Obama Wants to Make Community College Free, Because Why the Heck Not?

The White House

President Obama teased the nation Thursday night with promises of a glorious "free community college for all" plan. And really, who can be against free stuff?

Obama made the announcement while aboard Air Force One en route from Detroit to Phoenix. He offered few details but did say that the first two years of community college should be free for people putting in the effort to learn those skills:

"Put simply, what I'd like to do is see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it. That's right, free for everybody who is willing to work for it."

Of course, "free" really means "paid for by someone else." I don't think the president is offering to reach into his own pockets to pay everybody's tuition fees, so taxpayers can probably expect the cold hands of government to reach into theirs instead.

On the other hand… free! It's a fun word to say, that's for sure.

Obama will offer a full explanation of his proposal during his forthcoming State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 20. Citizens can expect to hear about lots of other "free" things they will be required fund.

Comments

[Warren]

Put simply, what I'd like to do is see everything free for everybody who's willing to work for it. That's right, free for everybody who is willing to work for it.

[CE]

Does he mean like, in the US Army or ObamaCorps? Or is he just putting up his future speaking fees as collateral and taking out a giant loan?

[DarrenM]

How can it be free if you have to work for it?

[Agammamon]

Isn't *everything* free to those who work for it?

I mean, you trade labor for it (that's what 'work' means') even if sometimes you trade labor for a fungible commodity (*cough-money-cough*) and then convert that into education.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

He is the master of saying nothing

[Tman]

This guy just went on the floor of a Ford plant today -the one US Auto company that DIDN'T completely sell out to Uncle Sam- to brag about how his policies saved the Auto Industry.

Obama touts nation's economic comeback

He says a considerable amount less than nothing.

[blighted non millenial]

and at a freaking idled plant no less...

[OneOut]

Wasn't this plant "temporarily" shut down for a lack of demand for their product, hybrid vehicles during the week of this speech?

I wonder if the union workers are still getting paid ? Non union workers ? In all righeousness I guess they should be. The executives who over forecasted demand and the ones who decided to shut down production surely are.

So why not the little guy who had no hand in those bad decisions but dedicated his work ?

The President and other Poles pushed the green subsidies. TOP MEN used the subsidies in place of a personal investment to secure guarranted financing to produce this product that won't pay for itself.

just askin'

[Tman]

Gas at under $2 a gallon pretty much destroys any economic argument for Hybrid Vehicles, worse than it does when it's $4 a gallon.

Investors want a return; cars don't sell=no return.

But everyone gets paid anyways 'cause Obama decided paychecks for Union Auto Workers ARE FREE!!!

YAY!

[Jim Smithy]

we all know gas prices will never go up again.

[plusafdotcom]

Yes, and that assumption is implicit in everything the Presidebt will be saying and all of the panic-mongering of the mainscream media, too.

Fools... who believe that Anything OR Everything has the tendency to stay the same Forever.

Fools! Especially O and most all of Congress.

[Cloudbuster]

"I wonder if the union workers are still getting paid ?"

Really? You have to wonder?

[Bgoptmst]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to see the irony.

[mhclupe]

Ain't that the truth?

[Copernicus]

What is that "willing to work for it." thing doing in there?

If I have to work for it, it ain't free.

[Anonymous Coward]

How about free Harvard for everyone?

I mean, just look at what it did for Obama.

[Sevo]

"I mean, just look at what it did for Obama."

Yeah, but look what it did TO the country...

[Cloudbuster]

We'll just make *all* universities and community colleges Harvard. All campuses around the nation are now effectively branch campuses of Harvard university! Everyone gets a Harvard education! And it's free! Oh, and we'll raise the minumum wage to $100 an hour! Everyone will be well-educated and prosperous! Nothing can go wrong with this plan!

[Muzzle of Bees]

I mean, the only reason this hasn't happened is because the Kochtopus has colluded with Wall Street and the rest of the one percent and co-opted our democratic process for their own nefarious ends. We'd have already installed these programs by force if we were just free!

[Kristian H.]

"Put simply, what I'd like to do is see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it."

Seriously? I have a free $2000 if you are willing to work for it. Specifically, paint my house. Oh, you mean government work? Well, I don't have anything that easy. Sorry.

[Tommy_Grand]

I think it's an awesome idea. Require every Community College to 'educate' students in exchange for student labor only. Forbid tuition. That's what he means, right?

[Dirt McGirt]

What kind of labor? Like "getting in peoples' faces" or yelling at white people eating eggs?

Or will just voting [D] do?

[Tommy_Grand]

yelling at white devils. I like that

[Copernicus]

and their deviled eggs

[Dr Fallout]

Funny, when I eat deviled eggs, I yell out of my anus.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, let's put community college tuition out of reach without subsidies, too.

More bubbles! MORE BUBBLES!

[Episiarch]

Bubbles give people the impression that they're getting something valuable because the thing they're getting that isn't worth very much cost them way more than it should (see: housing bubble). So they're happily shouldering way more debt than they should (in the form of student loans, mortgages, etc) for something that they should instead be pissed that it costs that much.

I'm not saying that politicians actively try to create bubbles such as these. But they do promote policies that cause them for different reasons, and then they keep them going as long as they can because until the bubble bursts everyone thinks (well, except for non-idiots) that their house is worth a ton or that they got a top-notch education because they paid so much.

A lot of people are stupid. Especially about finances.

[Paul.]

Especially about finances.

Initially I read that as fianc?s.

'Cause I was totally on board.

[Puddin' Stick]

I'm not saying that politicians actively try to create bubbles such as these.

That's Paul Krugman's job.

[plusafdotcom]

^ that! And idiot-Krugman will NEVER include any points about how 'making something free' like that Just MIGHT have Some Side Effects that he's not about to admit to... ever.

I hate that guy!

[Tman]

BUBBLES EVERYWHERE!

[Episiarch]

Bubbles?

[Paul.]

In Hawaii, their bubbles are tiny.

[Robert]

You want bubbles, I got bubbles (with libertarians in the middle of them):

http://users.bestweb.net/~robgood/lather.htm

But all this is silly. Obama can promise all the free stuff he wants, knowing this Congress will never pass it.

[soflarider]

So it's the fault of Congress that people are uneducated. Brilliant!

[JWatts]

Every young person in America would have a College degree, but Republicans stopped it. Because they are EVAL!

[utabintarbo]

What?!? You don't think the American people will not see this for the boondoggle is it?!?

Yeah, me neither. 🙁

[SusanM]

How does this guy just not get it? He went from a Democratic super-majority and a lot of positive momentum and even though he's lost all of that with one dumb idea after another he just can't get it.

[See Double You]

Doubling down on "free shit" appears to be the best course of action to him.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

He wants to recapture the magic of 2012.

[Paul.]

This. Free shit is really the one thing that excites his base.

[PapayaSF]

This way, in 2016 Democrats can run against the evil Republicans who refused to give free college to everyone.

[JWatts]

+2 years of FREE government day care

[Copernicus]

Incumbents give away "free shit" to buy votes.

Challengers have to do it the old fashioned way.

The important thing is to use someone else's money.

