I find distressing the number of non-self aware older people hating on the jobless younger people, imagining how tough they had it and how easy these things are for these spoiled pampered jobless indebted kids today. I'm not one to play the generational blame game, but once upon a time public universities were cheap. Now they are not. Working your way through college was actually possible, if difficult. Not anymore.
Also, believe it or not, over on the Seattle Times' editorial page blog, what Alicia Halberg said.
When Rob McKenna snapped at a young woman asking him about reproductive parity, yelling at her to "go get a job," he came off sounding like he was running for state's angriest troll, not governor. But more than just a spat over abortion funding, McKenna's choice of taunts was a display of generational warfare that should make young people and their parents more than a little wary.
McKenna himself benefited from an inexpensive high-quality public university education. But as a Republican and career politician he has consistently fought against raising the tax revenue necessary to assure future generations the same opportunity. Sure, McKenna talks about spending more on education, but he will never back the revenue necessary to deliver on that promise. It's not just that he doesn't believe taxpayers can afford to subsidize public universities; he doesn't believe current and future generations of students deserve it.
