# I'm a college student, what is bush going to do for me?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [October 4, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547 "2004-10-04T22:24:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@chefIL11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chefIL11)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/1 "2004-10-04T22:24:40Z")
In the next four years how will I benefit from Bush if he is re-elected?
Also, what about when I graduate? What plan does he have to get graduating college students started?
---
### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/2 "2004-10-04T22:33:17Z")
This isn’t really GQ material but i’m sure someone will move it.
Bush increased the pell grant budget. But he has done bad things to the pell grant too to counterbalance this.
Beyond this I have no idea. Are you a young minority who wants to study science? If not then I can’t think of anything.
---
### Author:  [@saluki\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saluki_fan)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/3 "2004-10-04T22:51:59Z")
I don’t know about Bush, but I know what the next president is going to do. Here’s a link if your so inclined:[http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/education/college.html](http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/education/college.html)
---
### Author:  [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/4 "2004-10-04T23:23:15Z")
> [@chefIL11](#):
>
> In the next four years how will I benefit from Bush if he is re-elected?
ROTC
> [@chefIL11](#):
>
> Also, what about when I graduate? What plan does he have to get graduating college students started?
ROTC
Seriously, you should at least consider it. Even if you don’t make it a career, you will learn a lot.
---
### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/5 "2004-10-04T23:24:54Z")
Didn’t a famous _Democrat_ say, “Ask not what your country can do for you [; …] ask what you can do for your country?”
Sheesh. :mad:
---
### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/6 "2004-10-05T00:02:43Z")
It may not be worthy of GD, but that’s where it’s going.
Moved from GQ.
**samclem** GQ moderator
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/7 "2004-10-05T00:09:36Z")
> [@chefIL11](#):
>
> In the next four years how will I benefit from Bush if he is re-elected?
>
> Also, what about when I graduate? What plan does he have to get graduating college students started?
Assuming you spent last summer working at McDonald’s or something, Bush’s next round of tax cuts might net you a $10 rebate. Spend it on vaseline.
---
### Author:  [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/8 "2004-10-05T01:14:31Z")
Interesting question. Why do you think the government should do anything for you?
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/9 "2004-10-05T01:31:51Z")
> [@KSO](#):
>
> Interesting question. Why do you think the government should do anything for you?
“What will candidate X do for me if elected?” is a perfectly legitimate and relevant question to ask before deciding how to vote, isn’t it? Not the **only** legitimate and relevant question, of course, but it’s definitely on the list.
---
### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/10 "2004-10-05T01:41:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> “What will candidate X do for me if elected?” is a perfectly legitimate and relevant question to ask before deciding how to vote, isn’t it? Not the **only** legitimate and relevant question, of course, but it’s definitely on the list.
Thanks Brian I was thinking the exact same thing myself. Personaly, if I were getting out of college like the op I would want to vote for a president who’s dedicated to getting our eccomy going. Or more specificaly increasing the job market so I could fricking get one for crying out loud.
Which BTW if I’m employed I would be an asset to the country and not a liability so JFK should rest easily in his grave…
I mean it’s not like the OP is asking for a welfare check or anything.
---
### Author:  [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/11 "2004-10-05T01:43:14Z")
> [@KSO](#):
>
> Interesting question. Why do you think the government should do anything for you?
_Ding ding ding_ we have a winning answer! What is the president supposed to do for you, especially, because you’re a college student? Something special? Something other than what he’s supposed to do for me as a wife and mom? Or for an engineer or a senior citizen or a bartender or a commercial director or the lady who mans the machines that puts the safety wrapper around the lids of the bottles of hydrogen peroxide made in a factory in Hibbing, Minnesota?
---
### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/12 "2004-10-05T02:14:17Z")
I also fall into the JFK fan club ( "Ask not what your country can do for you, … ask what you can do for your country). I worked my way through school, as did all my friends.
What can President Bush do for you?
## Well, as a college student you can find work in a company that pays the tuition, so a stable economy helps you out. And if I get to invest my social security tax (like some municipalities do) then you won’t be paying for my retirement, which will be a huge tax burden in 20 years.
