# Feel the #extortion Bernie has planned **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 28, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443 "2016-03-28T07:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/301 "2016-04-01T00:10:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Sanders is trying to help the progressive wing **take over** the Democratic Party, as it should. Whether that is a form of “subversion” is a debatable semantic question. I credit you woth honesty and straightforwardness. You want this subversion to succeed, and I want it to fail. I certainly don’t want the party to be weak and foolish in enabling its success, the way the Mensheviks did. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Sanders is about as far from a demagogue as you can get. That far? Really? So, farther than Hillary, or Jeb for that matter? Are you sure you understand what the word means? > [@jsgoddess](#): > > What I find baffling is both some Sanders supporters and some Hillary supporters think he is doing just that (though one side supports it and the other decries it). It would make sense if one side saw it and the other didn’t, but for the extremes of both sides to see it makes me feel more justified in thinking they are more alike than not. Or it’s just true, and we’re not refusing to see it. That doesn’t make us similar. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But sometimes it is true, and it is entirely true in this case. Sanders is too old to position himself as the American Lenin-Stalin. He, himself, will never run for president again after this, and might not even be in the Senate for many more terms. But the progressive movement exists – Sanders did not create it, he merely gave it a visible leader and rallying-point of the moment – and **of course** it is not under his control. It is not under anyone’s, there is no Progressive Central Committee or Politburo. There is absolutely nothing frightening in those words unless you are frightened of the movement itself, not of Sanders. And . . . you’re not, are you? As it is right now, not too afraid, no. But I have extensively studied the history of the French and Russian Revolutions, and they, along with the campus PC movement, and rags like Salon, give me reason to fear for the movement’s potential. (Interestingly, in my younger and more orthodox radical-left days, I was much more sympathetic to the Bolsheviks–especially the Trotskyite faction–and the Jacobins.) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/302 "2016-04-01T00:17:34Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > That far? Really? So, farther than Hillary, or Jeb for that matter? Are you sure you understand what the word means? The only sense in which Hillary or Jeb are less demagogues is that they’re not very interesting to listen to when they speak. That’s not actually what a “demagogue” is, so all of them are about equally demagogues. It’s ridiculous nonsense to call Sanders a demagogue, entirely in keeping with your accusations that he’s committing extortion. Nothing you’ve said in this thread is serious. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/303 "2016-04-01T00:34:19Z")
It’s absolutely serious. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/304 "2016-04-01T00:35:02Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > It’s absolutely serious. Serious AS THE PLAGUE@!!!@@223! No, it’s not, no matter how serious you think it is. It’s baseless hyperbole and character assassination, and nobody’s buying it. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/305 "2016-04-01T00:43:30Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > As it is right now, not too afraid, no. But I have extensively studied the history of the French and Russian Revolutions, and they, along with the campus PC movement, and rags like Salon, give me reason to fear for the movement’s potential. (Interestingly, in my younger and more orthodox radical-left days, I was much more sympathetic to the Bolsheviks–especially the Trotskyite faction–and the Jacobins.) At last, some insight into the mind of a rabid Clinton supporter. I was wondering where your fervor came from for such a MOR, centrist candidate. All the movement wants is for the US to enjoy the advances of our peer nations. Nobody will be marched to the guillotines; they’ll be lining up for health care instead. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/306 "2016-04-01T00:51:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Sanders is trying to help the progressive wing **take over** the Democratic Party, as it should. Whether that is a form of “subversion” is a debatable semantic question. It’s more than subversion, it’s theft! Sanders is trying to take the Democratic Party away from its OWNERS, Hillary Clinton and the DNC, and their wealthy sponsors. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/307 "2016-04-01T00:51:56Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > At last, some insight into the mind of a rabid Clinton supporter. I was wondering where your fervor came from for such a MOR, centrist candidate. > > All the movement wants is for the US to enjoy the advances of our peer nations. Nobody will be marched to the guillotines; they’ll be lining up for health care instead. I’m sure everyone taking the Tennis Court Oath thought the same thing. How much do you know about Robespierre “the Incorruptible”? And I too want paid family leave, guaranteed income, etc. But I want to proceed by other than “revolutionary” means.I > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Serious AS THE PLAGUE@!!!@@223! > > No, it’s not, no matter how serious you think it is. It’s baseless hyperbole and character assassination, and nobody’s buying it. I will add “nobody” to the list of words that do not mean what you think they mean. