I think the idea of free community college for all was by and far away the best.

This is not the same as saying it is good, but I surmise that you like the idea and do not merely think it was the least bad proposal.

Making someone besides the student pay for community college will not make it cheaper. Increased demand and indirect payment may make it more costly.

The government does not make enough money to cover this cost. They have a terrible business model: they give away most of their product, legislation, for free, and only charge a few premium customers for custom jobs. Plus they limit what they will accept in payment and blow most of it on advertising campaigns.

So the money will have to come from elsewhere. You can wish for them to cancel the Joint Strike Fighter program and use that money for education. People have been making such wishes for some time and it appears you will not get that wish. Perhaps they will succeed in extracting more funds from the rich than in the past while continuing to kiss their hands.

I suspect that most of the money will come from the same place it does now, taxes on regular people, with interest paid to those wealthy enough to provide the up-front cash by buying T-bills.

So poorer kids will go to school on credit and pay it back with interest to the wealthier later, rather like today. Except the very poorest, who can't afford to take years off for school, and those who choose not to go to college, who will still pay for the education and enrichment of others.

I don't know how the numbers work out to say if the benefits outweigh the costs. If you have made up your mind on this proposal, you must have some evidence. Can you share it?