In a preview to the State of the Union, on Thursday President Obama
unveiled plans to make 2 yrs of community college free for those willing
to work hard. Details were announced Thursday evening and the full announcement came on Friday.
President Obama said, “Put simply, what I’d like to
do is to see the first two years of community college free for anybody
who’s willing to work for it,” he said. “It’s something we can
accomplish, and it;s something that will train our workforce so that we
can compete with anyone in the world.”
This plan will require congressional approval, but
judging from the initial reaction to the idea, the White House has hit
another political home run. For the third time in less than two months,
President Obama has caught repugicans completely off guard. The
expectation is that congressional repugicans will immediately turn up
their noses at the plan. Boehner and McConnell will roar that the
country can’t afford the cost that will come with developing a
better-educated workforce.
After creating nearly 11 million jobs over the past
57 months, which is the longest streak of private-sector job growth on
record, President Obama isn’t about to sit still for the last two years
of his Presidency. In fact, he is going to work to implement the ideas
the American people re-elected him (in a landslide) to do. In spite of he repugicans.
The President said of his last two years, “My
presidency is entering the fourth quarter. Interesting stuff happens in
the fourth quarter.”
Community college free for two years? What a great
way to even the playing field for those who are willing to work hard.
There is nothing more fundamentally American than opportunity for hard
work.
The latest idea by the president is another body
blow to the new repugican mislead Congress, who believed that this
week was going to be their victory lap. (The repugican victory lap has
so far consisted of getting mired in a racism scandal and passing a bill
that the president is certain to veto.) Once again, President Obama is
two steps ahead of his opponents. The repugicans are left on the defensive
and wondering what this president will hit them with next.
Update: The White House released a fact sheet on the President’s proposal Friday morning. You can read it here.
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