Total budget is just a statement that it’s a tiny % of our total budget, what with our being the largest economy on earth by almost a factor of 2 and all. You don’t have to be in Boca to do that math (as much fun as everyone seems to have with that phrase).

The issue here isn’t that we’ve left a massive 8.7 bil hole in our budget! 8.7 bil would be an insurmountable hole to me (putting it mildly), but it is a rounding error to the budget as a whole. The problem is taxpayers are financing an unsustainable higher education biz model. University prices are way too high. University classes would be empty without all the subsidies. So, a big new giveaway like this only serves to keep higher education unaffordable.

It truly does feel like a cynical effort to buy votes, not solve a major problem in society. I am not a fan of this move.
[Post edited by hoolstoptheheels at 04/10/2024 08:45AM]