The Line of Pigs at the Trough is Around the Block

This week, the Carnegie Corporation took out ads in the New York Times and Washington Post, signed by 36 universities and education association, calling on the federal government to provide $45 billion to aid to construct new facilities - particularly "green" ones.

Universities are already enormous beneficiaries of government support, from direct aid and grants to indirect aid from student loans and grants that help pay tuition that increases much faster than inflation.

But with President-elect Obama calling for a spending plan that is estimated to exceed $750 billion, the universities must be operating on the old adage: nothing ventured, nothing gained.