Stratifying society by design

“As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing.”

—Karl Rove

A new report out today from the non-partisan National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education confirms that a college education is increasingly becoming something only the wealthy can afford. From today’s New York Times: “The study...found that although the United States still leads the world in the proportion of 35- to 64-year-olds with college degrees, it ranks seventh among developed nations for 25- to 34-year-olds. On rates of college completion, the United States is in the lower half of developed nations.”

In the 1990s, Pell grants covered about 70% of the cost of a year of tuition and room and board at a four year college. Now, they cover less than 50%. College tuition is rising faster than the cost of living, faster even than the cost of healthcare.

Does anyone see a connection here? Could it be that the GOP leaders of our country really don’t want an educated population? Does it serve their purpose for there to be an educated wealthy elite, and a permanent, ever-growing underclass? Quick, let’s have some more tax cuts for the rich!

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