PASSHE Institutions Merging

[complaint_hopeful]

He's said it numerous times. Here's one:

Many colleges have bond debt, meaning they still owe money to investors for buildings, residence halls and other projects.

Closing a campus means losing the opportunity to generate revenue to pay off that debt, Greenstein said.

“That just gets absorbed by the other universities in the system,” he said.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/...tems-can-often

There are also political and economic reasons.

[Sec10-A-14]

Close down money loosers and fill'em with homeless.
Shift money from inner city public housing to pay for all these empty spaces.

[Fightingscot82]

Close down money loosers and fill'em with homeless.
Shift money from inner city public housing to pay for all these empty spaces.

Using your logic and last year's finances we'd be closing every school but West Chester.

Also, what good will a homeless community do in Clarion County?

[IUPNation]

Close down money loosers and fill'em with homeless.
Shift money from inner city public housing to pay for all these empty spaces.

Or just shift money from propping up all these dying dead ass towns in Trumplandia...let them go they way of Centralia...

Better yet why don’t they finally toll I-80 like they should have years ago when it was proposed...and pay for schools. Why should upstate Trump supporters get a free road while those of us who need to use the Turnpike get handed toll increases every year.

[complaint_hopeful]

Using your logic and last year's finances we'd be closing every school but West Chester.

Also, what good will a homeless community do in Clarion County?

Yep. So we know PA is 47th in state support. I'd like to see a study of if you took the top 30 or so state systems above us and reduced their funding level to 47th.

I'd venture to say that some of them would be in financial trouble within 5 years too.

[Bart]

Or just shift money from propping up all these dying dead ass towns in Trumplandia...let them go they way of Centralia...

Better yet why don’t they finally toll I-80 like they should have years ago when it was proposed...and pay for schools. Why should upstate Trump supporters get a free road while those of us who need to use the Turnpike get handed toll increases every year.

Trump supporters do use the turnpike too, especially upstate. And whatever happened to social democracy and income redistribution. As my friend Karl said "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

[IUPNation]

Trump supporters do use the turnpike too, especially upstate. And whatever happened to social democracy and income redistribution. As my friend Karl said "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

The most vocal against the tolling of 80 live nowhere near the Northeast Extension or the Main Turnpike and have their free road. Yeah rural folks in PA are always the beneficiaries of income redistribution from Southeastern PA. We pay to prop up the rural parts of this state. For me to go 20 miles from Downingtown to Norristown is almost 4 bucks one way. That is ridiculous and that’s with the EZPass discount.


Now it’s been reported the rural Trump counties have the highest Rona vaccination rates in PA while Southeastern PA struggles to get any vaccine from Harrisburg. Why are the areas that called it a hoax get it first?

[Bart]

The most vocal against the tolling of 80 live nowhere near the Northeast Extension or the Main Turnpike and have their free road. Yeah rural folks in PA are always the beneficiaries of income redistribution from Southeastern PA. We pay to prop up the rural parts of this state. For me to go 20 miles from Downingtown to Norristown is almost 4 bucks one way. That is ridiculous and that’s with the EZPass discount.


Now it’s been reported the rural Trump counties have the highest Rona vaccination rates in PA while Southeastern PA struggles to get any vaccine from Harrisburg. Why are the areas that called it a hoax get it first?

You probably can afford 4 bucks. Or take 322 to 95. I use to drive into Phila. on the West Chester Pike. If it makes you feel better, there are proposals to toll bridges on the interstates, which will cost most people 4 bucks round trip to work. Poverty, exploitation, and inequality run high in the Trump counties. Southeastern Pa benefited for years from the Philadelphia and Reading Coal Companies heating your homes and creating fortunes. They left the coal region with stripped land (Centralia), poisoned the air, and treated workers' bodies as cheap and disposable. As Billy Joel sang "But they've taken all the coal from the ground, And the union people crawled away." Now it is happening again with natural gas.

As for the vaccine distribution, ask the democratic leaders. In my travels, I found the many rural folks don't want the vaccine. They don't trust politicians who never protected them before. They are alienated and cynical because of years of being hard hit, especially in coal country. They feel betrayed. I recall growing up watching miners go to bars after work to wash down the coal dust from their throats. Things haven't changed much in post-industrial working class life. Now people here turn to drugs and alcohol to wash away the pain. They deserve a break.

