Growing up in central Michigan, my parents taught me the importance of earning your own money. When I was in elementary school, my parents were obsessed with Amway and kept some of their products in the basement of our house. When I realized that the food we were storing was the same as the food we were selling at school, I decided to take matters into my own hands and sell the product at a lower price than the school.

This was my first business and instilled in me an entrepreneurial spirit. At 14, I started his second business, crane games. That small investment allowed me to buy a rental property in my teens and pay for my college tuition.

As a child, I was never given unlimited funding for my education. My parents worked hard and expected me to work hard too. Going to college was never an option, it was an expectation. But I was also expected to go to school at my own expense.

This thinking is lacking in today’s generation.

American colleges are raising tuition as the federal government and private loan companies subsidize college education. Lenders are risk-free and have nearly unlimited loans. They don’t even consider the type of degree and lend money for degrees that are unlikely to generate the income needed to cover the debt.

The United States currently has about $2 trillion in student loan debt. 43 million Americans are struggling with student loans, which translates to just 12% of the country with an average student loan debt of about $46,000.

To put this into perspective, U.S. credit card debt has nearly doubled over the past decade and is only half of the roughly $1 trillion in student loan debt.

Student loan debt is an economic turmoil much like the housing bubble of 2007, caused by our government.

Just a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration does not have the authority to provide sweeping student loan relief. What did the White House do? They proudly declared they were going to do it anyway. I wish they were in this strong position against foreign enemies like China and Russia.

Their new proposal would wipe out about $120 billion in outstanding federal loans. This has a negative impact on our economy. With inflation already at record levels, this is sinking our economy, unfairly forcing the 88% of Americans who don’t have federal student loans to pay the 12% who do. will be

Here are some radical ideas. Why not encourage student loan borrowers to work extra shifts or part-time jobs to pay off their debts?

Progressives in the House believe that all economic problems can be solved through government intervention. That’s not true, and the vast majority of Americans agree that the answer to our problems is not more government, but less government.

The solution is American ingenuity, not American bureaucracy.

Radical progressives like Hilary Scholten ran as moderates to stand up to the radical policies of Washington’s liberals and special interests, but then arrived in Washington and abandoned the promises they made. . There are alternatives to college, but leftists don’t seem to want to tackle them.

Much like the Green New Deal, Democrats in Washington believe that trillions of dollars will emerge with the wave of a magic wand. We should foster an environment of healthy academic competition, not bail out colleges and private universities.

Universities were never meant for all students. By investing in vocational training at the high school level and encouraging students to follow their own path, we create a generation of focused, self-sufficient means.

We are in this mess because we started an income-based repayment model that prevents beneficiaries from being accountable for their job choices.

Our government should not be in the business of supporting universities, it should step out of the way of innovation and education. Similar to the Green New Deal, if we want to start tackling record-high inflation and national debt, we must make smart economic decisions that prepare for future problems, not past outcomes.

Michael Markey is a financial advisor and Republican candidate for Michigan’s 3rd congressional district.