T&T: Manning talks the Clarence Thomas talk

GOVERNMENT is moving full steam ahead to ensure tertiary education is accessible to all individuals by introducing several initiatives, including a tax exemption of up to $18,000 for students pursuing tertiary education and Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption for tertiary institutions. These announcements were made last week by Prime Minister Patrick Manning when he delivered a statement on his Government’s education policies in the Senate. Manning said if the tertiary education participation rate were to be lifted by at least 20 percent by 2010, no qualified national must be denied access to tertiary education simply on the “grounds of inability to pay for such education.”

Manning said his Government was “willing to provide opportunity for those who are qualified, willing to become qualified and possess the desire, and perhaps more, the determination to pull themselves up by their own boot straps.” He said in addition to the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE), under which half the tuition for any student enrolled in tertiary programmes as public and private tertiary institutions would be paid for by Government, there is also the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP). Manning said legislation will soon be established for HELP, which will replace the existing Students’ Revolving Loan Fund and the University Students Guarantee Loan Fund.

Who tell Manning say dat?!?! Now the CBC will be really pissed off at him. He's clearly anti-affirmative action. People actually have to be "qualified," or have to be "willing to become qualified," or have the "desire and ... the determination to pull themselves up by their own boot straps"!!! What? Eh? No handouts just for living while black? Shucks, all of T&T is colored -- black, brown, white, or some mix of something. How does Manning expect to lobby the CBC to gain favors for T&T with the Bush administration if he's going to keep on saying things that give the CBC a rash?