“Truth is the first casualty of war” is a statement that has been used in various forms for a long time. Few people will disagree that the United States is engaged in a culture war and as a result, “Truth” is very hard to find.
There is another old saying, “There is no such thing as a free lunch”. Yet we hear from the government and news media all the time about this or that will be free. The time has come, in fact it is long overdue, that we require our politicians, news media, teachers, college professors, and everybody else to tell the truth.
The truth is this program is paid for by the taxpayer.
Example: To make junior college truly free, the following must happen.
Land for the college campus given to the county by a generous landowner.
A surveyor would have to do the survey at no charge.
An architect would have to design the buildings and campus at no charge.
A general contractor would have to agree to do the job at no cost.
All building materials would have to be donated.
The trucking company delivering the goods would have to do it at no charge.
All sub-contractors would have to do the work at no charge.
All construction workers, cement layers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc. would have to donate their labor.
Once the campus was built, all furniture, computers, books, etc. would have to be donated.
The administrative staff, maintenance staff, professors, etc. would all have to work without pay.
All supplies required by the students would have to be at no charge.
The county government would have to agree not to charge property tax.
The insurance companies would have to provide insurance at no charge.
The list could go on indefinitely! The point is, if all these people donated their products and services, how would they pay their bills?
All politicians and people who report the news in any form should be required to say, “paid for by the taxpayer”, because that is the truth.
Tom Vaillancourt is a U. S. Navy veteran and retired small business owner. He is married with two children and two grandchildren.