The Old College i

Tim Pawlenty went on The Daily Show tonight to explain his views on "small government" and spent most of his time avoiding specifics, since as we all know there's really no meaningful (by which I mean "noticeably deficit reducing") fat to cut in either state or federal budgets, just big popular programs and small misunderstood ones. Even "foreign aid," which always wins surveys of cut-worthy programs turns out to be (a) minuscule, and (b) primarily spent on Israel & its neighbors (so as, you know, not to attack it). Oppose foreign aid? Jew hater!

But then TimP slipped. Dropped the playbook. Went rogue. Let out his inner Rand Paul. He proposed abolishing state supported higher ed altogether and replacing it with vouchers so you can buy an iPad.

i. Shit. Ye. Not.

Don't take "boring" classes where you have to "listen" to some "professor." Just download an econ app and figure it out for yourself, whenever you want. As loopy as this idea sounds to anyone who has actual experience of education, I have to confess that this does answer at least one long-standing perplexity haunting American political culture: where the hell did the GOP learn its economics? Apparently, the same place it gets its porn.