Unsurprisingly, I think Republicans are mucking up the response to Joe Biden’s trillion-ish dollar student debt cancellation, Save Jerseyans.
The talking point right now is to point out – not inaccurately – that forgiving existing student debt is inarguably unfair to (1) those who worked hard to pay it off before the announcement and (2) taxpayers who don’t have college debt.
Republicans really should draw upon their small government core on this one because there’s a deeper narrative afoot which also happens to tie together most of the major public affairs stories of the past few years. Specifically, the fact that the student debt “crisis” is an entirely man-made crisis.
For three generations now, the federal government has recklessly subsidized college tuition regardless of whether the 18-year-old in question was making an economically sound educational decision. People want to go to college; it’s a legacy of the G.I. bill. Politicians therefore want to give voters something our culture has mutated into more of an entitlement and “right of passage” than a serious preparation for entry into the workforce. The government’s subsidies produced more tuition-paying consumers for liberal universities, and in so doing it also artificially inflated the price of college attendance. Government is now absurdly attempting to “address” the problem by doing what it always does: punish those who did “the right thing” and make the problem worse by FURTHER inflating the cost of college for presently-enrolled students.
As I said… it’s a pattern.
Covid was/is a manmade disaster, and I’m not even referring to its likely origins in a Chinese lab. The retiring Anthony Fauci and plenty of government leaders who still hang on his every word shut down the world over something that presented essentially as a mild flu/bad cold for 99.99% of those who contracted it. Members of the one population unquestionably at high risk and in need of greater protection (nursing home residents) were left to die in isolation. The resulting economic, psychological, academic, and civil liberty-related damage to our society – especially young children – won’t be fully assessable for years. Only now is the CDC admitting to some of its missteps and voices in the punditocracy are finally willing to admit that shutting down was a massive mistake. Sadly, the damage is done.
The same goes for inflation. Spoiler alert: Putin and his offensive war stand as only one contributing factor to an economic calamity of our own government’s making. Covid shutdowns and ridiculous regulations laid the groundwork for an epic supply chain crisis. You can directly trace the current historic spike in prices to the early 2021 Biden stimulus package. How did the Biden Administration and Democrat Congress “fix” inflation? By spending billions of additional dollars. It’s sort of like a drunk trying to cure a hangover with another drunk. It works for a day but to call it a “solution” is beyond ridiculous.
Covid, inflation, and student debt: these are all GOVERNMENT created disasters, folks. They were avoidable but for horrible decisions made by the governing establishment. Throw in the latest FBI revelations and even casual voters can and will begin to see a cancer growing at the heart of a democracy that’s impact is no longer abstract. We’re all (literally) paying for it on a daily basis.
Buy the way: concerning fairness, Republicans suck at playing the class warfare game because we don’t believe in it. Consultants also tend to fight the last war or pick the easy fight; that’s why you’re seeing cookie cutter GOP ads with candidates complaining about the price of milk in supermarket aisles but not much else.
GOP candidates who want to win tough races this cycle need to go back to their limited government roots and connect the dots. The beleaguered American people are ready to hear it.
