Cuomo to Propose Free Tuition at New York State Colleges for Eligible Students

[octoberlib]

Source: New York Times

ALBANY - Gov. Andrew Cuomo will announce a plan on Tuesday morning to offer free tuition at state colleges to hundreds of thousands of
middle and low-income New Yorkers seizing on a popular liberal talking point on the eve of national Republican ascension.

Under the Governor's plan any college student who has been accepted to a New York state or city university - including two year community colleges - will be eligible provided they or their family earn $125,000 or less annually.


Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, is expected to unveil his proposal at an event in Queens alongside Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who had sought their parties presidential nomination with a similar stance last year, arguing that student debt was crippling the prospects of generations of young Americans.

Mr. Cuomo hopes for a quick start for his idea, with a three year roll-out beginning in the fall, though it will require legislative approval, a potential snag when the governor and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been at odds over a pay raise and other issues.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/nyregion/free-tuition-new-york-colleges-plan.html?module=WatchingPortal&region=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=none&state=standard&contentPlacement=1&version=internal&contentCollectio

[alarimer]

1. I thought free stuff was bad??

I can't keep up.

(This is a good idea, whoever proposes it.)

[rolypolychloe]

2. Thats the difference between a Democrat and a Republican

The Republican party is the billionaire party, but there aren't enough billionaires to ever win an election. There are, however, plenty of under-educated people who will believe anything. That is the Republican parties base and they do everything possible to grow it. They cut education funding at every opportunity because educated people won't vote for them. They come up with education reforms like "no child left behind" which leaves every child behind. They fluoridate the water so that everyone that consumes it drops 8 IQ points. PBS funding is continually on the chopping block. Whatever it takes. They have been very successful in this endeavor. The United States is now ranked 29th in the world as far as education goes.

Educated people vote Democratic so it makes sense that Cuomo is pushing for free education to counter the Republican efforts. I am not sure I agree with free. When I went to college, it was a state funded school and it was $250 a semester, which I was able to earn at a minimum wage $1.25/hr job. That seemed right to me, putting some skin in the game.

[stuffmatters]

3. Great idea and pay for it by putting a NYState "sales tax" on Wall Street.

Politically it's what our Party stands for. Hope Ca follows suit....perhaps by financing these state scholarships by figuring out a way to tax behemoth Silicon Valley tax cheats like Google and Apple, who have avoided paying Ca state and local taxes where they are hq'd.
Those corps have enjoyed the educational. infrastructure, protections etc for decades that middle class taxes have been forced to pay for them.

It's time for the few states where Dems still have power to show the rest of the Country not only what Dems stand for but also that our increased benefits to Americans are possible. Seems to me, in my long lifetime, some of the most important national changes happened because they started at a state level and then other states wanted the same benefits.

[Corey_Baker08]

4. I've never had a problem with Gov Cuomo...

Should i?

[Hortensis]

5. Good. We already have "have" and "have-not" states,

but most cons are in denial. Let's see them keep it up as the "have-nots" and "haves" grow farther apart.

And consequences build. It will take time for things like already-epidemic childhood asthma to get worse, but perhaps some will start worrying beforehand.

Republican David Perdue on the first 100 days:

"I believe that we'll repeal the Waters of the US Act, we'll repeal the Clean Air Act, and we'll pass Keystone Pipeline again. And all three, all four (including the ACA) of those things will get signed into law by President Trump... So I'm hopeful that that will set a tone."

[octoberlib]

6. Guess I better stock up on air filter masks and water filters. Makes me sick just

thinking about it.

[Hortensis]

7. I'm okay now. It's the middle of the night when I

have been waking up and political realities take over and keep me from getting back to sleep. At 3 a.m. today I was wishing I was a political scientist. This would be a fascinating time to be able to observe clinically, instead of just as a citizen living through it.

Oh, well. Our party is not completely helpless, the right itself is divided and likely to blow up, and the extremists who've hijacked the GOP are afraid of their own electorate. Keeping passive those who can only be fooled some of the time while they try to implement their real agenda is going to be quite a trick.