[IUPNation]

You probably can afford 4 bucks. Or take 322 to 95. I use to drive into Phila. on the West Chester Pike. If it makes you feel better, there are proposals to toll bridges on the interstates, which will cost most people 4 bucks round trip to work. Poverty, exploitation, and inequality run high in the Trump counties. Southeastern Pa benefited for years from the Philadelphia and Reading Coal Companies heating your homes and creating fortunes. They left the coal region with stripped land (Centralia), poisoned the air, and treated workers' bodies as cheap and disposable. As Billy Joel sang "But they've taken all the coal from the ground, And the union people crawled away." Now it is happening again with natural gas.

As for the vaccine distribution, ask the democratic leaders. In my travels, I found the many rural folks don't want the vaccine. They don't trust politicians who never protected them before. They are alienated and cynical because of years of being hard hit, especially in coal country. They feel betrayed. I recall growing up watching miners go to bars after work to wash down the coal dust from their throats. Things haven't changed much in post-industrial working class life. Now people here turn to drugs and alcohol to wash away the pain. They deserve a break.

They voted for Trump because he said he was bringing back coal jobs. So I can only assume they want more coal jobs, not less. I doubt only city homes were heated by coal. If poverty is so bad up there why do they keep voting for the GQP? Do you honestly think Fat Nixon cares about them as he golfs everyday and sits on his Golden Toilet Throne at Bedbug A Lago? Maybe another round of tax cuts for billionaires will help speed down the trickle to the masses....

Neither 322 or West Chester Pike go to Norristown. The fact is the rates per mile go up in more populated in areas east of Morgantown. It costs $4.30 to go from Norristown to Downingtown which is 21 miles with an EZPass but it’s only 90 cents more to go 45 miles from Downingtown to the Lebanon-Lancaster exit. It’s costs only 2.70 to go from New Staton to The Pittsburgh exit in Monroeville..only 3 miles less than Norristown to Downingtown but a full $1.60 less in tolls. Why is that?

Again 40 percent or more of the states revenue comes from Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties and we continually get screwed over by the morons in the state house and senate in Harrisburg because the majority Q leadership is not from here. The Q’s in the state leadership roles are either from Central PA or The Yinzerlands.

The state system schools will never get on track as long as the state house and senate are controlled by Qpublicans. They don’t care about education. Fat Nixon flat out said he loves the uneducated.

Hopefully with Wolf as Gubner the state districts get redrawn fairly and seats are taken from Trump counties that are in decline and Southeastern PA gets more political clout. The Philly burbs and the city should see new seats in the house and senate. Then maybe the issues we face in this Commonwealth actually get fixed. The rural Q’s just want that dysfunctional status quo so nothing actually gets fixed.

[Bart]

They voted for Trump because he said he was bringing back coal jobs. So I can only assume they want more coal jobs, not less. I doubt only city homes were heated by coal. If poverty is so bad up there why do they keep voting for the GQP? Do you honestly think Fat Nixon cares about them as he golfs everyday and sits on his Golden Toilet Throne at Bedbug A Lago? Maybe another round of tax cuts for billionaires will help speed down the trickle to the masses....

Neither 322 or West Chester Pike go to Norristown. The fact is the rates per mile go up in more populated in areas east of Morgantown. It costs $4.30 to go from Norristown to Downingtown which is 21 miles with an EZPass but it’s only 90 cents more to go 45 miles from Downingtown to the Lebanon-Lancaster exit. It’s costs only 2.70 to go from New Staton to The Pittsburgh exit in Monroeville..only 3 miles less than Norristown to Downingtown but a full $1.60 less in tolls. Why is that?

Again 40 percent or more of the states revenue comes from Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties and we continually get screwed over by the morons in the state house and senate in Harrisburg because the majority Q leadership is not from here. The Q’s in the state leadership roles are either from Central PA or The Yinzerlands.

The state system schools will never get on track as long as the state house and senate are controlled by Qpublicans. They don’t care about education. Fat Nixon flat out said he loves the uneducated.

Hopefully with Wolf as Gubner the state districts get redrawn fairly and seats are taken from Trump counties that are in decline and Southeastern PA gets more political clout. The Philly burbs and the city should see new seats in the house and senate. Then maybe the issues we face in this Commonwealth actually get fixed. The rural Q’s just want that dysfunctional status quo so nothing actually gets fixed.

