Last Call

Yes, Herman Cain added a couple points to his scumbag multiplier with the "Princess Nancy" crack and Perry.exe encountered reality and blue screened on stage, but the real problem at last night's debate was a number of GOP candidates (Newt and Ron Paul End The Fed) gleefully saying that as President they would basically end government student loans, at a debate at a college, with a college audience, presumably the college kids at the college due to government-backed student loans, and the college kids cheering the end of the aforementioned loans.

Paul was asked about student loan program at a Republican presidential debate. He called it a "total failure" and said student loan debt of nearly $1 trillion could be "dumped on the taxpayer." He said he supported getting rid of student loan programs and the Education Department.

"There's no authority in the Constitution for the federal government to be dealing with education," the Texas congressman argued. "We should get rid of the loan programs. We should get rid of the Department of Education and give tax credits, if you have to, to help people."

Gingrich said the loan program expanded the ability of students "to stay in college longer because they don't see the cost." He called it "an absurdity."

I mean how long before the official GOP platform plank on college is "not if you can't pay cash you don't!"  The number of things America can no longer afford because we have to get the top marginal tax rate as low as possible in order to Magically Create Jobs is getting a bit long, yes?  Somehow, I don't think that our revenue problem is going to be solved by the "Michele Bachmann Two Happy Meal Alternative Minimum Tax Plan" either.

This notion that the federal government should do nothing whenever possible is one thing, but actively running on a platform of promising to assure that government doesn't help its citizens is just grimly bizarre stuff.