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/308 "2016-04-01T00:55:39Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m sure everyone taking the Tennis Court Oath thought the same thing. How much do you know about Robespierre “the Incorruptible”? > > And I too want paid family leave, guaranteed income, etc. But I want to proceed by other than “revolutionary” means.I The “revolution” has consisted of donating to and voting for a progressive candidate. It’s operating within the system. If that scares you, then what you’re afraid of is democracy and the rule of law. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/309 "2016-04-01T00:58:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s baseless hyperbole and character assassination, and nobody’s buying it. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > I will add “nobody” to the list of words that do not mean what you think they mean. That’s right, LHoD. For shame at your misrepresentation. It’s baseless hyperbole and character assassination, and _somebody’s_ buying it. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/310 "2016-04-01T00:59:33Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m sure everyone taking the Tennis Court Oath thought the same thing. How much do you know about Robespierre “the Incorruptible”? You can’t possibly seriously mean this comparison. Really, you just can’t. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/311 "2016-04-01T01:32:45Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > The “revolution” has consisted of donating to and voting for a progressive candidate. It’s operating within the system. If that scares you, then what you’re afraid of is democracy and the rule of law. Both can be exploited by demagogues, and have been. Robespierre rose through a very democratic system as a man with very democratic ideals. And he never stopped believing his actions were in pursuit of those ideals, and on behalf of the people. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/312 "2016-04-01T01:54:59Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I credit you woth honesty and straightforwardness. You want this subversion to succeed, and I want it to fail. I certainly don’t want the party to be weak and foolish in enabling its success, the way the Mensheviks did. > > \ > > As it is right now, not too afraid, no. But I have extensively studied the history of the French and Russian Revolutions, and they, along with the campus PC movement, and rags like Salon, give me reason to fear for the movement’s potential. (Interestingly, in my younger and more orthodox radical-left days, I was much more sympathetic to the Bolsheviks–especially the Trotskyite faction–and the Jacobins.) :rolleyes: American progressives are not Bolshevik Jacobins and will not be. (More’s the pity, perhaps.) This is a country where mainstream West-Euro social democracy is quite radical enough, and I know of very few Americans and none in public life who have the slightest interest in going any further left than that. Certainly Sanders doesn’t. Nor Ralph Nader nor Dennis Kucinich nor Elizabeth Warren. Even the Greens are scarier, and they’re not scary at all. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/313 "2016-04-01T02:30:29Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m sure everyone taking the Tennis Court Oath thought the same thing. How much do you know about Robespierre “the Incorruptible”? I know that like all the Third Estate delegates he was born and raised in an aristocratic absolute monarchy. This “republic” or “democracy” thing was new and untried and rooted in no traditions native to France, only in speculative philosophical ideas, of course they made some disastrous mistakes with it. But this is a country with democratic traditions more than a century older than the Revolution. If we can’t handle democracy, who can? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/314 "2016-04-01T02:57:00Z")
> [@camille](#): > > No, that is not why. > > Sanders has always caucused with, campaigned for, and raised money for Democrats. Many of the people who have endorsed Clinton had no problem accepting money from him through the years. In fact, they try to use that fundraising against him since he has come out against this focus on big dollar fundraising. Very easy to google the info, but here are two [recent](http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/bernie-sanders-pac-funded-democratic-party-establishment-2304455) [articles](http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/05/politics/sanders-democratic-fundraisers/). … Did you actually read those articles? Sanders was elected to Congress in 1988. The articles document the fact that no he did _not_ raise money for most of that time. When he ran for Senate in 2006 he _took_ money from the DSCC ($37,300) and help from the local party to which the DSCC gave another $100,000. He benefited from their fundraising apparatus. They also spent another $60,000 advertising for him. Yes, that was Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, etc., tainted dollars. Why did the DSCC help this independent? Because he could beat the Republican and would at least caucus with them, giving them a narrow majority. His fundraising _for_ other Democrats really began in earnest in 2012 (a far cry from “always”) and was for clear self-serving interests. You want a position of power? You work to help the rest of us. OTOH we Democrats lose the majority and you got bupkiss my democratic socialist friend. That year the PAC gets moving and raises a relatively modest amount but donates wisely, in close races of moderates. Per one of your cites: > [@](#): > > That trend began during the 2012 election cycle, shortly before Sanders became chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Legislators given leadership positions by their parties are generally expected to consistently contribute to their parties, and Sanders — as an independent who has caucused with the Democrats — has obliged. “Through the years”? The PAC has only been donating in modestly significant amounts in the 2012 and 2014 cycles! “Through the years” … oy. Well it is literally true in a Sandersesque way. Yes, he also through those same years has had his hand out to the big donors and as per those articles did not say boo to them or object to their dirty money. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/315 "2016-04-01T03:23:49Z")
