Yes, I know. People have tried to use that argument before. Well..........isn't a house a national investment? I mean, if people have to work, they need a roof over their heads where they can get sleep, right? Why shouldn't taxpayers fund housing? And what about transportation? Would it not be a national investment to make sure people can get to work and buy them all cars? The Democrats want to spend billions to make sure people in rural areas and poor in the cities can get taxpayer funded internet. I grew up without any internet. Didn't have it until I was in my 40's.
You can make that phony claim about national investment and apply it to just about anything. However people who get jobs because of college are no more valuable than people who work that didn't, and perhaps even less valuable. After all, if not for me, how would products get to your store?
And so you want me to pay for some kid to be a lawyer, and then when I need a lawyer in 10 years from now, he's going to charge me $150.00 an hour. Does that sound right to you?
People make more on average going to college than people who don't, and that makes college a personal investment. This national investment just doesn't fly because we all equally contribute to our economy and society.
Taxpayers DO fund housing. You get to deduct your mortgage interest from your taxes. People paying rent can't do that.
Taxpayers do fund transportation as well - buses, trains, subways - the things known as "public transit". They're for people who can't afford cars, and no, the government shouldn't buy them cars. They don't have money for gas, insurance or repairs. Then there's the roads, turnpikes, bridges - all paid for by taxpayers money.
What lawyer works for $150 an hour? The lawyers I worked for charge $500+. They billed clerks like me out at $200/hr.
My friend has a niece who wants to be a social worker. The best school in the USA will cost her $60M per year for tuition, books, and dormatory. That a quarter of a million dollars for a 4 year degree which will net her a job paying $40,000 per year. She'll be paying for that degree for 20 years, hampering her from moving out on her own, buying a car, furniture or starting a family.
When I finished school, I had no student debt. I could make enough summer money to cover tuition and books, and I lived at home and commuted to school. Right after I finished school, I got married, had a baby and bought a house. None of my kids owned a house when they were 25. One of them still doesn't own a house.