175 big ones still not enough to pay for university

Tom Ridge Is Leaving the Administration

Brad DeLong spotted this one in the American Prospect:

"I've got no speculation as to the reason Tom Ridge has made it public that he's likely to step down from his post as Secretary of Homeland Security after the November election. But the given explanation seems a bit off-message for the Bush-Cheney reelect campaign:

Ridge, 58, has explained to colleagues that he needs to earn money to comfortably put his two children, Tommy Jr. and Lesley, through college, officials said. Both are now teenagers. Ridge earns $175,700 a year as a Cabinet secretary.

Ridge doesn't need to spend more time with his family -- he just needs to spend more money on his family. Even Ridge's salary, which on its own puts his family among the top 5 percent of household incomes, isn't enough to pay for college. So much for the idea that families would 'start to see some relief on the tuition front.'"

Cracks me up, this. I was active with the Canadian Federation of Students for, well, far longer than it should take even the laziest student to graduate from university, and after all those years spent fighting tuition fee increases, I find it the funniest thing in the world that Tom Ridge, who earns 175 large, can't afford to send his kids to school.

Magic.