Sorry in advance for this short diary. Besides lying into the camera (This Week with George Stephanopoulos) about payments from his senatorial campaign to his sister's dissolved company, the new RNC Chairman, Michael Steele asked a simple question. How does more money for Pell Grants create jobs?
Here is your answer Mr. Chairman....
For an example, I'll go with my place of higher education; the State University of New York at Oswego.
(Stopping the myth...while there are underground tunnels between dorms and cafeterias, there are NO ropes to assist students to get to class when the wind starts blowing.)
SUNY Oswego is a relatively small state school with 8,200 students (7,100 full-time undergrads). Here is the economic effect of school with less than 10K students.
http://www.oswego.edu/...
Employees:
— 1,195 full-time faculty and staff
— 631 part-time faculty and staff
— 2,204 part-time student employees
— 1,760 full-time equivalent employees
Economic impact:
— $169.4 million total economic impact for Oswego County
— $326.3 million total economic impact to the immediate seven-county region
That doesn't take into effect the idea of sending someone to college who otherwise can't afford it. While the Pell Grant money is being spent now and it will take at four years for the person who is directly receiving money to graduate, it's obvious the money is being well spent and creating/saving jobs right now.
Otherwise, cut the program, decrease the amount of students, decrease the staff and see the economic benefits down as well. Then in four years you have less college graduates. More people making minimum wage.
If Michael Steele is the man the Republicans have chosen to lead them pack into power, I'm very confident the Democrats have very little to worry about.