August 26, 2011
Staff Editorial
Don't ever let anyone tell you the government can't afford Pell Grants to help you go to college, because it's not true. It is a lie that some are attempting to make true by sheer repetition, and your ability to afford your college education may depend on how many people they are able to convince.
There is no excuse for cutting financial aid at a time when tax rates on millionaires and billionaires are at a historic low.
The Pell Grant is a grant from the federal government for undergraduates in financial need and "is generally considered to be the foundation of a student's financial aid package," according to the department of education.
"Spending cuts" has been Washington's mantra for well over a year. In April, Congress passed a budget agreement which cut funding for Pell Grants and ended year-round Pell Grants, designed to help students complete college faster. The Republican plan would have cut $5.7 billion from the program, reducing the maximum award by $845 per year, according to US News.
It it very likely we will hear calls for further cuts in the coming year; elections are little more than a year away.
Most undergraduate students started college after the recession hit in late 2007. They have only known higher education in the context of a nation "needing to tighten its belt."
Yes, the federal government is deeply, perhaps dangerously, in debt and spending has been cut and could be cut further. But the government insists on giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, protecting those who need it least at the cost of those who could benefiting most.
Tax policy is one of the central disagreements political philosophies in the history of America. It has been and will continue to be. What is relatively new is the concept that the richest handful deserve priority over the education of millions. In 1979, the maximum Pell Grant covered three-fourths of the cost of college for low-income students; today it covers about one-third, according to the National Education Association.
Meanwhile, the current tax code makes almost no distinction between household incomes of $380,000 and $380 million, or even $38 billion.
Citizens for Tax Justice estimates that re-implementing tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires would raise more than $74 billion, more than double the Pell Grant's $36.6 billion price tag.
One of the favorite arguments against fair taxes is that the best talent will emigrate and take the jobs with them. Nothing in our history suggests that is true.We do know that education often produces the best talent, along with an educated workforce for them to hire. It's time we tell those who made (or in many cases inherited) vast amounts of wealth invest in the country that invested in them.