An old saying states, “There are many paths to the same location.” The most common route to the American dream is receiving a higher education. People are told a better job with higher pay awaits them in the future if they educate themselves. The unfortunate part of the matter is with the current social definition of “education” and the arbitrary timeline of “the future,” there just simply aren’t enough jobs to go around.
Students are coming out of college with a median of $28,000 in debt and no job to help begin to chisel down their loans. In today’s economy, a bachelor’s or associate’s degree is equivalent to a high school diploma from our parent’s day — at least in the sense that they are required if you hope to get a decently paying job. On Thursday, Jan. 8, President Barack Obama announced a plan that would offer two years of free education at community colleges nationwide to help bring our youths and young adults one step closer to getting that required diploma. While this sounds like a fantastic idea, how are we going to fund it?
The president was extremely vague when it came to the funding of this endeavor, and honestly it sounds like another Obama empty promise. What Obama fails to realize before announcing such ostentatious ideas is not only the funding required, but also the passage through a Republican Congress. With no inclination on how to fund this, it’s likely to not pass. It is estimated that this plan would save each student $3,800 per year.
With around 9 million students estimated to participate, the president formally announced a price tag of $60 billion over 10 years. The federal government only plans to take on 75 percent of this bill while shoving the other 25 percent in the direction of the states. With our government currently in an $18 trillion debt there are two ways which we can fund this. Option 1, we take money from another area, likely leading to more job loss and raising the unemployment rate. Then there’s option 2, where we raise taxes, which no one likes.
Western civilization has a history of taking from the wealthy to give to the poor through a system of taxes. This Robin Hood-esque mentality has landed nations like Denmark at the highest rate of income tax in the world. With almost every social aspect paid for in Denmark, from government subsidized maternity leave to free healthcare, its no wonder Denmark pays a 60.2 percent income tax rate and a 25 percent sales tax — the highest in the E.U. More than half of Danish income goes toward the national government.
The highest income tax rate in the U.S. is 39.5 percent, with the lower end being a mere 10 percent. In 2012, in order to help fund some of his initiatives, Obama increased the rate of the top two tiers of earners from 33 percent and 35 percent to 35 percent and 39.6 percent, respectively. Is it fair for a person to work hard day in and day out for the money they make to put food on their tables to have to pay another 4.6 percent to the government?
This is not a call to abolish taxes. The U.S. needs to stop getting into the habit of taking money from hard workers to help pay for social programs. With 8.5 percent of college graduates not being able to find jobs, they’re going to want to keep as much money in their pockets and out of government hands to pay back their likely government loans.
Free tuition would revolutionize the U.S. education system, but, as a country, we need to first prioritize getting back on our feet economically, providing states the opportunity to encourage the federal government to foot 100 percent of this $60 billion bill — without raising our taxes.
Reach the columnist at Derrik.Rochwalik@asu.edu or follow @drochwalik on Twitter
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Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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