© CNN Money/KJN
Mazariegos greets fellow students as they return from their holiday break to the Dominguez Hills campus of the California State University in Los Angeles, one of 23 state-university campuses in the sprawling state.
Across California, students have begun the formidable task of collecting over 585,407 signatures from registered voters to put their "College for All Act" on the ballot for this November. Inspired by Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign proposal to institute free higher education, these young activists are moving forward at the state level to make Bernie's vision a reality.
"All of the revenue raised will go to making public community colleges and universities in California tuition-free and reducing the barriers to young people attending college," said Mazariegos, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, but now lives in the Crenshaw neighborhood.
Comment: It is one thing to reduce student costs or eliminate student loans and have a fair and acceptable plan - whether this one or something else. It is another to do so as bait in order to register this pool of potential voters (Bernie's idea/Democratic) with a compelling and personal issue in order to pad the voting booths at election time to capitalize party support. As was mentioned: "One lesson from the 2016 campaign is you can only go so far saying our opponent is a monster," said Bhalla. "You need to have a compelling progressive vision."