California Driving Up College Tuition Fees

Re “He’s Huge in the Capitol but Definitely Not Big Man on University Campuses,” May 17: I’m glad George Skelton brought up college fees, because this is what you get when people get up in arms about a vehicle fee hike, which, by the way, was former Gov. Pete Wilson’s idea in the first place, not former Gov. Gray Davis’.

I guess Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s kids won’t have to worry about getting into college or paying high tuition fees. But there are a lot of parents out there who struggle to get by and pay for their children’s education who will now be hurt by his decisions regarding college fees. Not to mention the students who worked hard for four years and are now being forced to attend junior college.

So now we don’t have a vehicle fee hike that would have taxed the individual on the size and cost of his or her automobile, but we’ve got a bunch of kids who will have to pay more for higher education. I guess Schwarzenegger is part of that “compassionate conservative” movement?

Bill Consolo

El Segundo

*

Well, it didn’t take long for the governor to break his promise of no new taxes. He’s asking to impose the highest tax rate in the country, a whopping 75%, on punitive damage awards in civil suits (May 15). It will be interesting to see if state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) and other Republicans will break their pledges for no new taxes and go along with the governor’s new tax.

Steve Repasky

Cerritos