At long last Bernie Sanders has endorsed Hillary Clinton. He has extracted a pretty high price. She must adjust her positions more toward his. Just as she is trying to appeal to a broader base, she is being pulled to the left.
She recently announced her $350 billion plan to reduce tuition and student loans. As expected, a few rich people will pick up the tab. I believe that her plan is fundamentally flawed. We are facing two huge problems in higher education. College costs have risen much faster than inflation for decades. At the same time the economic value of many degrees has dropped. I once read about a graduate with a history degree who was working as a waiter and had over $100,000 in student loans. Throwing more money in the system certainly won’t encourage colleges to economize. In fact, it will have the opposite effect. Free tuition will encourage many to enroll in programs for which there are no jobs. There is also a concern about the funding. Liberals assume that the rich will behave the same no matter how high their taxes go. Once the tax rate is over 50%, there is less incentive to invest and create jobs and more incentive to lower taxes. I suspect if this program is enacted, it will cost far more and bring in much less taxes than expected. I am deeply concerned about the young. They are paying far more for college and facing much worse job prospects than when I graduated. The social insurance programs are designed to help my generation and hurt theirs. I am very much in favor of finding ways to help them but this isn’t the answer.
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