Bonus points if you can buy votes using your opposition's money.

[SusanM]

I think a lot more people than the commentariat think know that "free" isn't free, and, at this point, even most of the ones who do think that way know by now that Obama's "help" usually comes with a huge catch.

[See Double You]

I believe most of those people you mention know there is no such thing as "free," but believe the policy is "helpful" and, most importantly, is free to them.

[Paul.]

I dunno, I know a lot of otherwise smart people who think that government stuff can in fact be free.

[See Double You]

Free to them, dude. Free to them.

Who cares if those fat cat 1%'ers get stuck with bill! They're oppressing some helpless worker somewhere, anyway.

[JWatts]

Right up until they get the bill. And then you get this famously ironic comment:

"Cindy Vinson is among the "big believers in the Affordable Care Act" (aka ObamaCare), and she is "proud to say [she] helped elect and re-elect President Barack Obama, ... Unfortunately for Vinson, her health insurance policy now costs $1,800 more per year, a hike necessary to make the policy "conform to all the requirements of the new health care law. Vinson was shocked(!) to learn this. She said,

"Of course, I want people to have health care; I just didn't realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally."

[UCrawford]

I would argue that the latest election indicates that there are fewer and fewer of those people the longer Obama's in office.

Always important to remember that the most common "representative" voice we hear, talking about how "real" people think, comes from liberal press outlets...the same liberal press outlets that have been getting their clocks cleaned by Fox News for years now.

Nixon might have been a horrible President, but he did have a point when he talked about not forgetting the silent majority.

[Jerryskids]

It's not just the "free for everybody", it's the "if they want it" that makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. What he's really talking about is expanding high school to 14th grade. It won't be free and it won't be optional.

Teachers will applaud the idea, of course - that's two more years they'll have to attempt to have all most some a few of the kids reading at a fifth grade level.

[buybuydandavis]

Another two years for the teachers union to cash in on teaching you nothing.

[JW]

I see Obama's target audience.

[mr lizard]

Um exactly which one dumb idea... I counted two

[SusanM]

Well, Obamacare is fractally loaded with bad ideas in and of itself.

[mr lizard]

Meh, I always thought his run on gun control was the turning point

[Sevo]

SusanM|1.8.15 @ 8:30PM|#
"Well, Obamacare is fractally loaded"...

Wonderful phrase! I'm thieving that.

[Puddin' Stick]

His plan is that when Republicans see the price tag, they'll refuse and then the Democrats can run against them saying that the Republicans opposed free money for education.

[SusanM]

At this point I don't credit him with enough intelligence to come up with a plan like that. I'm becoming more tempted to buy into the Kenyan Reptoid conspiracies just so I don't have to accept that such an intellectual lightweight could be President.

[UCrawford]

I think the lack of intelligence is probably accurate.

Look at the man's entire history in academia...it's about as uninspiring a resume as you could ask for. He was an unimpressive editor of the Harvard Law Review (a position he was able to obtain only by a rule change dismissing a grade and publishing requirement). His grades are pretty much a state secret (likely because they're either mediocre or terrible)...despite his constant references to his own intellectual abilities. There are no copies of anything he wrote either as an undergrad, law student, or as an "academic" publicly available. After law school he was offered no clerkships or jobs at law firms.

When you consider that he also struggles to speak coherently when he's off-teleprompter (as well as the dumb things he says), there's a pretty compelling case to be made that Barack Obama isn't a very smart person. But of course you're racist if you suggest that a black man who owes his entire education to affirmative action might not be the sharpest tool in the shed.

[Paul.]

Yep, I think you nailed it on the head. Who can be against educating our children?

[JW]

But, just think of how appreciative his base will be.

Because everyone knows that you always conserve, treasure and protect that which has no value to you.

[Raven Nation]

It may well be that he believes the idea that the people were just too dumb to understand everything he has accomplished. Therefore, you come up with a simplistic idea for simple* people.

Simple here can also refer to smart people (e.g. academics) who don't grasp reality.

[OneOut]

He doesn't care what most others think.

It took me a few of his first speaches to learn that he doesn't care what you think.

He thinks his thoughts are beyound refute.

[flye]

Free what now? Oh, it's State Of The Union season. He's just beta testing some applause lines.

[flye]

"My fellow Americans, I'm proud to report that the State of our Union is HAM."

[C. Anacreon]

If that doesn't test well, next he'll try Bean with Bacon.

[gaijin]

He's just beta testing some applause lines.

It's his gift to us...a free speech.

[BoscoH]

Who died and made him Sofa King?

[Sevo]

..."And really, who can be against free stuff?"...

Why, nobody! I really want some free booze tonight! Who could be against free booze?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The Ladies Temperance League?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I'll give you some free booze.. if you work for it 😉

/whiteheterofratmalerapedculture

[CE]

Me. I pay for it.

[sarcasmic]

As it is, many high school graduates are leaving school with an eight grade education, and this is not acceptable. By giving students two years at a community college, they can now take remedial classes to get themselves up to a tenth grade education. This is most certainly an improvement from the status quo, that is a result of my predecessor's crowning achievement called No Child is Left Behind.

/O'Bummer

I tried to go on, but couldn't do it.

[Episiarch]

Jesus dude for a second I thought you were actually quoting him. That's where my estimate of his intelligence is at this point.

[sarcasmic]

His speeches have a certain candence to them.

[flye]

Might be better in Transcript form:

As it is, many high school graduates are leaving school with an eight grade education [APPLAUSE], and this is not acceptable. [APPLAUSE] By giving students two years at a community college, they can now take remedial classes [APPLAUSE] to get themselves up to a tenth grade education. [APPLAUSE] This is most certainly an improvement from the status quo, [APPLAUSE] that is a result of my predecessor's crowning achievement called No Child is Left [APPLAUSE] Behind. [APPLAUSE]

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You left out:

[FOCUS ON SCOWLING GOP MEMBER]

[flye]

[VP BIDEN GIVES THUMBS UP AND WINKS AT TEEN GIRL IN AUDIENCE]

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And where is the "Let me be clear"?

[Old Man With Candy]

And the use of "Too often..." before "Many high school graduates..."

[Irish]

Relevant video for creepy Biden.

[C. Anacreon]

You left out:

[FOCUS ON SCOWLING GOP MEMBER]

Don't they also usually have a little cartoon demon with a pitchfork on the SCOWLING GOP MEMBER's shoulder, egging him on to cut educational benefits and eliminate the 'pathway to the middle class' for the poor? Cut to fat bald white guy with a big cigar snorting laughs as he holds up full canvas bags with greasepaint dollar signs on the sides).

[JPyrate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77xfD4TM6_s

[Episiarch]

Fucking Cyrus.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I can think of three Cyruses - The Great, Billy Ray and Miley.

[Puddin' Stick]

McCormick...

You've heard of International Harvester, haven't you?

[Swiss Servator, Winter...jetzt]

I AM A JOHN DEERE MAN!

[OneOut]

If these free classes would teach vocations and work skills I would applaud.

I fear they will be remedial in nature as to shoehorn more students through the student loan route to a.....

