On The Trail: Bernie Calls for Free Tuition Despite Opposition

By Christopher Merchant, June 3, 2016

Sanders shot back at critics of his economic proposals at a press conference at the Institute for Research on Labor and Unemployment at University of California Berkeley this past Friday evening.

(UC Berkeley video by Stephen McNally)

The senator, who was introduced by Professor Robert Reich, kept his prepared comments to economic issues. Reich, formerly the US Secretary of Labor, has endorsed Sanders for president but clarified that the press conference was not an endorsement from the Institute or Berkeley.

Sanders echoed his comments from the campaign trail about making tuition free at public universities.

"Right here at the University of California at Berkeley, I believe that in the year 2016, public colleges and universities should be tuition-free and we should lower student debt," Sanders said. "Are these radical ideas? These are not radical ideas."

During the question and answer portion of the conference, Sanders returned to his tuition plan. His frustration with Wall Street and some of his colleagues in Washington surfaced as he detailed his plan to cover those tuition expenses.

"We pay for it through a tax on Wall Street speculation," Sanders said, raising his voice. "What the conventional wisdom is about Wall Street’s greed and illegal behavior that destroyed the economy — of course we’re going to bail them out. Why would we not bail them out?"

Sanders answers questions during the press conference. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Murphy)

"But young people who desperately need a good education — of course they should leave school $50-or-$70,000 in debt. Why would we help them?"

Tuition at public institutions across the country, including UC Berkeley, continues to rise as job growth begins to falter. The US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that the economy added approximately 38,000 jobs in May. Though that drove national unemployment down to 4.7 percent, it represents a downward trend in growth over the past three months, Reich said during his introductory comments.

(UC Berkeley video by Stephen McNally)

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On The Trail: Bernie Calls for Free Tuition Despite Opposition

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