If you don’t see any parallels in [this bio](http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror), you are just being willfully blind, IMO (“There are none so blind…”). > [@](#): > > Maximilien [Robespierre] was the eldest, a conscientious, hardworking scholarship boy. As soon as he was able he shouldered the burden of caring for his younger siblings. He became a lawyer, leading a quiet and blameless life in his native town. He was best known for defending the poor, and for some rather lengthy and tedious speeches at the local academy. > > In 1789, when he was in his early thirties, the Revolution transformed his destiny. He launched himself into the political maelstrom that would immerse him for the rest of his life. He was elected as a deputy for the Third Estate in the Estates General in May[…] > > From the first, Robespierre was a radical and a democrat, defending the principle that the ‘rights of man’ should extend to all men – including the poor, and the slaves in the colonies. This stance won him a reputation among the sans-culottes and the radical left, but the earlier years of the Revolution were dominated by men who had no wish to see power in the hands of the propertyless. Robespierre was undaunted. As a spokesman for the opposition and critic of government, he was tireless and consistent. He was also for a long time a vehement opponent of the death penalty. […] > > No one,’ said Robespierre, ‘welcomes armed liberators.’ He stuck doggedly to this position, though it was deeply unpopular and he became politically isolated.[…] > > In the mind of Robespierre and many of his colleagues, the Terror had a deeper moral purpose beyond winning the civil war: to bring about a ‘republic of virtue’. By this he meant a society in which people sought the happiness of their fellow humans rather than their own material benefit. France must be regenerated on moral lines. ‘What is our aim?’ he asked in a speech of February 1794: > > “The peaceful enjoyment of liberty and equality; the reign of that eternal justice whose laws are written, not on marble or stone, but in the hearts of all men, even in that of the slave who forgets them and of the tyrant who denies them.” > > Throughout his time in government Robespierre conducted his private life as a man of virtue. Far from living in palaces, amassing treasure, or allying himself with royalty, as Napoleon was to do, Robespierre lived a celibate life as a lodger, occupying simple rooms in the house of a master carpenter. He was known as ‘the Incorruptible’ for, unlike many politicians, he refused to use a public position for private gain and self-advancement. He lived simply on his deputy’s salary. He walked everywhere, never taking a carriage. Remember, Sanders has said that he wants his movement to take to the streets, swarm on the Capitol, and demand change. Sounds an awful lot like the _sans-culottes_ to me. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/316 "2016-04-01T03:26:39Z")
> [@camille](#): > > Why use Germany when we have the example of free public college here is the US? > > When I was a freshman at Brooklyn College in 1974 it was [free](https://cunytime.wordpress.com/quick-facts/cuny-tuition/). > > Where are these incremental gains you speak of, when from my perspective we have moved backwards? > “For things to remain the same, everything must change” - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (spoken by Tancredi in The Leopard) Germany was used as an example by someone earlier on. I merely actually explored what Germany’s college education looks like. I have no idea why you think the example of one city college that had to ask students for more when the city went bankrupt is relevant to the history of higher education funding in general, but since you went there you _should_ know that its story was [never so simple](http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2011/10/12/when-tuition-at-cuny-was-free-sort-of/). > [@](#): > > A free education for students regardless of their background or financial means underpinned the original Free Academy — and declared higher education an important societal investment — when it was established in Manhattan in 1847. Back then, a class typically averaged about 100 or so students. But starting in the early 20th century, as enroll-ments grew, many accomplished students opened their wallets to study in the city’s halls of public higher education. > > In 1909, two years after moving to more spacious accommodations in Harlem, City College expanded its offerings to include a separate evening baccalaureate program. Over time, the system’s night schools of general studies expanded throughout the city and served tens of thousands of non-matriculants. > > These students paid for their courses. Financial aid for needy students was non-existent. … > > …Merit-based free tuition survived through much of the last century until 1970, when the University dropped all tuition charges and accepted any student with a high school diploma. The move ushered in a