PhD in CisGender with Regards to Women's Studies While You Work On A Democrat's Local Camapign For College Credit degree

Last semester an Ivy League school offered a class for credit that had students working on a campaign for free.

Surprisingly all Ivy League students worked for Dems. They all lost and the Prof called in a grief counsler to "help" them get over their loss.

So I see this as a way for CCs to eventualy offer the local Dems some free door knockers.

[GregMax]

More people competing for limited jobs doesn't solve the problem - particularly when companies will soon be compelled to pay what the government requires.

[Copernicus]

Give him credit.

This is the first time he has started a sentence with "put simply" and then actually put it simply.

[asleepawake]

No duh Obama isn't going to pay for it himself. This is an article? Isn't this common sense? This is Reason, right?
I'm completely willing and able to pay taxes that go towards making smarter individuals who can get better jobs. Education is key. It seems like this article was created just for people to make Obama jokes in the comments section. Lame.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

C- Try harder.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm going for "attempt at satire".

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Emphasis on attempt

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I finally clicked on your handle. Thank you for the laugh.

[Old Man With Candy]

Needs moar quadroons and octaroons.

[Ken Shultz]

I don't think you can spoof real live Obamabots anymore.

No matter how ridiculous you try to make it sound, Salon was way ahead of you, and they were totally serious.

[Horatio]

I don't think fleecing taxpayers is ethically Right with a capital R, ok? But I do think it's understandable.

[mad.casual]

Reason really needs to take the high road and fleece taxpayers just to provide people a free comments section for making Obama jokes to those that are willing to work at it.

[JWatts]

I don't think ... ethically Right with a capital R, ok? But I do think it's understandable."

That comment needs to live on in infamy. There are very few acts that are so heinous that you couldn't wrap that comment around them.

Example:
"I don't think the genocidal purges were ethically Right with a capital R, ok? But I do think it's understandable."

[OneOut]

Begining satrist.

[flye]

No extra credit DRINK points for "This is Reason, right?" ?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Missed that. Good catch

[JPyrate]

Fuck I'm drunk already.

[Bardas Phocas]

Ya got us there, sleepy.

[Irish]

This is one boring troll.

[d3x / dt3]

We really don't attract the good ones.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm surprised Obama doesn't sign an executive order to build a monument to himself on the National Mall.

Abraham Lincoln has one. The only people against it would be the racists, and, besides, building it might create jobs.

I can't believe anybody would be against it. This is a site called "Reason", right?

[JPyrate]

Please Ken don't make me drink anymore.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

He came out against temporary jobs after the stimulus but before Keystone

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I know of two Keystones - one's a pipeline and the other is (I can only assume) a drain cleaner.

[S. Quincy]

And a beveled rock worshipped by Pennsylvanians during their bizarre pagan rituals.

[Jim Smithy]

keystone....i just vomited a little in the back of my mouth. thanks.

[MJGreen]

His memorial should be a statue of his likeness standing next to Lincoln, with his hand on Lincoln's shoulder and an "I got this" smile. Maybe cross out the Gettysburg address and put up his speech on race relations or something.

[Ayn Random Variation]

"If I had a slave owner, he would look like you."

[Jordan]

If you're willing and able to pay for it, then why aren't you doing it?

[Hyperion]

I'm completely willing and able to pay taxes that go towards making smarter individuals

Sorry to break it to you, weedhopper, but looks like the tax dollars have failed you.

[Jordan]

It's really nice of him to volunteer everyone else's wallets as well.

[Sevo]

..."It seems like this article was created just for people to make Obama jokes in the comments section."...

Naah.
We don't need an article for that; Obo's lies are more than sufficient.

[Bardas Phocas]

NOW I can the get the job of my dreams - Phlebotomist!

Thank you Barry!

[Old Man With Candy]

That's what my brother in law did after getting a BA (magna cum laude) in Philosophy. When people asked about why he took a job like that, he replied, "US Philosophy Corporation wasn't hiring that year."

He had the last laugh. Worked for the VA, retired on full pension at the age of 50.

[mad.casual]

NOW I can the get the job of my dreams - Phlebotomist!

Not just you, any broke, near-entirely unmotivated IV-drug junkie on the street would qualify!

[vahtryn]

Brilliant idea since after all our average college student in America only has a 6-7th grade reading level.

[Hyperion]

Why if community college were only free, everyone could wind up a super smart rocket surgeon like Tony! Then we could be saved!

But instead, seals and polar bears die while us anarchists partay!

Cops are the bad guys, while we partay!

Everyone at UVA gets raped, while we partay!

The sun is only 3 billion years from becoming a red giant, while we partay!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Orphans polish our monocles while we partay!

[JWatts]

"The sun is only 3 billion years from becoming a red giant..."

Come on now. We can collectively stop Global Warming if we just enact a Carbon Tax.

[Irish]

I saw an article a few weeks ago that relates to this, in that it really shows that progressives don't understand supply and demand, education or economics.

The article said that 'people without a high school education' haven't seen their wages improve since 1975.

Did you spot the mistake here? Ding, ding ding! Since the 1970's the percentage of Americans with a high school diploma has increased drastically.

This means that in 1975 only about half of all Americans graduated high school. Today, the number is close to 90%. That means that people without high school diplomas in 1975 might be in the 40th or 50th percentile of American education, whereas today, because so many more people graduate, a high school graduate is in the bottom 10% of all Americans.

As a result, you're not comparing the same cohort. You're comparing the average income of the bottom half of America in 1975 to the average income of the bottom 10% in 2014. If you wanted to see the change in wages, you'd have to compare the bottom ten percent in 1975 to the bottom 10% in 2014 in order to compare like to like.

Similarly, if everyone graduated from college, it wouldn't improve incomes because a college degree would be made worthless by everyone having one. We could get our college graduation rates up to 100% if we just gave everyone a diploma, but we'd be worse off if we did that.

[JPyrate]

Irish I see you have worked with a "Few" college graduated waitresses. =)

[Irish]

Fuck:

whereas today, because so many more people graduate, someone who doesn't graduate high school a high school graduate is in the bottom 10% of all Americans.

Irish I see you have worked with a "Few" college graduated waitresses. =)

No, but I dated a girl who wanted to get a Ph.D in 'medieval studies.'

I'm sure that would work out wonderfully given that there are about 7 of those jobs open in a given year.

[JPyrate]

Dealing with them gets better when they have a degree in "Womyns Studies" =)

[Puddin' Stick]

I'm sure that would work out wonderfully given that there are about 7 of those jobs open in a given year.

Lately, I've seen a push (lead by Liberal Arts colleges) to redefine liberal arts degrees like one in medieval studies as not "worthless":

Furthermore, more than 21 percent of liberal arts and humanities graduates work in the top five professions in terms of annual salaries.

What the schools don't tell you (but is mentioned in that article) is that a liberal arts degrees are most useful in getting into a grad school to study something more useful if you don't like working as a waiter or HR rep.

[Warren's Strapon]

I once tried to date--by which I mean, tried to sleep with--a woman who graduated from Berkeley (or maybe Stanford) with a degree in Ancient Greek.

