[Ames, IA January 24] As a partial means to fund her plans for forgiving billions of dollars in student loans, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is proposing a five percent tax on tax on college tuition payments from students or their families. The idea came to Warren, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, following a confrontation with an irate father on Monday.
“It’s fundamentally unfair for those who can afford to pay for higher education to take advantage of those who cannot,” said Warren. “If you can afford to pay for education yourself, you can afford to help out less fortunate people who can’t.”
Warren’s plan would add a five percent tax, like a sales tax, on all college tuition payments made directly by students or members of their families. It would not affect tuition payments funded by loans, contributions from scholarships or corporations, or grants from the government or the universities themselves.The money would go into a fund to offset the cost of forgiving existing student loan debt. This debt forgiveness has been a cornerstone of Warren’s campaign.
On a campaign stop in Iowa on Monday, Warren was confronted by the father of a college student who is soon to graduate. “My daughter is getting out of school. I saved all my money. She doesn’t have any student loans. Am I going to get any money back?” Warren responded, “Of course not.”
While proposals for widespread student loan forgiveness by Warren and fellow candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have faced little controversy from within Democratic ranks, charges of unfairness have been lodged by others. In a release on its Facebook page, the Libertarian Party pointed out, “Too often, things that sound good on paper don’t really pan out the way people expect them to. Student loan relief, especially the proposed programs of Senators Warren and Sanders, are incredibly regressive – typically benefiting upper and high-middle class families and leaving those most in need of help – and the ones who typically struggle the most to put their children through college – out to dry,”
When asked whether she thought the proposed new tax would hurt her efforts to secure the Democratic nomination, Warren said, “I doubt it very much. People who are self-sufficient and self-reliant aren’t really drawn to my campaign as it is. My campaign, and that of most of my fellow Democrats, is aimed at those who want the government to take care of them. They want the free stuff, like college loan forgiveness, and they don’t much care who has to pay for it.”
Warren said that as President, she would hope that the tax plan would pass the Congress, but that she wasn’t worried either way. “I don’t really need Congressional authority to do what’s right,” she said. “As President Obama once said, “I have a phone and a pen. The student loan problem is a national crisis. I’ll declare an emergency, and issue an executive order. That’s all I need.”
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The quote from the Libertarian Party is real, and does come from an LP Facebook post. And of course, the confrontation between Sen. Warren and the irate father actually happened. While the proposal to tax tuition payments is, of course, “fake news,” it does reflect the mindset of the socialist-lite Democratic Party of today. And all too often, their Republican opponents feel much the same way, but are a little more cautious about saying so.
Meanwhile, privileges and rights without responsibility remains the true road to destruction. As all good Libertarians understand.