I myself found President Obama's State of the Union line about withholding federal funds from colleges and universities that raise tuition too quickly, to be both odd and misguided. So I don't disagree with the Seattle Times editorial board, that much of the blame for dramatically rising college tuition falls on state legislatures that have slashed funding for public university systems, forcing more of the cost onto students.

But, um, where do the editors think these legislatures get their money?

Yes, Washington's legislators have consistently failed to adequately fund both K-12 and higher education, to the tune of arguably billions of dollars of a year. But they've done so at the same time our state's daily newspapers have relentlessly editorialized against any and all proposals to raise substantial new tax revenues.

So if the Seattle Times really wants to find the root causes of our collective failure to pony up the cash necessary to educate future generations, they should follow the money (or lack thereof)... a trail that will surely lead back to their own op/ed pages.