I mean, sure, it's possible to turn a hobby into a career...but not that hobby.

[OneOut]

That would be more revelant information if we knew what the standards of a "high school diploma" meant in 1975 vs. today.

Maybe some of these CCs will use the money to teach some job skills. Many high paying jobs exist in certain trades today that don't require a bunch of electives in some compulsory courses.

[Puddin' Stick]

That was a point I was about to make... Since 50% of Americans graduated from HS in 1975 and 90% today, perhaps the modern HS diploma has become the equivalent of a 1975 ES diploma and a modern BA/BS has become the equivalent of a 1975 HS diploma.

I've thought for a while that maybe we should adopt a more German-style system where college-bound kids go to HS while trade-bound kids go to trade school (the German system is a bit more complex, though).

[Seamus]

"This means that in 1975 only about half of all Americans graduated high school. "

When I graduated from high school, they had taught us to say "graduated *from* high school."

(Yeah, I know: "Language changes, grandpa. Suck it up." I hear it all the time.)

[Episiarch]

There's a Greendale joke in here somewhere. Something Dean Pelton would say.

[Krieger's Waifu]

More like a Britta joke.

[CE]

Why not just skip college entirely and make 12,091 dollars last month working just a few hours online?

[Jordan]

That sounds more legit than whatever Obama's scam of the week is.

[d3x / dt3]

OMG! You've seen those posts too?!

[Hyperion]

If you've lurnt yourself how to run the computer, you can make $8,546 a month working only 1500 hours a week on your sisters's laptop!

[flye]

[APPLAUSE]

[Rasilio]

Dude just wants more women to get raped

[Bardas Phocas]

He's the Bill Cosby of Community College.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Who doesn't? I mean we are libertarians right? That is part of our platform isn't it?

[Paul.]

This is winner of thread.

[goodoldsam]

How could you visit Detroit and still think this was a good idea?

[Libertarian]

Bowling Green. Cabrini Green. Six of one......

[UCrawford]

Wrong Rust Belt shithole...Cabrini Green was in Chicago. 🙂

[userve32]

Sounds like a plan to me dude. Wow.

http://www.Real-Privacy.tk

[Alice Bowie]

Obama is a Dinosaur that belongs in the basement of the Museum of Natural History.

What blacks, the poor, and the non-elite members of the American Society never realized is that not having a degree was an excuse for excluding these people mentioned.

As labor becomes more and more obsolete in America, more and more people will be out of work. Not everyone is cut-out to be a high-tech bla bla bla.

The average worker and unskilled person that wants to work and wants to contribute to this society is pretty much cut out of the picture. Once it mattered since the businesses depended on the American Consumer. Now that globalization had added billions of consumers and as the third world moves up, the average unskilled person in America is DONE. Regardless of whether they have an Associates Degree or not.

[Hyperion]

As labor becomes more and more obsolete in America, more and more people will be out of work. Not everyone is cut-out to be a high-tech bla bla bla.

Agree on that.

Regardless of whether they have an Associates Degree or not

One of the dumbest things I have ever heard. I sit on interviews for hiring tech workers all of the time, at least several times a month, and I can tell you that a person with an AAS or even no degree at all will get the job over someone who has a masters and cannot convince us that they are the best person for the job. Totally off here, not even close. Try harder.

[Alice Bowie]

I'm a technology Manager as well.

I am speaking of an unskilled average worker and not a person that went to school or taught themselves JAVA.

I have a guy without college degree that has several people(from India) with Masters that report to him.

[Hyperion]

I am speaking of an unskilled average worker and not a person that went to school or taught themselves JAVA.

How does a person that didn't go to school have an Associates or any degree?

Most of the problem today is not that people cannot learn, it's that they don't fucking care because we have geniuses like Obama teaching them that it doesn't matter.

[Sevo]

Alice Bowie|1.8.15 @ 9:36PM|#
"I'm a technology Manager as well."

Stick with tech, Alice; you're a fucking idjit otherwise.

[Unreconstructed]

Stick with techmanagement, Alice; you're a fucking idjit otherwise.

FTFY

[Irish]

As labor becomes more and more obsolete in America, more and more people will be out of work. Not everyone is cut-out to be a high-tech bla bla bla.

Bullshit. You'll notice that the unemployment rate was near historic lows before the financial crash and the labor force participation rate didn't drop until then either.

There is no evidence whatsoever that improving technology causes unemployment. It has never happened and there is not one scrap of proof it is happening now. The more likely explanation for high unemployment and low LFP is that the economy crashed and has not rebounded for a host of reasons. It has nothing to do with labor becoming obsolete, and I am getting incredibly annoyed with people making this claim while providing no evidence on its behalf.

[Episiarch]

I am getting incredibly annoyed with people making this claim while providing no evidence on its behalf.

Well you better get used to it, dude, because you are going to see a ton more of it. It's been gaining ground as a bullshit talking point for some time now. If that sockpuppet is spouting it, you can bet your ass it's getting it from somewhere.

[Irish]

You know why they do it, right? The stimulus didn't work and the mixture of a massive recession, gigantic government intervention, and the job killing aspects of Obamacare have resulted in a crashing labor force participation rate.

As a result, they have to come up with some argument (even if they have no evidence to support it) so that they can argue that the LFP collapse is 'natural' and has nothing to do with their own failed policies.

This is why I don't trust left-wing economic arguments. The left is always desperate to claim that decline is natural and that there's nothing we can do about it. You saw this all the way back in the 70's when the British Labour Party was talking about 'managed decline' and you're seeing it all over the place in the western left of today.

If the left actually believed in their policies' ability to improve the state of humanity, they would not constantly come up with excuses for why nothing can be done and we're doomed despite the best, noble efforts of progressives who only wish to save us.

If you think you can save us, you wouldn't be claiming there will be a labor apocalypse regardless of what policies you implement. This puts the lie to the left-wing claim that they even give a shit about the material betterment of mankind.

[Irish]

I don't know if you've noticed, but libertarians and conservatives are always arguing that their policies will cause the improvement of the masses, both rich and poor. Progressives, meanwhile, basically argue that we're guaranteed to be stagnant now or stagnant in the near future, and that massive wealth transfers are necessary because of the looming threat of gigantic unemployment and widespread poverty.

They don't even believe their own policies will cause any substantive improvement. It is their own stated position that the only goal should be to try and provide people a modicum of comfort when Armageddon comes.

If you don't believe your own policies will improve things, then why the fuck should I pay any heed to your positions?

[OneOut]

It's jobs saved that counts, not jobs created.

Remember Hillary told us not to believe that corporations and business's create jobs.

[John Titor]

Stop trying to use reason for this situation and help me throw these shoes into these automated looms!

[NotAnotherSkippy]

+1 Kim Cattrall

[Sevo]

John Titor|1.8.15 @ 9:32PM|#
"Stop trying to use reason for this situation and help me throw these shoes into these automated looms!"

Ned! How ya DOIN', man?!
You have to meet Alice up thread a bit. You guys have a lot to discuss!

