Listening to the budget debate last week, I am reminded of my Dad's story.  My Dad grew up a poor kid from rural West Virginia during the Great Depression.  Life was difficult for him and his family as they moved throughout Appalachia in search of work.  Thanks to a free public education, tuition assistance from the state of West Virginia, and a job as a civil servant combined with his own hard work, my Dad was able to provide a comfortable middle class life for his children.