The free college movement began with a trickle. A mention here or there, trumpeted by the likes of Bernie Sanders and Occupy Wall Streeters and later taken up by Black Lives Matter (though it now seems to have been removed from their official platform). But that trickle turned into a tsunami as the 2020 Democratic primary dominated what seemed to be the longest news cycle in history.
Practically every candidate glommed onto the movement to make college free, each with their own version of what “free” really meant. When Democrats took control of the White House and both chambers of Congress in January 2021, it seemed that a federal free college regime was imminent — much to the chagrin of people like me who prefer a market-based approach and to the joy of those on the left.
Fast forward to today and it seems that the inevitability of federal free college was just a mirage. As it disappears, advocates will likely be taking the first back to where it began and where it belongs; the states.
Divisions within the Congressional Democrats are deeper than most anticipated and will likely result, once all is said and done, in much of the progressive agenda being left on the cutting room floor. The ambitious and shockingly expensive reconciliation bill — made up an already abridged version of the Democrats’ wish list — seems dead in the water, as the moderate and progressive wings of the party are divided over both the top line cost and the implied priorities.
Despite its almost inevitable defeat at the federal level, the movement for free college is not dead. Instead, it’s simply kicked back to where it belongs: the states. Before free college became a national movement, it was an issue taken up by the states themselves. They were prompted in part by the Obama era initiative dubbed America’s College Promise, which aimed to make community colleges free across the nation.
The free college debate belongs in the states for a simple reason — public colleges and universities are administered by the states, not the federal government. So if a state chooses to raise its level of funding for higher education to an extent that it makes tuition free, they don’t need to jump through any political hoops to get there. In contrast, a federal free college regime would have required a complex partnership between states and the feds which would ultimately lead to unfairness, distorted incentives for states to continue to spend on higher education or both.
Furthermore, experimenting with free college in the states allows us to benefit from exploration of the idea in our “laboratories of democracy.” Advocates for free college argue that the message of “free” is so powerful that the benefits to equity and access to disadvantaged students would outweigh the enormous efficiency loss associated with effectively socializing the higher education sector. It is hard imagine that their claims are true, but New York or California, or any other state for that matter, would be welcome to try and prove it.
The division within the Democratic Party that has brought many of the progressive dreams of the primary, including free college, to a screeching halt were a surprise to free marketers, and perhaps a surprise even to those dreaming those progressive dreams. Just as Democrats reveled in the inability of Congressional Republicans to dismantle Obamacare during the Trump administration, Republicans can now enjoy their moment of schadenfreude.
Much has been said about the increasing polarization in this nation, but less has been said about increasing polarization of ideology within our parties. That may be bad for “getting things done,” but it’s not such a bad thing for our nation. We should demand thoughtful debate on the issues that affect us all— even if it slows the pace of change in our political and social systems.
Elizabeth “Beth” Akers is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where she focuses on the economics of higher education.
Image by Anastasia Gepp from Pixabay. Article cross-posted from Real Clear Policy.
Big Pharma’s Five Major Minions that Everyone, Vaxxed or Unvaxxed, Must Oppose
This is not an “anti-vaxxer” article, per se. It’s a call for everyone to wake up to the nefarious motives behind vaccine mandates, booster shots, and condemnation of freedom.
The worst kept secret in world history SHOULD be that the unquenchable push for universal vaccinations against Covid-19 has little if anything to do with healthcare and everything to do with Big Pharma’s influence over the narrative. Unfortunately, that secret has stayed firmly hidden from the vast majority of people because of the five major minions working on behalf of Big Pharma.
What’s even worse is the fact that Big Pharma’s greed is merely a smokescreen to hide an even darker secret. We’ll tackle that later. First, let’s look at the public-facing ringleaders behind the vaccine push, namely Big Pharma. But before we get into their five major minions, it’s important to understand one thing. This is NOT just an article that speaks to the unvaccinated. Even those who believe in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines must be made aware of agenda that’s at play.
Let’s start with some facts. The unvaccinated do NOT spread Covid-19 more rampantly than the vaccinated. Even Anthony Fauci acknowledged the viral load present in vaccinated people is just as high as in the unvaccinated. This fact alone should demolish the vaccine mandates as it demonstrates they have absolutely no effect on the spread of the disease. But wait! There’s definitely more.
This unhinged push to vaccinate everyone defies science. Those with natural immunity may actually have their stronger defenses against Covid-19 hampered by the introduction of the injections which fool the body into creating less-effective antibodies. Moreover, the push to vaccinate young people is completely bonkers. The recovery rate for those under the age of 20 is astronomical. Children neither contract, spread, nor succumb to Covid-19 in a statistically meaningful way. What they DO succumb to more often than Covid-19 are the adverse reactions to the vaccines, particularly boys.
All of this is known and accepted by the medical community, yet most Americans are still following the vaccinate-everybody script. It requires pure cognitive dissonance and an overabundant need for confirmation bias to make doctors and scientists willingly go along with the program. Yet, here we are and that should tell you something.
Before I get to the five major minions of of Big Pharma, I must make the plea for help. Between cancel culture, lockdowns, and diminishing ad revenue, we need financial assistance in order to continue to spread the truth. We ask all who have the means, please donate through our GivingFuel page or via PayPal. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to expand our reach so the truth can get to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Who does Big Pharma control? It starts with the obvious people, the ones who most Americans believe are actually behind this push. Our governments at all levels as well as governments around the world are not working with Big Pharma. They are working for Big Pharma. Some are proactive as direct recipients of cash. Others may oppose Big Pharma in spirit but would never speak out because they know anyone who does has no future in DC.
This may come as a shock to some, but it’s Big Pharma that drives the narrative and sets the agenda for the “experts” at the CDC, FDA, WHO, NIH, NIAID, and even non-medical government organizations.
Most believe it’s the other way around. They think that Big Pharma is beholden to the FDA for approval, but that’s not exactly the case. They need approval for a majority of their projects, but when it comes to the important ones such as the Covid injections, Big Pharma is calling the shots. They have the right people in the right places to push their machinations forward.
That’s not to say that everyone at the FDA is in on it. Big Pharma only needs a handful of friendlies planted in leadership in order to have their big wishes met. We have seen people quitting the FDA in recent weeks for this very reason. The same can be said about the other three- and five-letter agencies. Too many people in leadership have been bribed, bullied, or blackmailed into becoming occasional shills for the various Big Pharma corporations. Some have even been directly planted by Big Pharma. That’s the politics of healthcare and science that drives such things as Covid-19 “vaccines.”
Read the rest of this story, but please be sure to donate first if you can.
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