American Republic Online

John Edwards has a plan. It is so ground-breaking he’s calling it a “New Deal-like plan:”

[T]he federal government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a government-funded public higher education program called “College for Everyone.”

“It is central to what I want to do as president to do something about economic inequality. I do not believe it is okay for the United States of America to have 37 million people living in poverty,” he said in a meeting with Monitor reporters and editors this week. “And I think we need, desperately need, a president who will say that to America and call on Americans to show their character.”

Character huh? By giving them free money? I wish my father had the same definition of building character. “You need more character Jeff. Your older brother has been working hard at his job, so I took some of his money and I’m going to give it to you.” That sure would have inspired me to go out and follow my brother’s lead to shrink that gap in our income. How about this: a president who says, “Look, the government really can’t do that much for you (haven’t we proved that over the past few decades?). If you want to be successful, you’re going to have to do it. However, I will try my hardest to keep the government out of your way as you try and fulfill your dreams.” And then maybe we can look for inspiration somewhere else besides the government?
As far as the “college for everyone” goes, why stop there? Why not grad school? New cars? Make everyone a millionaire: you’ve got the printing presses.

What do you do when those who wouldn’t have otherwise gone start to fail out? Will we restructure our grading policy, or maybe start pushing kids through college like we do now with high school? Look, the reality is that not everyone is made for college. This is not a condemnation. Everyone has differing skill sets. And thank goodness for it. Our world sure would be boring if everyone was the same. Sending everyone to college won’t solve poverty, it would only serve to diminish the value of those with college degrees. Of course, this assumes everyone will obtain a diploma. And why wouldn’t they? It sure wouldn’t be fair if they didn’t would it?