Put the Blame Where It Belongs for Tuition Hikes, Part II

College tuition hikes are the subject of another opinion piece in the Livingston Press & Argus and once again the newspaper can't find the right place to put the blame.

Last week, the newspaper tried to pin the blame solely on Gov. Jennifer Granholm in an editorial that neglected to mention Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop's role in refusing to pass a state budget.

On Wednesday (August 8, 2007), the newspaper was at it again with an opinion piece about a college student's two summer jobs.

The writer complains that Granholm is proposing using $37 million in federal funds and $40 million in state funds to help laid-off workers get retrained, under her proposed "No Worker Left Behind" program.

The writer complained that laid-off workers were being favored over his daughter, saying, "They have been employed, and presumably saving some money. They get unemployment compensation. And many get some retraining as a part of their severance."

They also have families to support, mortgages to pay, groceries to buy, and medical bills to worry about, as well as potentially kids in college themselves. But the writer failed to mention that.

Instead, he complains that the "government" (i.e. Granholm) is favoring laid-off workers over college students.

In pinning the blame for tuition hikes on Granholm and the anonymous government, the writer repeats the Press & Argus pattern of refusing to mention any Republican role in the tuition hikes -- the refusal of Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to get to work on a realistic budget that meets the state's needs, for example.

Bishop shows little sympathy for universities' plight, as this Associated Press article, shows. The article quotes Bishop as saying in a statement last week that schools "need to pitch in and make sacrifices as the rest of the state is being asked to do."

Yet Bishop always seems to be left out of Press & Argus editorials. I think the "R" is missing on all the keyboards over there.

Put the Blame Where it Belongs for Tuition Hikes

Anyone with students in college knows that Michigan universities are imposing higher taxes on students and their parents, in the form of big tuition hikes. The universities' actions come after the Legislature has taken several weeks off this summer instead of working on the state budget.

So who is getting the blame for the tuition hikes? Not the lolly-gagging Legislature, specifically the Republican-run state Senate where the hold-up is. In the Livingston Press & Argus for Wednesday (Aug. 1, 2007), an editorial is trying to pin the blame on Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The editorial claims that Granholm hasn't shown enough "outrage" over the tuition increases. The newspaper fails to mention the refusal of Senate Republican Leader Mike Bishop to deal with the budget, and with tax increases that are likely needed in order to stave off the tuition increases. The only mention of the Legislature is a perfunctory one in the last paragraph, which reads, "We only wish that our governor, our lawmakers and our university officials were equally as outraged."

The editorial might have done some good had it pointed out exactly where the bottle neck is, but the Livingston Press & Argus is mighty shy when it comes to pointing fingers at Republican-obstructionism. Republicans want to look like they're against tax increases, while forcing universities to do the dirty work of raising taxes (in the form of higher tuition) for them.

The editorial could have urged people to call Bishop's office and tell him to get moving on the state budget. His office phone is 517-373-2417. You can send an email from his office web-page.

Show your outrage. Impress the Press & Argus.