People want jobs, coal or otherwise, in a society that preaches one's fate is determined by one's efforts. They have to eat. The call for bringing back coal conjured up a feeling of rebellious determination, and a sense of pride when coal won wars and made a rural nation into a great power. Coal is finite, and Trump was just another politician duping workers like the coal companies who deserted mining communities when it was no longer profitable. Most of coal region people are disconnected from politics, because "politicians are selected, not elected." Self-preservation is the name of the game. I am all for taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor. Southeastern Pa has the money.

Some are assigning moral worth to rural citizens, to make them feel inferior, excluded and demonized. Don't fall into that trap. And take a back road to Norristown.

[IUPNation]

People want jobs, coal or otherwise, in a society that preaches one's fate is determined by one's efforts. They have to eat. The call for bringing back coal conjured up a feeling of rebellious determination, and a sense of pride when coal won wars and made a rural nation into a great power. Coal is finite, and Trump was just another politician duping workers like the coal companies who deserted mining communities when it was no longer profitable. Most of coal region people are disconnected from politics, because "politicians are selected, not elected." Self-preservation is the name of the game. I am all for taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor. Southeastern Pa has the money.

Some are assigning moral worth to rural citizens, to make them feel inferior, excluded and demonized. Don't fall into that trap. And take a back road to Norristown.

1. We aren’t a rural nation any longer. If they want jobs in rural PA, then people there should be better educated or learn marketable skills in a trade school. Barely graduating ftom bad rural schools and expecting high paying jobs handed to you isn’t going to happen. The communities got left behind because they don’t accept change. Cities were a disaster in the 70’s and 80’s and they had to change. One the urban factories left they had to reinvent themselves. Philadelphia was the most industrialized city in the US a century ago. The factories are gone. Things changed...new jobs came about.

2. I drove through Indiana County Coal Country in 2016 and there were MAGA signs all over the place. They looked pretty connected to me.

3. sure take money from the rich to help the poor. That’s how it has been. Does that include the urban poor? Because the rural poor RESENT anything the urban poor might get because they don’t look like them. That’s why I resent propping up rural PA when rural PA would gladly see Philadelphia collapse on itself. Maybe a little less hate for the big city.

4. Rural folks demonize too. The devalue people not like them. Ask Dr.Levine how her life was constantly vilified and devalued in rural PA. Don’t fall into the trap they don’t do anything wrong and are the only victims. It’s a two way street.

5. I do take the back roads sometimes. It doesn’t change the fact the Turnpike Commission unfairly charges the motorists of Southeastern PA who use the Turnpike a higher rate per mile than The rural stretches of the state. It should cost the same amount per mile the entire length. If they can explain why that I s I would like to know.

6. Public Education in Pennsylvania would do better if the state wasn’t held hostage by Fat Nixon loving hacks.

[Bart]

1. We aren’t a rural nation any longer. If they want jobs in rural PA, then people there should be better educated or learn marketable skills in a trade school. Barely graduating ftom bad rural schools and expecting high paying jobs handed to you isn’t going to happen. The communities got left behind because they don’t accept change. Cities were a disaster in the 70’s and 80’s and they had to change. One the urban factories left they had to reinvent themselves. Philadelphia was the most industrialized city in the US a century ago. The factories are gone. Things changed...new jobs came about.

2. I drove through Indiana County Coal Country in 2016 and there were MAGA signs all over the place. They looked pretty connected to me.

3. sure take money from the rich to help the poor. That’s how it has been. Does that include the urban poor? Because the rural poor RESENT anything the urban poor might get because they don’t look like them. That’s why I resent propping up rural PA when rural PA would gladly see Philadelphia collapse on itself. Maybe a little less hate for the big city.

4. Rural folks demonize too. The devalue people not like them. Ask Dr.Levine how her life was constantly vilified and devalued in rural PA. Don’t fall into the trap they don’t do anything wrong and are the only victims. It’s a two way street.

5. I do take the back roads sometimes. It doesn’t change the fact the Turnpike Commission unfairly charges the motorists of Southeastern PA who use the Turnpike a higher rate per mile than The rural stretches of the state. It should cost the same amount per mile the entire length. If they can explain why that I s I would like to know.

6. Public Education in Pennsylvania would do better if the state wasn’t held hostage by Fat Nixon loving hacks.

No question people make choices that contravene their own self-interests, and that the government should invest in job creation, infrastructure, education, and the common good.