brief period of free tuition for all undergraduate students that would not survive the economic realities. In fall 1976, amid the turmoil of a dire city fiscal crisis, the free-tuition policy was discontinued under pressure from the federal government, the state, and the financial community critical to rescuing the city from bankruptcy. > > As part of the transition, New York State took over funding of CUNY’s senior colleges and tuition was instituted at all CUNY colleges … > > … Pell and TAP awards for CUNY students reached a record $770 million for the 2010-2011 academic year. They enabled nearly 90,000 students to attend CUNY tuition-free. Another 10,000 have at least half their tuition covered by TAP and Pell and are eligible for a federal tax credit that pays the balance of their tuition. All told, 48 percent of CUNY undergraduates paid no tuition. > > Since 1976 these programs have provided tuition-free education for many, many thousands of undergraduate students. … > > … There are some who remain wistful for the return of traditional free tuition for all as a more just societal imperative, despite CUNY’s evolution, financing structure and state-funded status along with SUNY, which has always charged tuition. At stake today, however, is the challenge of providing a quality education and student support services on an unprecedented scale, to 270,000 degree-seeking students and at least 250,000 adult and continuing-education students. … So your experience in 1974 fell into the small six year window of a failed experiment with “free” (i.e. taxpayer funded) merit-based education at CUNY schools. Now in our horribly broken system CUNY provides “free” college education to almost half of its students, a vast number. If these are “square corners that capitalism put on” the failed experiment that you participated in, I will ask for more square corners please. Bottom line though? A failed six year experiment in the '70s is not the wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/317 "2016-04-01T03:32:44Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Both can be exploited by demagogues, and have been. Then we’re all screwed, I guess. Can’t vote for Clinton either then, can we? She rose up through a democratic system, blah blah blah…probably have all us dissidents in camps by second quarter 2018. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > Robespierre rose through a very democratic system as a man with very democratic ideals. And he never stopped believing his actions were in pursuit of those ideals, and on behalf of the people. The “system” was what, 5 years old, and being made up as they went along? Perfectly comparable to an election in a 227-year-old democracy. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/318 "2016-04-01T03:35:52Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > The “system” was what, 5 years old, and being made up as they went along? Perfectly comparable to an election in a 227-year-old democracy. But his fundamental argument is that the system is no good, that it’s corrupt and oligarchic, and needs to be overthrown through “political revolution”, including masses of young people taking to the streets. What does he ever say that speaks to the stability of a 227 year old democracy? I bet at least half the Bernheads here, whether they’ll admit it or not, read that Robespierre bio and thought “man, that dude was awesome…I hope Bernie \*is \*like him!” ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/319 "2016-04-01T03:39:40Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Germany was used as an example by someone earlier on. I merely actually explored what Germany’s college education looks like. > > I have no idea why you think the example of one city college that had to ask students for more when the city went bankrupt is relevant to the history of higher education funding in general, but since you went there you _should_ know that its story was [never so simple](http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2011/10/12/when-tuition-at-cuny-was-free-sort-of/). > > So your experience in 1974 fell into the small six year window of a failed experiment with “free” (i.e. taxpayer funded) merit-based education at CUNY schools. Now in our horribly broken system CUNY provides “free” college education to almost half of its students, a vast number. If these are “square corners that capitalism put on” the failed experiment that you participated in, I will ask for more square corners please. > > Bottom line though? A failed six year experiment in the '70s is not the wheel. It was not a “failed six year experiment”. My cite was accurate. You need to read your cite more carefully. Do you understand the difference between matriculated students and non-matriculants? I used one example based on personal experience, but there were [others](http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2016/feb/09/bernie-s/was-college-once-free-united-states-and-it-oversea/). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443/320 "2016-04-01T04:01:21Z")
It’s like having a discussion with Trump … But yes as per your current cite, there is historic precedence for taxpayers picking up the public college tab: > [@](#): > > Public higher education was often free when a very small percentage of students attended So it is not quite untrue to state that such has been done in the past in the United States. All we have to do is have college only open to a very small percent of people again! Sorry but that is not the wheel we should be returning to. Right now many many more get a free college education than did back in those days. My kids? No. And they shouldn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feel-the-extortion-bernie-has-planned/750443.md?page=17)