[Hyperion]

People are actually probably going to be out of work because technology is moving so fast. How we deal with that is yet to be seen, but I'm sure that as politicians try to force their non-solutions instead of letting the market work it's wonders, the problem will get worse.

I guess what I am saying is that workers are going to be displaced through ever faster evolving technology and the the government is going to exacerbate the problem by trying to solve it, but not being able to even remotely keep pace. If not for that the transition might be a lot smoother.

[Alice Bowie]

I agree with you 100%.

You made my point much better than I did concerning people being displaced faster.

I doubt the market will fix this.
If there's no demand for unskilled and antiquated labor, there's simply no demand and no market.

[Hyperion]

I doubt the market will fix this.

Well I surely hope that you don't think politicians are going to fix it. They don't even understand technology, let alone know how to manage the proliferation of it. They are effectively luddites, and dishonest and even malicious ones at that.

[OneOut]

They are NOT dishonest.

Insider trading is perfectly legal for the Members of Congres caste.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

I disagree. A lot of technology is actually slowing down and becoming more expensive. Look at the semi world. A modern fab costs $14BB. Only a handful of megacorps can afford to invest in that and so the designs that they produce have to be global in volume and scope. Long gone are the days of little fabs dotting the land. Instead we've got a few fabless design houses, 2-3 foundries, 2-3 huge vertically integrated shops, and that's it.

Same is true in much of biotech, but that's not quite a bad.

Software isn't as constrained but that's going to be more and more a contract job.

We really need some new technology that has lower barriers to entry that can support a huge number of mid-range shops just like the semi world did 20-30 years ago.

[MarkinLA]

The loss of fabs was due to the high cost of maintaining them and always being up to date on the latest technology. The development shops have simply gone fabless and and have outsourced that.

This has actually lowered the barrier for technology companies. There are plenty of small companies designing their own ASICs Application Specific ICs. They utilize the design tools necessary and send the files to the fab and get the wafers back for testing or contract the testing, cutting and making of chips to the fab or another company.

The medical products company I worked for designed and built their own chipsets to place on hybrid substrates. Any tech company can do the same. The only problem is that small quantity purchasers like us had to wait sometimes for the fab to finish large orders to do ours because we only bought 20-50 wafers at a time.

[Alice Bowie]

Technology kills off jobs and creates other jobs.

Take the Elevator Operator, for example.
When he lost his job he was FUCKED. He didn't go and get trained to be an elevator computer technician, somebody else did.

When creative destruction occurs, the person doing the job that was destroyed is SCREWED. And there's no denying that.

But that is besides my point. My point is that as the rest of the world steps up, the American Unskilled Laborer is dead meat. Which I'm sure is a-ok with you guys.

[See Double You]

When creative destruction occurs, the person doing the job that was destroyed is SCREWED.

No, that is not true. Many if not most move onto a different trade. They have to.

[Alice Bowie]

That use to be not true. But people are being displaced faster and faster not only to creative destruction but to outsourcing, near-sourcing, and the influx of high-skilled people.

Even the mediocre Visual Basic Programmers of 1999 (that use to make $75 to $100 per hour in NYC) are hard up to find jobs paying $45/hr. Some retrained. Most that I know retired and left the industry. Luckily for them, they made a lot of money and had assets to move upstate or down south and become authors, time-share salesmen, etc.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Damnit, I want my stasis!!! The world should never change or make me change! It's not fair!!!

Congratulations on becoming a real conservative.

[Alice Bowie]

I'm a Buddhist. I know things change and are constantly changing. I'm not saying that they should not be changed or that change is even possible to stop.

As a bleeding heart very left-leaning libertarian, I think we have to have some compassion for those left out. Or they may not be nice to us...as history has shown before.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

So preemptively be not nice to me by stealing my money to prop up those you think don't need to work/invest/make smart choices so that they won't be not nice to me.

Great thinking.

[Sevo]

Alice Bowie|1.8.15 @ 10:06PM|#

...As a [...] libertarian,"...

You're nothing of the sort. You don't even have a clue as to what the word means.
You're a slaver. Fuck off.

[Copernicus]

".As a [...] libertarian,"

You're an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill.

[GregMax]

* rubs sweat off head *

[MJGreen]

I always love the welfare-as-extortion argument.

Better pay the poor off, or they'll start chopping heads!

[Sevo]

MJGreen|1.8.15 @ 11:11PM|#
"I always love the welfare-as-extortion argument.
Better pay the poor off, or they'll start chopping heads!"

Pretty sure this is Piketty's book in one sentence.

[UCrawford]

Even the mediocre Visual Basic Programmers of 1999 (that use to make $75 to $100 per hour in NYC) are hard up to find jobs paying $45/hr.

Sure...if all they learned was VB. Stagnant skills mean that eventually your salary potential drops. The VB programmers who wanted to stay employed eventually learned things like C+ or Python or Ruby when those languages became more prevalent.

You have a valid point in your comment, but it's undermined by your apparent belief that workers are incapable of increasing their skillset on their own at an affordable cost. This is simply not true.

[John Titor]

Because the elevator operator of course had no other job prospects beyond the one that required no skill whatsoever. And those companies and institutions that had to exist to train elevator computer technicians certainly didn't provide other jobs, including unskilled labour positions, as well.

This is, of course, why the emergence of the automobile lend to the Great Buggy Whip Maker Unemployment Riots of 1924.

[Irish]

This is, of course, why the emergence of the automobile lend to the Great Buggy Whip Maker Unemployment Riots of 1924.

I love the debating skills of leftists. Their arguments are obviously false based upon all historical data and all available evidence, yet they put forth their statements as if they were the unerring word of God. Example:

When creative destruction occurs, the person doing the job that was destroyed is SCREWED. And there's no denying that.

He says 'there's no denying that' without bothering with such bourgeoisie niceties as providing evidence for this claim.

Alice Bowie, sagacious prophet of the Prog God, has decreed it so, and none shall contradict her noble Gospel.

[Alice Bowie]

Gee Irish, u really got it out for me today.

I come here to debate and not to claim that my words are from the Koran.

[John Titor]

Start by providing actual data rather than anecdotal examples that don't actually support your thesis (instead they just show that shockingly the world doesn't exist in stasis). Also, RANDOMLY CAPITALIZING words to STRESS what you think is IMPORTANT makes you come off like one of those nuts with an 'End is Nigh' sandwich board.

[Irish]

I come here to debate and not to claim that my words are from the Koran.

Then you shouldn't make apocalyptic pronouncements about impending DOOOOOM and then claim 'there's no denying that' when you make a tremendously tendentious and debatable argument.

If you came to debate, give evidence. Don't just assert things sans proof.

[Sevo]

Alice Bowie|1.8.15 @ 9:54PM|#
"I come here to debate and not to claim that my words are from the Koran."

In which case, you need to start with verifiable data for your debate, instead of worn-out lefty cliches.

[Copernicus]

"I come here to debate and not to claim that my words are from the Koran."

M: I came here for a good argument.
A: No you didn't; no, you came here for an argument.
M: An argument isn't just contradiction.
A: It can be.
M: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.
A: No it isn't.
M: Yes it is! It's not just contradiction.
A: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.
M: Yes, but that's not just saying 'No it isn't.'
A: Yes it is!
M: No it isn't!