Some assume rural folks mean white. Blacks and Hispanics are moving into coal regions from urban areas to find safety, to escape traumas of inner city poverty and crime, attain better-paying, manual labor jobs, and find housing they can afford. They still believe in a better life for their children.

Even as they are divided by racism, sexism, and xenophobia, the working class agree that you can't raise a family on nine bucks an hour. They support policies that expand opportunities for health care, education, fair pay, and good jobs. They blame companies and institutions that support a biased criminal justice system, lack of employer loyalty, doctors and pharmaceutical companies that profit from addiction, and the for profit colleges that peddle useless degrees. They are not your enemy, just try to understand their life experiences that created their worldview.

[iupgroundhog]

No question people make choices that contravene their own self-interests, and that the government should invest in job creation, infrastructure, education, and the common good.

Some assume rural folks mean white. Blacks and Hispanics are moving into coal regions from urban areas to find safety, to escape traumas of inner city poverty and crime, attain better-paying, manual labor jobs, and find housing they can afford. They still believe in a better life for their children.

Even as they are divided by racism, sexism, and xenophobia, the working class agree that you can't raise a family on nine bucks an hour. They support policies that expand opportunities for health care, education, fair pay, and good jobs. They blame companies and institutions that support a biased criminal justice system, lack of employer loyalty, doctors and pharmaceutical companies that profit from addiction, and the for profit colleges that peddle useless degrees. They are not your enemy, just try to understand their life experiences that created their worldview.

Too many issues in play here to know where to start. But getting back to the transportation situation, Pennsylvania is a mess. There's really not enough public money to maintain the entire state. This is why the folks along the "I-80 corridor" were wrong to put up such a strong resistance to tolling the interstate. PA needs that money and most of it would come from out-of-state users. The arguments those rural legislators put forth were nothing short of ridiculous.

The tolls paid on the turnpike help support PennDOT across the state. 40% of the turnpike's payment to PennDOT is directed to SEPTA. So, the tolls do come back to Philly but sure would help if I-80 was tolled.

As for who resents who more, rural PA has a particular disdain for the Philly area. This is not a secret.

When you refer to the coal region as synonymous with rural PA, it is not. It is just one piece of it. I believe a lot of those mostly Hispanics are coming into communities in the coal region to escape the social maladies of Reading and Allentown. A generation ago they came from metro NY and the social ills followed them (or preceded them). But it's not a mass migration. Rural PA is white. Will they ever come to terms that it is Dems who have their back and not Republicans?

[IUPNation]

No question people make choices that contravene their own self-interests, and that the government should invest in job creation, infrastructure, education, and the common good.

Some assume rural folks mean white. Blacks and Hispanics are moving into coal regions from urban areas to find safety, to escape traumas of inner city poverty and crime, attain better-paying, manual labor jobs, and find housing they can afford. They still believe in a better life for their children.

Even as they are divided by racism, sexism, and xenophobia, the working class agree that you can't raise a family on nine bucks an hour. They support policies that expand opportunities for health care, education, fair pay, and good jobs. They blame companies and institutions that support a biased criminal justice system, lack of employer loyalty, doctors and pharmaceutical companies that profit from addiction, and the for profit colleges that peddle useless degrees. They are not your enemy, just try to understand their life experiences that created their worldview.

Well Democrats want a 15 dollar an hour minimum wage but Qpublicans claim it will kill jobs. The minimum wage should have tied to inflation years ago and be adjusted yearly. Funny how Qpublicans in Congress and in State Houses raise their pay for doing nothing but they sneezed at someone flipping burgers for wanting to make more than $7.25 an hour.

So why does the working class kerp voting Qpublican? Because hating on people seems to Trump ( pun intended) their economic well being.

These same people are now losing their **** over A toy potato losing its gender not that it had genitals to begin with and even if they did his parts were interchangeable...making him Transgender.

[Fightingscot82]

Transportation-wise, the setup in PA is somewhat similar to higher ed. You have PennDOT which oversees tens of thousands of miles of roads. Then you have the Turnpike Commission, a state agency like PASSHE that can kind of set its own rules. So there's two competing roads organizations. The Turnpike Commission is notoriously poorly managed with crazy debt service that is getting in their way of keeping up their roads.