Opposition to tuition idea is downright un-American

My father was apt to say that “opinions are like backsides, everybody’s got one.” That was never truer than in Sunday’s opinion section letter by Miss Patty McEwen.

Miss McEwen wrote that “the liberals” are behind the ballot initiative. No. I am an independent. This effort’s co-founder and graphic designer is a lifelong Idaho Republican. Also, per a poll by prominent Republican pollster Dan Jones, 65 percent of Idaho Republicans support it. Finally, this is nearly identical to a policy led by Republican legislators in our neighboring state. Gosh darn “liberal” entirety of a Republican state legislature.

Of course, Miss McEwen is the same person who has labeled several of Idaho’s Republican state legislators as “the liberals” so perhaps Barry Goldwater wouldn’t be pure enough for her.

Whereas Miss McEwen has never smoked, I smoked when I wrote the initiative. I am ashamed to say I relapsed into the habit several days ago. I wrote it because it creates opportunity while at the same time limiting our state’s No.1 cause of death.

Miss McEwen ran roughshod over her own credibility when she tried to gossipmonger a manufactured scandal by asking, “Is Mr. Moran paying for the website himself?” If she did as much research as she indicates, by perhaps reading the webpage, she would see it says “Paid for by Stoptuitionhikes.com” — a registered ballot measure committee. The financial reporting period does not end until Dec. 31 so we technically can’t report finances, yet.

But, if the readers are curious — yes, I am paying for the website. I spend about $29/month on website functions using the same service as the Republican National Committee...you know, “the liberals.” In fact, the primary financier to date has been me — less than $5,000 total because frankly, I am not a rich man. And why is that?

It is because the initiative is three pages and not 22 pages with handouts to bureaucrats and lobbied interests. It’s a grassroots effort that cleanly details where funds come from and where they go — a 22 percent tuition reduction (80 percent of the fund), $7 million for community colleges, and $7 million for tobacco cessation programs. This is for Idahoans.

So, we are starting to secure endorsements and institutional backing because, frankly, initiatives cost a lot of money. But the blood, sweat, tears, and policy have been grassroots and the opportunity for this to be fully funded by the grassroots is right there on our website Stoptuitionhikes.com — visit it. The people of Idaho deserve a choice on this and we can use all of the help we can get.

So, this isn’t “the liberals,” but is opposition un-American?

Life, liberty, and opportunity. We’ve forgotten that last part. In Idaho, five out of 10 kids don’t go to college, four out of 10 have to drop out midway through with debt, and the last one out of 10 have $60k in debt. Why is this? After scholarships, our kids’ cost of attendance is more than UCLA, twice as much as Cal-State, and our wages are half as much (we have the lowest in the nation). You see, we didn’t just triple these kids’ tuition since 2000, we raided the scholarship fund, too. We aren’t California and we don’t want to be, but you cannot look at those stats and say these kids have a fair shake at the American Dream.

We think of a car, a house, a family, and cherry pie, but the American Dream is the opportunity to make something and own something that is your own. Unless these kids can take over a family business, they don’t have that. They can’t pick themselves up by their bootstraps because we priced them out of bootstraps.

Still, Miss McEwen asks “[w]here has it been proven that by lowering tuition the number of students attending additional schooling will go up?” That study is called the demand curve — the basis of and creation of conservative economics. The idea is that if you don’t have enough money to pay for something, you don’t end up consuming or using that service. Pretty common sense.

This also isn’t, as Miss McEwen inaccurately says, about pitting groups against each other. Who are the poor? Individuals 18-35 have the highest debts, fewest assets, lowest credit scores, greatest degree of food insecurity, and greatest amount of housing instability in our state. Who are the smokers? The cohort that smokes the most are 18-35-year-olds. Guess who supports our ballot effort 80 percent to 14 percent? If they aren’t buying that nonsense, neither should you.

This won’t make it free. This won’t even make it cheap or easy. But, it will make college an honest option. Not every kid should go to college — they may have a trade skill, a family business, or a special talent. But, in America, our kids deserve the option. They deserve the chance.

Bill Moran is spokesman for StopTuitionHikes.com.