[cavalier973]

It's "Being Hit on the Head Lessons" in here, Cope.

[John Titor]

I'm starting to think that expecting some awful disaster or apocalyptic event is programmed into a lot of humans' brains. Something to do with not having to deal with natural predators on a regular basis so we have to hypothesize something that will greatly disrupt us.

[Alice Bowie]

Something to do with not having to deal with natural predators

Given this dog-eat-dog world, do you not think that other humans are the natural predators of humans?

Look at poverty, war, holocaust, terrorism, crime, the police, Justin Beiber...It's all caused by humans.

[John Titor]

Not by the actual biological definition of predation. Pretty much any animal that gains a certain level of social cohesion engages in similar behaviour (dolphins rape and fight, chimps engage in warfare, orca pods are basically slave nomads, etc.).

[Irish]

Look at poverty, war, holocaust, terrorism, crime, the police, Justin Beiber...It's all caused by humans.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No way! Poverty is caused by humans? How? Poverty is the natural state of existence. The only creature to effectively free itself from poverty is humanity...well, us and the various domesticated animals we brought along for the ride.

A hyena is impoverished. I am not. Nature causes poverty; we defeat it.

As for war, you should go check out an ant colony sometime. Those little buggers commit mass genocide if another colony happens to open up too close.

The things you're describing are the result of the natural state of existence. Nature is violent, and human beings, alone among the animal kingdom, have managed to carve ourselves out a niche where we can live in the sort of peace no animal could conceive of.

You proved my point. This is the most peaceful time in the history of the human race and you're somehow claiming we should be super upset because war hasn't yet been completely eliminated.

[Alice Bowie]

But u said nothing about Justin Beiber???

[John Titor]

Hyenas live in crippling poverty, and they also give birth through a penis. Seriously, thank god we're not hyenas.

The poorest in our society live better than the richest nobles and monarchs two hundred years ago. Horrible common disease epidemics are a thing of the past in most of the world. Smallpox is fucking gone. Warfare has massively decreased in the past fifty years. We're literally living in the most prosperous, peaceful and healthy period of humanity's history. We take a lot of shit for granted is what I'm saying.

[Copernicus]

I do not get your non-comprehension, Alice.

Never in the history of the planet has a species had it so easy as humans do right now.

[Irish]

I'm starting to think that expecting some awful disaster or apocalyptic event is programmed into a lot of humans' brains. Something to do with not having to deal with natural predators on a regular basis so we have to hypothesize something that will greatly disrupt us.

Either that or we just lower the threshold for what we should worry about and end up with people bitching about unimportant bullshit. This is how you end up with shrieking hysteria about the dread scourge of manspreading and have conservatives weeping horribly at the terrible sight of a flag being burned.

I agree with you. People just want to claim they're living in some sort of end times without regard for how well they actually have it.

You see this among libertarians too when they say that we will certainly have a gargantuan economic collapse at some point in the next 3 months. Then that three months passes and, like the environmentalists who are always readying themselves for doomsday, the time line just gets moved back a bit.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

I worry far more about a European managed decline. Barry must be really, really sad over Charlie Hebdo because he's desperate to turn the US into France West.

[Irish]

When creative destruction occurs, the person doing the job that was destroyed is SCREWED. And there's no denying that.

There is denying that because a lot of people move to a new job. The only way you can argue 'there's no denying that' is if you seriously believe it is impossible for someone to move to a new industry. You do realize there is such a thing as 'transferable skills,' correct, and that when one job becomes obsolete, there is going to be another job in which your skills are applicable. This is especially hilarious:

Take the Elevator Operator, for example.
When he lost his job he was FUCKED. He didn't go and get trained to be an elevator computer technician, somebody else did.

Do you really believe that someone who lost their job as a fucking elevator operator could not get a new job? Really? How much did the elevator operator get paid? He could probably make a similar amount of money stocking groceries, and it isn't like you need specialized skills to do that.

Unless you think there was a mass of perennially unemployed elevator operators following their obsolescence, your argument is obviously false.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

You're an idiot. The American Unskilled Laborer is dead meat because labor is expensive. Since its inception the US has been automation friendly because we've had a shortage of cheap labor. The elevator operator is gone because he was too expensive not because some 3rd world starving kid took his job.

As always adaptability is your best defense against obsolescence.

[Alice Bowie]

I think this is what I said.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

No, you said:

When creative destruction occurs, the person doing the job that was destroyed is SCREWED. And there's no denying that.

The reality is that most elevator operators went and did something else. Why? Because we didn't have the retarded Welfare/Theft system we have today. Survival can make people do amazing things. It can even make them work. (horrors!)

[Alice Bowie]

If there is work.
My dad put me thru catholic school in the 1970s working for a factory. I challenge and Educated American to try it today. There is simply less work.

As far as Welfare/Theft systems are concerned, this idea may need to be re-thought as less job opportunities exists for the regular guy that is unskilled, unconnected, and has no in with the elite.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

I can't believe someone actually pays you.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PAYEMS

Clearly there is no work today. Clearly fewer people are working now than in 1970. Please bring up wages. Please?

[Irish]

My dad put me thru catholic school in the 1970s working for a factory. I challenge and Educated American to try it today. There is simply less work.

The unemployment rate in the 70's (as well as the LFP) was actually pretty similar to what it is today.

As far as Welfare/Theft systems are concerned, this idea may need to be re-thought as less job opportunities exists for the regular guy that is unskilled, unconnected, and has no in with the elite.

Then you're wrong because all the claims you've made are disproven by looking at a goddamn graph of American unemployment rates over time.

[Copernicus]

Alice, you have a job so that pretty much refutes your argument.

[MarkinLA]

This is not something that is natural it is simply a political choice.

When the automotive companies started using robots, the PC industry was maturing and most of the PC and its components were all made in the US. Plenty of jobs were opening up in the companies making the chips, disk drives and PCBs for OCs as well as many other industries. Now those jobs are all gone. That is what is wrong the jobs that would replace the old ones being automated away are now in China.

[MarkinLA]

PCBs for PCs

[JPyrate]

"Obama is a Dinosaur that belongs in the basement of the Museum of Natural History."

And you voted for him, because he was perceived to be a "minority"

"unskilled person"

Fuck Off. I hope you DIAF

[JPyrate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD_SlOqvhPs

[JPyrate]

Die In A Fire. =)

[See Double You]

Now that globalization had added billions of consumers and as the third world moves up, the average unskilled person in America is DONE.

Tiresome "zero-sum game" arguments are tiresome.

[GILMORE]

This is basically a stimulus for Grad Schools

Because when he's done devaluing a bachelors degree to zero, everyone's going to need to be in school until their 26 before they're allowed to join 'the real world' - where, naturally there will be no actual jobs.

It will be just like Egypt = a nation of PhD-holding cab-drivers

[Sevo]

"It will be just like Egypt = a nation of PhD-holding cab-drivers"

Come to SF. You won't believe the credentials of the tattooed female pouring your coffee.

