First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Says Free Community College Is Off The Table

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden said in a talk with community college leaders on Monday that free community college is no longer on the table. But the First Lady is NOT the one that killed it - The provision, which was a campaign promise of Joe Biden - was a part of the Build Back Better Act that is now in shambles thanks to zero Republican support and obstruction by a gang of corporate Democrats. This is just a reminder of the good things the country could have had in the legislation, as Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

During a speech to community college leaders this week, first lady, Dr. Jill Biden made the sad announcement that two years of free community college, which had been something she had been working on, something that her husband, president Joe Biden had promised, is officially off the table and out of the Build Back Better act. Now, to be fair, the two years of free community college has been out of the Build Back Better act since October, the most recent compromised bill had already removed that. But Dr. Biden's statements yesterday have made headlines. Some people thinking that it means that she's the one who took it out, which is irresponsible. But let me just read what she had to say. One year ago, I told this group that Joe, my husband Joe, was going to fight for community colleges, but Joe has also had to make compromises.

Congress hasn't passed the Build Back Better legislation yet and free community college is no longer a part of that package. We knew this wouldn't be easy, still like you, I was disappointed because like you, these aren't just bills or budgets to me, to you, right. We know what they mean for real people, for our students. And I believe Dr. Jill Biden is sincere here. I don't think this is window dressing. You know, I, I, I do think she's a genuinely good person that really did want this to happen. So I'm not going to attack Jill Biden because none of this is her fault. That's the thing people have to remember here. She just happens to be the bearer of this bad news to this group that would directly be affected by it. Now I don't necessarily agree with her stance that, oh, he had to make compromises. I understand some compromises had to be made. But this wasn't one of them. And in fact, no, no screw that.

No compromises had to be made. Let's stop with that. I can't believe I even just said that. No. They should have taken a hardline stance. They could have gone to West Virginia themselves, whether it was president Biden, Bernie Sanders, AOC, you know, Ted Lieu, Ro Khanna, Ilhan Omar, any of those people should have gone to West Virginia, held rallies, talked to the people there themselves to get them to convince Joe Manchin. They could have done it to Arizona to put pressure on Sinema. Go to their homes and make it uncomfortable for them. That's what you do instead of just bending over and say, okay fine, you get all the compromise you want. And then Manchin still says, well, I'm still not doing it. You've given me everything I want, but I'm just not gonna do it because that's the kind of horrible human being I am. But this is a reminder. This is a reminder of the kind of good things we could have had in that legislation.

To anyone who is watching this that has children who have recently graduated from, from high school or are about to graduate from high school, kids that you've had the college talk with, a lot of 'em are scared. How am I gonna pay for this? Do I even want to go to college? Is it worth it? Free community college is a good stepping stone for some of those kids who have no idea. College isn't for everybody. I encourage everybody to go, but some people don't and that's okay. But two years of free community college, basically consequence free.