Michigan Promise scholarship should not be guaranteed by candidates who can not deliver
Politicians really must think college students are dumb.
That is my only answer as to why Michigan’s politicians keep telling college students that they will bring back the Michigan Promise scholarship.
The Michigan Promise is gone and much like ‘N Sync, never coming back.
After protests, editorials and outrage after the cut was announced, students have accepted that the scholarship is gone and have found other means to fill the void created by its elimination.
But now we have the Democratic ticket for governor filling students heads with visions of the scholarship’s return.
On Tuesday in an appearance at Wayne State University, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero said he will bring the scholarship back if elected governor.
This follows an appearance in Mount Pleasant last month when his running mate, Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, said that a Bernero-Lawrence administration will not only bring back the scholarship but also freeze college tuition in the state.
While those sound like great ideas that would even get a die-hard Republican such as myself to vote for Bernero, they both left out one little fact.
How they would pay for it.
When asked at his appearance at Wayne State, Bernero offered no details on how he would pay for any of it.
Michigan’s college students are paying for eight years of Gov. Jennifer Granholm and now at least deserve the respect to not have empty promises flung at them just in an effort to garner votes.
We all know the state of Michigan’s economy and that the $140 million to fund the scholarship is something the state cannot afford.
While Bernero is off in dreamland about finding a spare $140 million in his couch cushions, his opponent is willing to speak truthfully on the issue.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder called the scholarship the “Michigan Lie” in a Republican gubernatorial debate in May at Grand Valley State University in May and said the program was “not the right answer” at an appearance at Central Michigan University in September.
Snyder is in favor of more financial need-based scholarships and grants.
The contrast between the candidates is clear. When faced with college students, the Democratic ticket will pander for votes and tell them what they want to hear while Snyder will actually have the respect for the students to tell them the truth.
The promise has been broken, now I just want the truth.
