Killing off college loans.

• Position: Editorial

This is always an anxious time of year for seniors in high school who are applying to college. But this year's class has more reason to be anxious than ever: tuitions have increased, money is tight, and student aid has declined dramatically. And as details of the budget emerge, things look tougher still. The Republicans in Congress are proposing to balance the budget, in part, by cutting the government's share of student loans from 30 percent to 10 percent.

The cuts in student loans under the Republican budget plan amount to a $4.9 billion savings for the government over seven years. During the same seven-year period, the Republicans plan to give back $245 billion in taxes, mostly to the rich.

It's appalling to realize that Congress is seriously curtailing educational opportunities for kids (not to mention health care for the elderly and disabled, child nutrition, welfare, and environmental protections) in order to give away tax breaks to fat cats. But it is especially appalling that they are claiming to do it for the benefit of future generations. Senator Connie Mack, Republican of Florida, praised the Congressional Republicans' budget, calling it "real deficit reduction that guarantees our children and grandchildren will have the hope and opportunity to pursue and achieve the American Dream."

Not only will Congress's deficit-reduction plan create a lot of pain now, however; it won't make life better for most people down the road.

Much of the government spending that conservatives deride plays an important role in a healthy economy. As economist Robert Pollin points out in Dollars and Sense, "Amid the anti-government clamor, it is hard to remember that big government emerged as a solution to the problems of instability that were endemic to free-market, small-government capitalism." Since the Depression, unemployment rates, bank and business failures, and per-capita income have all' changed for the better because of deficit spending, Pollin points out. Deficit spending also gives government the power to counteract downturns in the economy, providing a safety net not only for individuals who fall on hard times, but also for banks and businesses whose failures, can send the economy into a downward spiral.

The real budget question...