Megyn Kelly and her guests seemed perturbed on Tuesday as she discussed a possible contender for Time magazine's annual Person of the Year issue.
Each year, the magazine bestows the title upon a person, a group of people, or even an idea. Time released a long list of potential candidates on Monday. The list is not a formal nomination nor a guarantee that the winner will emerge from the group of candidates. It's meant to generate discussion.
And it seems to achieved its goal. On Fox News, Kelly seemed surprised that the magazine included Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke on its list of potential candidates.
Fluke came into the national spotlight when she was the subject of incendiary attacks by talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, after she testified before a congressional hearing on insurance-covered contraception. Limbaugh issued a rare public apology and Fluke went on to campaign for President Obama and speak at the Democratic National Convention.
"So you got JFK with Person of the Year with Time, you've got Gandhi, and maybe now—Sandra Fluke," Kelly said.
"No," radio host Lars Larson said. "JFK who said 'Ask not what your country can do for you?' And now we've got Sandra Fluke saying my country can buy me birth control for 3 years of law school at Georgetown—of all places." He then said it was "absurd" Fluke "managed to spend $80 or $100 a month on birth control."
Kelly chimed in and added, "I'll tell you something. When I went to law school at Albany Law School, the average starting salary was not $260,000 a graduate, like it is for graduates out of Georgetown Law School. Now she is a public interest student, but she was arguing on behalf of all students there."
While Kelly said that Fluke is not entering the private sector, it's important to point out that the starting salary for law graduates is not a quarter of a million dollars. Also, a significant amount of law students, including Fluke, take out loans to pay for their degrees (it costs $140,595 total to attend Georgetown law school), and acquire debt throughout their time in school.
According to US World News and Report, the median average salary for law students who go into the private sector is $160,000. A March 2012 Forbes article noted that the average starting salary for Georgetown law students who go into the private sector is $114,000.
However, the starting salary for students like Fluke who go into public service is far less. According to US World News and Report, the median starting salary for graduates entering the public sector is $55,929.
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