8DhGxleLq— #LearnToCode (@LearnTo73637432) June 25, 2019
AOC isn’t worried about being factually right as long as she’s morally right.
Or something.
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