Capitol Protest: Joke Is On Taxpayer

Katy Grimes: It is amazing that a once-successful education system now churns out victims, instead of well-educated young people ready for employment. Today’s college students aren’t well-educated in the classic sense, nor do they appear to be all that excited about the employment part of the equation.

For many, colleges and universities are a welcome refuge from the real world.

The “education” protest at the Capitol Monday, attended by thousands of college students, teachers, SEIU members, CTA members, and “others” which I cannot categorize since they looked so gnarly, smelled nasty, or looked scary, and were apparently only there to fill in the crowd, was merely a protest organized by unions to push for Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax-increase ballot initiative.

Monday’s protest was the product of very rich public employee unions.

There wasn’t the usual catered box lunch as is standard fare at most Capitol protests. In the world of the taxpayer, a protest is something to attend on one’s own time because the issue is so important.

The protests I usually witness at the Capitol require the inducement of a free lunch to get people to attend, and/or transportation to and from the Capitol, which I am sure occurred Monday, given all of the privately chartered buses I saw around the Capitol.

Monday’s protest was different for the usual humdrum protests. It was big, which is different from most union protests. Apparently there is more at stake right now in state politics.

The protestors were not just the usual fare, other than the typical gray-haired, 60’s rejects and crazy professional objectors. Students were transported to the Capitol by the busloads. I know because I live downtown and saw buses delivering protestors. As I drove to work yesyerday morning, I saw several parks where buses of protestors had stopped to organize, and get ready to march on the Capitol.

Once at the protest, the real motive became clear.

Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez, with a hoarse voice, promoted his bills to end a $1-billion tax loophole for out-of-state corporations, which he said would go to middle class scholarships.

Sen. Pres Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, full of drama, confessed his own role in the budget process last year which resulted in huge higher education cuts, and tuition increases for students. “We’ve cut billions of dollars and I’ve hated every minute of it.,” Steinberg said. But he did it – it couldn’t have been that painful for him.

It was all political campaign rhetoric. The students should have booed Steinberg and Perez off the stage. They had the culprits right in front of them, and did nothing.

Then I wondered what the cost of the protest was.

The long day ended with nearly 70 protestors refusing to leave the Capitol. Predictably, they were arrested.

But the day was an exercise in futility, resulting in nothing more than thousands of hoarse voices and blisters on tired feet.

Politicians are going to do what they want – thousands of screaming college kids mean very little since most of them don’t even vote.

If any of the students feels real anger about the tuition increases, it should be directed at the Governor and his party. Their refusal to stop spending in a down economy, lack of pension reform, pushing High-Speed Rail and AB 32 implementation will most assuredly bankrupt California. Then, once again, college will only be for the elite.

MAR. 6, 2012