Congratulations to The Associated Press for noticing that the discussion of college costs in Tuesday’s Democratic debate neglected a significant component: the cost of the proposed solutions.
Neither Hillary Clinton nor Bernie Sanders, The AP noted, “told TV viewers about the costs to the treasury of what they propose.”
For example, Clinton’s plan to allow “anyone to go to a public college or university tuition-free” is pegged at $35 billion over 10 years, but the AP analysis rightly says it is “bound to cost more.”
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Sanders’ plan factors in at a staggering $70 billion annually, two-thirds from Washington and the rest from the states — all no doubt paid by those “billionaires” he repeatedly rails against.
In reality, the revenue would largely have to come from taxes on a big swath of the middle class.
That’s how such benefits are financed in nations like Denmark, after all, which Sanders cites as a model.
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