The democratian blows it on tuition rates.

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The democratian has used warped "logic" in the passed to support a position, but this has to be one of their most bizarre applications to date.

Other recommendations by the governor seem much easier to enact. We like that
she wants to let most higher education institutions set their own tuition rates.
Officials on those campuses understand their own needs better than legislators,
and that’s why the League of Education voters supports this recommendation.

Let's take that a step further, shall we?

Other recommendations by the governor seem much easier to enact. We like that
she wants to let most DOT regions set their own tolling schedules. Officials in those regions understand their own needs better than legislators, who are too stupid to figure out that mass transit and bridge replacement should have unlimited amounts of our money without answering to anyone.

The rag has frequently taken this tact when it comes to the will of the voter. They have in the past essentially advocated that the voters be bypassed, because, well, we're too stupid to understand, and the benevolent dictatorship the democratian would prefer to have should just ignore us... much like they have on the horrific waste of the bridge replacement/loot rail project.

The stain on journalism has long advocated increased funding to higher ed. But they have yet to demand accountability from those same schools... and they need to take a serious look at how much the practitioners within our ivory towers are getting paid.

As an alum of two of the schools in question (The UW and Eastern) I have to wonder: this idea that legislators are too educationally-challenged to get a handle on Higher Ed revenue in the midst of this horrific recession (Have you heard that as "broke" as they are, my school will be spending hundreds of millions to renovate their football stadium... again?) may well be a reflection on the very schools that many, if not most, attended before and during their time in the legislature?

The primary concern I have with legislator's "understanding" is more limited to these:

Do they understand the state and federal constitution?
Do they understand we're in a recession?
Do they understand that up to now, they've completely blown any concept of fiscal restraint, even though what's happening now has been predicted by the GOP in the legislature for years?

I also understand that putting junkies like colleges, who have already been authorized double-digit tuition increases in the face of low single digit inflation is the same thing as putting Oxy addicts in charge of the pharmacy system.

Colleges have shown themselves incapable of real-world understanding on the revenue side. Without a concerted effort at fiscal introspection and a plan to reorganize colleges and universities into more fiscally responsive agencies, such a plan as allowing them unlimited tuition-setting authority is asinine on the surface.

Our schools must be reflective of the times we live in. That means we have to cut the number one expense... personnel. That I have to do more with less is not such an arcane subject that our university/college system should not reflect the "shared sacrifice" our president has used to screw us for trillions... and do the same.
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