[lap83]

The one thing community colleges have going for them, besides already being dirt cheap and transferable to four year universities, is the small class sizes. Making them "free" would cause class sizes to explode while also causing the supply and quality to decrease. So why does Obama hate community colleges?

[JW]

This.

My plan is to send my spawn to CC, so they can stretch the money we've saved for them, by not blowing it all on a 4-year tuition, while getting a comparable and decent 1st and 2nd year education.

So, this cunt's plan should be fucking everything right off into the ground, just about the time they arrive.

[Hyperion]

I was just thinking... want to see what everyone else thinks about this.

You know how we occasionally have some trolls or just random proggies show up, post a few idiotic things and then are never seen again?

Do you think they sometimes see their proggy friends the next day and tell them how mean libertarians are? I seriously lol when I think about this. Maybe we are mean?

[Rich]

There may be some who react similarly to libertarians visiting a proggy site: "Damn, I can't believe what idiots those people are! That's the last time I waste my time and braincells there!"

[Hyperion]

I spent months posting on HuffPo. I don't think most libertarians are easily discouraged. I may not have changed many minds, but I did have a few nice experiences. I've personally had more luck with face to face debates to the point that a conversion happened, as rare as that is.

But it seems to me that most proggy type posters that come here are not actually looking for a debate or to convince anyone of anything. I sense that they just want to tell you that you're wrong and skip the whole logic and debate thing.

[Rich]

I've personally had more luck with face to face debates to the point that a conversion happened, as rare as that is.

Ditto. And, from my experience, it takes repeated conversations over a long time.

I sense that they just want to tell you that you're wrong and skip the whole logic and debate thing.

Well, proggies, don't ya know!

[buybuydandavis]

"I don't think most libertarians are easily discouraged."

Whereas proggies are herd animals thrown into an existential tizzy when someone questions their moral premises.

They're used to Republicans saying "Your have good intentions, but..."

They go apeshit when Libertarians say "You're a thug who wants to point guns at his neighbors." They just can't take it.

What is interesting to see is the recent invasion of Proggy writers here at Reason. Will we get sick of them and move on? Proggies win by taking over institutions. Is Reason next?

[Irish]

How many proggy writers are there? I only really pick that up from Noah Berlatsky.

God, I hate him. I hate him so much.

[Sevo]

Hyperion|1.8.15 @ 9:33PM|#
..."But it seems to me that most proggy type posters that come here are not actually looking for a debate or to convince anyone of anything. I sense that they just want to tell you that you're wrong and skip the whole logic and debate thing."

I think l's represent a real threat to proggies that conservatives don't. It's easy to dump on a conservative who truly is a racist or hates gays.
We threaten to take the proggie's platform and add freedom to it; that'ss threatening.
So, yes, they come here to promote the 'bent' definition of libertarianism they heard about from their drunk buddy who read the first chapter of "Atlas Shrugged", and they are not in the least interested in learning about what we think.
What's more, they claim to BE 'libertarian' (see commie kid and alice), so they can claim to promote freedom while denying it.
Fuck 'em; they deserve all the grief we can offer.

[GILMORE]

No, the dynamics on comment-boards are pretty much the same everywhere.

We're no different than anyone else; which isn't to say they aren't dicks *also*. Just that we're not especially more or less dickish than the average internet chat-forumn.

Well, maybe a little. But that's not our fault. We attract the worst of the leftist trolls, and we consequently shoot anything that looks funny on sight. GET OFF MAH LAND!!

[MJGreen]

Haha, our trolls don't have friends.

[lap83]

Damn, you're probably right and it almost makes me feel sorry for them. Almost.

[Brian]

This.

I remember when it used to be that trolls seemed like they were having fun. The idea used to be that they'd go into some community and get them completely stirred up and angry, while the troll themselves, not really caring, sat back in apathetic amusement at the shitstorm. The troll was having a good time, while the trolled were butt-hurt.

Instead, now we have ideological trolls, who come here already butt-hurt. They start throwing out ad hominems almost immediately against the entire community and libertarians in general, they argue with total earnestness, and, from their tone, they act like they're frothing at the mouth, enraged, and two-seconds away from their heads exploding because of how crazy libertarians make them. And they do this over and over again. Think Mary, Tony, AmSoc, etc.

It's like trolling in reverse: instead of coming into a community and riling them up while enjoying it, they show up as if libertarians themselves have already trolled them into an obsessive rage by their mere existence. Like they're here on some ideological, kool-aid drinking mission that they can never complete, but never walk away from. It's like libertarians occupy some large portion of their heads almost constantly. They make trolling look like work, as if it's some community service for the ideologically enraged.

So, if you enjoy old school trolling, you really don't have to put any effort in. Just hang out, and the butt-hurt come to you.

[Rich]

Obama will offer a full explanation of his proposal during his forthcoming State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 20.

"A full explanation"? I sincerely doubt that. More likely the proposal will end with "And if Congress refuses to act ...."

[John Titor]

TANSTAAFL motherfucker, do you know it?

[Rich]

Oh, he knows it. Just remember what he told Joe the Plumber.

[Len Bias]

I wonder what "work for it" means.

If it means, they will actually have to do work, I can only imagine the outcry over the horrid working conditions and so on, so that they eventually we will keep the "free" part but do away with the "work for it" part.

[Rich]

FTFL: What students have to do: Students must attend community college at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and make steady progress toward completing their program.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Register as a Democrat of course.

[Alice Bowie]

Great debate guys !!! Other than being told to fuck-off and die, most of you were rather respectful...including you Irish.

Good nite !!! and KEEP DOPE ALIVE

[John Titor]

Jesus Christ, can someone make an app that can detect when you're high as fuck and ban you from making comments* at that point in time? Because between Bowie's Sandwich Boards and me arguing with John for an hour over whether he was having a freakout I'm starting to think this site and pot don't mix.

*Agile Cyborg not included because He Speaks For The Elder Gods.

[Sevo]

Fuck off and die, alice.

[Copernicus]

As long as you're breathing, dopes will be alive.

[goneGalt]

What sort of "programs" does Obama have in mind?

Set aside the TANSTAAFL maxim for just a moment. Are they looking to fund 2 year AS degrees in sociology, psychology, journalism, arts, etc.? Those aren't exactly the most marketable SKILLS. The taxpayer will get little bang from those bucks. On the other hand, if they are talking about funding vocational programs, some could argue there is a tangible benefit to be found. But let me suggest a modest proposal.

BRING BACK SHOP!

We're already paying for 4 years of secondary education. Why not integrate vocational training into high school. Instead of trying to shove everyone into a college track, why not expose them to some alternative careers that might actually be in demand and make them some money?

*Looks around nervously for angry teacher union mobs

[buybuydandavis]

BRING BACK SHOP!

Oh no. We need more community outreach specialists.

[Ayn Random Variation]

I applaud the President for offering to pay for people's education. What a generous soul.

[MJGreen]

He's so generous and bold, I didn't believe what he said at first; I'm glad he repeated it!

"Put simply, what I'd like to do is see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it. That's right, free for everybody who is willing to work for it."