Stepping away from politics for a moment I would like you to think about taking a course in Journalism while in college. You will learn how to analyze information in a way that will help you with other classes as well as many situations in life. Part of a college education is acquiring knowledge but a critical part often overlooked is the skill to use that knowledge. Learning to think for yourself is the more important of the 2. Most of the great contributors to society are self-taught.
Good luck in school, try to take useful courses.
---
### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/13 "2004-10-05T02:19:52Z")
College Student? Do something for you? Bush?
Get in line, Buddy…and vote Kerry! Unless you like marching through desert! 😉
- Jinx
---
### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/14 "2004-10-05T02:21:06Z")
Money for Pell grants has been hacked away. Interest rates for student loans are quite low in reaction to the recession. If you plan to rely on student loans, though, you’d better stay clean. A conviction for a drug crime will lop off your eligibility. Tuitions, generally, are way up, partly because government money to colleges is off. So, you see, it’s a mixed bag.
---
### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/15 "2004-10-05T02:36:41Z")
With TeaElle’s answer in mind, hadn’t you rather have an answer from a Kerry supporter?
I would tell you that you and your fellow college students – just like those wives and mothers, engineers, bartenders, factory workers and directors – deserve to be treated as if _you_ are the most valuable part of the government and those elected to positions of power are your servants.
Keeping information from you should be the exception and not the rule. You deserve the truth from your leaders. You deserve to live in a country where none of your tax dollar is spent on torturing other human beings. You deserve decent pay for a hard day’s work. You deserve clean air, clean water and uncontaminated food. You deserve the opportunity to have your doctor decide when you need medical treatment and not your insurance company.
The list doesn’t stop there. Besides, you didn’t ask what you deserve. You asked how you will benefit from Bush. I think TeaElle answered that.
---
### Author:  [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/16 "2004-10-05T02:45:11Z")
> [@TeaElle](#):
>
> _Ding ding ding_ we have a winning answer! What is the president supposed to do for you, especially, because you’re a college student? Something special? Something other than what he’s supposed to do for me as a wife and mom? Or for an engineer or a senior citizen or a bartender or a commercial director or the lady who mans the machines that puts the safety wrapper around the lids of the bottles of hydrogen peroxide made in a factory in Hibbing, Minnesota?
Heh heh I can tell you what he is doing for engineers (I are one) and other technical people. He is looking for ways to outsource their jobs. Government tech jobs are being examined for outsourcing to the private sector, who in turn outsources it to other countries. Get used to the unemployment line folks!
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/17 "2004-10-05T02:53:51Z")
> [@Magiver](#):
>
> What can President Bush do for you?
>
> Well, as a college student you can find work in a company that pays the tuition, so a stable economy helps you out.
What are you smoking, and where can I get some? “Stable economy”? Whatever Bush gives us in a second term, he’s sure not gonna give us **that!**
---
### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/18 "2004-10-05T04:09:58Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> What are you smoking, and where can I get some? “Stable economy”? Whatever Bush gives us in a second term, he’s sure not gonna give us **that!**
Not sure how old you are but I’ve lived through 20% interest rates, wage and price controls, gas rationing and a number of stock market crashes. Today interest rates are down, unemployment is at an historic low, new housing construction is up, and the DOW IA is over 10,000. This has been the fastest recovery of a recession in my lifetime and it was done during a time of war.
---
### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/19 "2004-10-05T05:51:53Z")
Increase your share of the national debt.
---
### Author:  [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547/20 "2004-10-05T11:42:12Z")
> [@Magiver](#):
>
> Not sure how old you are but I’ve lived through 20% interest rates, wage and price controls, gas rationing and a number of stock market crashes. Today interest rates are down, unemployment is at an historic low, new housing construction is up, and the DOW IA is over 10,000. This has been the fastest recovery of a recession in my lifetime and it was done during a time of war.
Not sure how old _you_ are, but I’m 46 and seen everything you mention besides gas rationing and don’t think that things are going that well today…
Just a question… has gasoline been rationed since WW2?
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-college-student-what-is-bush-going-to-do-for-me/267547.md?page=2)