George Will characterizes the Biden student loan forgiveness as “largest wealth transfers in history” (“Monument to destructive assumptions,” The Columbian, April 17).
Usually Will is honoring us with his history lesson about how some long-dead soul is relevant to today. In this column he forgets the history of school costs. Up until the Reagan era, schools were paid mostly by government, state, local or federal. It was part of the American dream: an education. America paid for it. No more. Now it’s a “wealth transfer” that they, the wealthy Americans, rue.
Greg Jayne, in the same paper, pointed out the wealthiest paid 3.4 percent taxes, a lower percentage than a lot of Americans pay. Jayne also pointed out that 57 percent of households paid no federal tax. Jay Ambrose in a past paper opined this also. What Ambrose left out, Jayne put in: that an increase to 57 percent with no taxes was basically due to no, little, or less income.
Will and Ambrose both expect the people with no money to pay more and the wealthy to pay even less. Good Republicans. As we see from climbing deficits, nobody pays the bills anyway. So press on Biden, help the students. The wealthy don’t need it, they are wealthy!