That's great that you'd like to see that, bro. I'd like to see my paycheck triple this year, but I don't think that's feasible.

[C. Anacreon]

Hey, I can play this too!

What I'd like to do is see my cancer completely cured and get my first blowjob in quite a while.

I'd probably be satisfied with just the second part, Mr. President, as I know the first is even more unlikely than you finding a way to fund both pre-Kindergarten and two years of college for free for everyone nationwide, in a country that already has a $17 trillion debt. But a BJ for everyone eligible in this country could probably be accomplished for less than a mere $10 billion (while actually likely leading to a more demonstrable benefit for the recipients than would those three extra years of public school).

[Ayn Random Variation]

That degree? You didn't pay for that. Someone else made that happen.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Until you pay back your student loans...that's true.

[cavalier973]

Sorry; I got here late. In which community did Pres Obama want to prohibit colleges?

[lap83]

The one in which he feels responsible for organizing, so all of them.

[Agammamon]

So, anyone see Archer tonight?

[Krieger's Waifu]

I smell toast...

[XM]

Healthcare cost rising in CA after ACA -

http://www.latimes.com/local/p.....story.html

If there's any state is crazy enough to try free community college, it's CA.

[Sevo]

From the link:

"The mountain of medical bills threatens to undermine Gov. Jerry Brown's efforts to strengthen state finances ? his central promise of the past four years."

The LAT finally notices that CA employee benes are extravagant?!
And moonbeam's "central promise" is to strengthen the state finances?!
Ha and ha! Jerry's bay bridge has run something close to 5X budget, and now he's pitching his choo-choo.

[Warrren]

Free tuition leads to people wanting to keep it and any threat to it leads to riots like in Britain.

It's an excellent way to create another dependent, and easy to organize and mobilize group.

[cavalier973]

If anyone is interested, we just tried Hyperion's wing sauce recipe. It's not bad at all. A bit warmer than I generally like.

A piece of advice: buy fresh celery. I got some of the "pre-cut" stuff, and it had a cinnamon flavor to it. It kind of messed up the experience.

[Copernicus]

Wing Sauce? More like Weak Sauce!
Har Har Har Har

Sorry, I'm just a little tired.

Enjoy your wings.

[cavalier973]

Did you try it, too?

I've done the "traditional" recipe, which is Frank's Hot Sauce with butter, full stop, and wasn't too impressed.

Hyperion's is as follows:

? 1 Cup Louisiana Hot Sauce
? a quarter stick of butter
? One Tablespoon mustard
? one teaspoon vinegar

[Warrren]

I don't see any mention of orphan parts in that recipe. How good can it be?

[cavalier973]

It's "Louisiana" Hot Sauce. It's made with the blood of slaves left over from the Civil War.

[Warrren]

Oh, old school traditional! I like it!

[John Galt]

Wow. No wonder it tastes so good.

[Warrren]

My wife and eldest daughter were talking and as I walked by the kid said "I didn't choose the sugarfree option on purpose!"

Well, thank whatever gods or anthropomorphized nature aspect for that!

[cavalier973]

"piketty" is now a word in the Urban Dictionary:

v. to fill in missing data with a wild-ass guess; to reconcile a deficiency in data by making shit up that gives you the result you desire.

Named after celebrity economist Thomas Piketty, who filled in the gaps in his argument by making up numbers and passing them off as historical data.
I forgot to save my receipts for that meal, so I'll just piketty the expense report, claim it was $1000, and take a vacation with the difference.

I guess I should've studied for that test more. I pikettied half the answers.
by wealthinequality November 01, 2014

[Mike M.]

Not only is there no Friday Funny this week, but I have to wake up to this. Such a disappointment.

[John Galt]

I hope you're mistaken about the no Friday Funny ( the high point of my weekly grind ). Expecting a nice Charlie Hebdo style funny this morning just to show libertarians have so much spine we're perfectly willing to have the sacred offices of Reason violently assaulted as proof.

[John Galt]

It's been my experience that community college is already practically free for anyone willing, and able, to juggle the school plus work daily schedule.

[milkandcookies]

At first I was angry, but then I wondered how different is this proposal from the existing system. The average cost of CC according to the College Board is about $3400 per year. http://trends.collegeboard.org.....or-2014-15 The average Pell Grant recipient receives $3,651. http://www2.ed.gov/about/overv.....aadmin.pdf
(Page AA-12) Unlike the Pell Grant, however, this proposal requires a minimum GPA.

[Mike Laursen]

Let's see, how many Federal community colleges are there? Oh, zero. So, why is the President of the Inites States promising something he cannot deliver?

[Tony]

You guys think your rights are free. Or that somehow me paying for your right to cops and courts isn't stealing, because, well, you need that stuff.

[chmercier]

Meow 🙂

[chmercier]

So, now we know that Obama is both utterly divorced from reality and too lazy to do five minutes of Google research on community colleges.

Most community colleges only have two year programs.

However, I wouldn't discount that it's intentional - the whole tenure of cc being free.

Either way, Obama's an insufferable tool.

[Necron 99]

Paid for by money freely stolen from your pockets.

[Taberlario]

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link,
go to tech tab for work detail ????????? http://www.jobsfish.com

[Chumby]

My (D) congressman ran for Governor against the polarizing (R) incumbent who won the first term with just 38% of the vote. One of his ideas to get votes...I mean make education more available and affordable was to make the second year of the state university system "free." When asked how it would be paid for he had no idea. He lost the election.

[silverfish]

What The Actual Fuck

[sheilarklinger]

$89 an hour! Seriously I don't know why more people haven't tried this, I work two shifts, 2 hours in the day and 2 in the evening?And i get surly a chek of $1260......0 whats awesome is Im working from home so I get more time with my kids.
Here is what i did
?????? http://www.paygazette.com

[plusafdotcom]

http://www.plusaf.com/linkedin.....-tests.jpg

[plusafdotcom]

http://www.plusaf.com/falklaws.htm#11th

Falk's Eleventh Law:
"Nothing is Free."

Lose the word from your vocabulary. Somebody pays.

The cost may be INCLUDED, but it's never zero! Not even the air you breathe. If you want it cleaner, it's going to cost someone to make it cleaner.

There is always a cost. Think about this every time you see the word "free"!

----And don't forget: "The Government" never really "pays" for anything. You do. Or your neighbor does. Or both of you. But not the "Government"

[@ShawingtonTimes]

If Obama slashed the military budget, all public colleges could be **FREE** for all citizens, but foolish American's get all giddy and happy about the crumbs the federal government doles out (in the form of free community college for the few) while at the same time they enrich protected anonymous millionaires and billionaires cronies, who profit off tax payers backs, to create weapons of mass destruction and the slaughter thousands of innocent people in never ending unconstitutional wars.

[Harun]

This story hit my Facebook page first with LIV really excited about it.

CC is already very cheap, 70% subsidized by taxes, and Pell grants can be used to actually give you money to study, i.e. you get more than tuition. Other financial aid means that CC is already free for almost everyone who is poor or lower middle class.

I highly suspect this is just vaporware designed to make the Democrats look good and to allow attacks on those miserly mean-spirited Republicans!