Patrick Hedger of American Encore pans Hillary Clinton’s student loan proposals in a column posted at National Review Online.
The likelihood of Hillary Clinton becoming the next president of the United States seems to be slipping further and further away as she continues to struggle with the perception that she is out of touch with American voters. Her latest policy proposal on student loans and debt reform is undoubtedly a part of her plan to address this perception issue. Unfortunately for Mrs. Clinton, all this plan does is prove she’s completely out of touch with reality itself.
The plan is being reported in the news with such headlines as “Clinton proposes $350 billion college affordability plan.” In fact, most of the headlines advertise this $350 billion figure. That in and of itself is a huge red flag that signals two things: (1) It’s simply another iteration of the same tired progressive tax and spend “solution” to every problem and (2) it won’t work.
The hard truth on the student-loan crisis is that the problem is not being caused by a lack of money. It’s quite the opposite. A recent study by the New York Federal Reserve validated the long-held concerns of many economists and policy analysts alike when it found that “on average, for a $1 increase in the subsidized-loan cap, tuitions rose by as much as 65 cents.” In short, there is too much money available for the taking by colleges and universities because of generous government loans. This is driving up tuition prices. If the government just keeps increasing how much it is willing to lend students, where is the incentive for schools to control costs?
