Did you hear Obama claim that he could not have attended college had it not been for the Pell Grant system from the USA government? He said that Republicans what to cut the Pell Grant system and that as long as he was President, there would be not cuts. At first look, the Pell Grant system must be a good idea and a good use for out tax dollars. Is that really true? I have been researching the Pell Grant program and will be reporting what I find. Before, I have even started, I detect a really bad smell coming from the program. You know the old saying, "where there is a bad smell, you will find a politician spending your money".
My first researching of the Pell Grant program has shown that there are many ways to get money from the government for about anything that looks like education. I think that you know that I am down on Mickey Mouse degrees that will never allow the person to pay back the tax money that was invested in them. I really should not use the word "invest" because there is no chance of being paid back. We all know that we need a better educated population if we are ever going to be able to compete in the world of the future. The problem is that all education is not equal and we need to recognize that fact. The top 5 degrees at the University of Wisconsin at Madison are totally worthless, but I know that we are giving many of these students Pell Grants. We need to stop this kind of waste. It is waste pure and simple. The UW is not a lot different from most colleges and universities in other states. The problem is every where.
Here is what we need to do.
(1) Identify those degrees that we need most to help build our economy and allow us to make products that we can sell to other countries to off set the cost of importing oil. That is what China is doing. They trade the products they make for the oil they import.
(2) Only approve Pell Grants for those degrees that our country really needs. We need more engineers and science majors and fewer political science degrees. We have 30 times the number of lawyers than does Japan. We have been giving out Pell Grants to produce even more lawyers who actually work against our economy.
(3) We should eliminate Pell Grants for degrees beyond a Masters degree. This sounds like a bad idea on the surface, but when you look at the payback ratio on Phd's, they almost never pay back. Most eat up a very large amount of tax money and the wealth of the country. You can produce 3 or 4 masters degrees for the same amount of money that you can for just one Phd. If we did a post audit on all the innovations that came from our investment in Phd's, you would find that there are very few. The Lithium Ion battery was not invested by a person with a Phd nor was the telephone or personal computer. You have been fed a lot of bull shit by those who want more and more of your money.
(4) No Pell Grant money should be spent on teaching subjects that are offered in our high schools. This means Chemistry, Physics and Math thru advanced algebra. No money should be used to teach any foreign language other than Mandarin. All those other languages are little more than personal hobbies. Art and performing arts are also examples of using Pell Grant money for hobbies and entertainment. I know that people who are getting this money from the tax payers will cry bloody murder, but you know it is a waste of tax money.
(5) One principle that we all must recognize is that, "you can't help a person who doesn't want to help themselves". Don't think so? Look at your own family and you will see that this is true. No Pell Grant should be made to a person who can't pay for their first year of college by themselves. They need to first prove that they want to do what it takes to help themselves. You know that anyone who really wants to get a degree could do this.
(6) Pell Grants should not be free money, like student loans. At 10 years after the person who got a Pell Grant or a student loan should have to start paying the money back. If they default on "one" scheduled payment, they should immediately be drafted into the Army and have to stay there until deductions from their pay has paid back at least 25% of what was left on their loan. This should teach them that the tax payers mean business when they made the grants or loans. It is a contract with the tax payers and they need to know it.
To get started on this Blog, I asked a couple of good friends who are college graduates and business people if they have ever known a person who got a Pell Grant and none of them did. I am going to research to see how many new businesses were started by people who got Pell Grants. I am also find out what college degrees were earned with the Pell Grant money and how many people never got a degree. I think that you will get your eyes opened on this one and you will see that all Obama wants to do is pay for votes with young people with our Pell Grand and student loan money. He has already federalized student loans. To get a loan or grant, all you have to do is to kiss the ring. Sound familiar?
PS, I would like to hear from another person who lived in a tent for 3 years and under a bridge for a month. For some reason, I never felt that I was some kind of victum. I picked cotton and was paid by the pound. The name of the game was to pick more cotton than anyone else and I did that. Exactly what is the problem?
