Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Sunday that Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders’s plan to make public colleges tuition-free would have a deleterious effect on private, historically black colleges and universities (HBCU).
The third-ranking Democrat in the House — who has endorsed Sanders’s primary rival, Hillary Clinton — said such colleges would not be able to compete under the Vermont senator’s plan.
“You’ve got to think about the consequences of things,” Clyburn said in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “[If] you start handing out two years of free college at public institutions are you ready for all the black, private HBCUs to close down? That’s what’s going to happen.
“Tougaloo College in Mississippi will be closed if you can go to Jackson State for free,” he added.
Yes, Clyburn is a Hillary supporter but that doesn’t invalidate what he said.
What’s most enjoyable about this spectacle playing out on the Democrat side of the aisle is the way Bernie is making them kinda/sorta admit that some of what they’ve been preaching isn’t true. In this case, the Dems generally prefer to keep talking about “affordable” education, because the “affordable” goal posts can be moved to suit their needs.
However, the Occupy crowd that’s now fawning over Bernie always did love them some free college. When the Democrats were showing up to Occupy protests to court this demographic, they never said “no” to any of that. President Obama has long pitched free college too, albeit a slightly modified version of Bernie’s.
Now, in an effort to get the stealth socialist elected over the avowed socialist, Democrats are forced to say things that could come back to haunt them when none of them are closeted anymore. Like this line from Clyburn:
The South Carolina lawmaker said he supports efforts to make higher education more affordable, but “for you to believe that they’re going to make education free, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
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