Miner Queries: Whose economy will you vote for?

 Whose economy will you vote for? 

As we approach another election, I get nervous watching voters’ responses to ridiculous and misleading campaign messages. I flashback to 1980 when I was too young to vote -- missing the election by just five months.

My father, who read copious publications to stay informed on political issues, researched the presidential candidates’ platforms. Since I was preparing for college, he told me Reagan’s plans included cutting student financial aid. Most of my class was not in a position to pay for college without assistance.

Yet the majority of voters in this area voted for Reagan, guaranteeing their children and grandchildren would face higher college costs. They voted against their own economic interests.

So, higher education costs rose, and financial aid decreased. Personally I (class of 1981) paid 2 percent more interest on loans than my husband (class of 1980).  Additionally, I was ineligible for certain grant programs.

Finally, after completing two degrees, I entered a depressed job market in 1989, in which starting salaries were lower than those for the previous generation of college graduates. So I started my working life earning less to pay off more debt.

All this came to mind last weekend when I read Thomas Frank’s Salon Magazine article “Colleges are full of it: Behind the three-decade scheme to raise tuition, bankrupt generations and hypnotize the media.” 

Frank pegs 1981 as the beginning of the rising college tuition spiral, soundly pinning it and other sour economic developments on Reagan administration policies. And he concludes:  “Put it another way: Over the last 30-odd years we have essentially privatized higher ed. In saying this I’m not referencing the defunding of our State U’s (an explanation for the tuition spiral, by the way, that doesn’t get nearly enough journalistic attention). And I am aware that a good chunk of our institutions of higher ed have been private all along. What has changed is that they aren’t ‘our’ institutions of higher ed anymore.” 

Frank notes we once believed education was key to opportunity for all. But as we came to accept market economics as our model for all things, college became less accessible. 

Likewise, our economy leaves more of us behind weekly. Yet too many of us still believe in an unregulated market economy.  And as Frank notes with regard to college tuition, our major corporate media have done a terrible job of researching real conditions and policies that have caused the spiral. 

The same can be said of media coverage of political candidates. Voters don’t know the real records and plans of candidates. They don’t know who is paying for candidates’ campaigns. And most voters probably don’t look too deeply, as I learned in 1980.

So as I watch our current campaigns, I’m wondering, “Will citizens vote for their own economic interests? Or will they vote for the Big Energy economy funded by corporate moguls like the Koch Brothers?”

Iowa has plenty of candidates tied to Koch Brothers organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), including Governor Terry Branstad and state Senator Joni Ernst.  A March 2013 Progress Iowa Report outlined Iowa’s ALEC politicians and policies.

Make sure to read the report and arm yourself with credible information about candidates’ records before you vote next November. Don’t just push the R or D button. Don’t just vote for a catchy slogan. 

Reagan ran on, “It’s morning again in America.” Great slogan -- but for whom?  I’m still waiting for my economic sun to rise.

Cherie Miner is a local parent, community volunteer, freelance writer and artist. In a former life, she was a corporate writer and public relations professional. Contact her at news@redoakexpress.com or on Facebook.