by Kesi Foster

Higher education is an American Dream, but may become a "Dream deferred" for community college students. The banks are the villains. "The following lenders have started turning away from community college students: Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, SunTrust, and PNC. In the case of Citibank, it has stopped offering loans to all community college students in the state of California," writes the author, a community college student. When the bankers turn their backs on struggling community college students, "does that not mean we should have no problem turning our backs on the banks when they want the government to bail them out? "

And so it begins. I expect this to happen over and over again in the coming Obama administration, at both the federal level as well as the corporate. (is there a difference?) The "excuse" that "there just isn't enough money/credit/liquidity" will be employed to slash social program after program, and the poor will bear the greatest brunt. But interest on the debt, paid to foreign governments and the superwealthy? Oh, that will be paid. And the MIC budget? Count on that to continue to grow. Social Security? Feh, there's still plenty of fat there that can be cut, and I don't expect Dems to stand up for it, as they are shown the real books that the Bush regime has kept from their incurious eyes these last eight years. Perhaps it will be a 'nasty surprise' to him, or perhaps his Crack SuperSmart UChicago Economic team will be all ready, handing over a "plan" on Day 1, in which they relate that for the Good of the Nation, the poor shall be required to turn over their first born for slavery "national service" in which they are all shipped to Dubai to work on the New Pyramids.