Statecraft Roundup: Ron Paul to eliminate student loans if president

SALT LAKE CITY -- In his presidential campaign to "revolution(ize)" the country, congressman and former doctor Ron Paul attempts to end wasteful spending and the choke hold the federal government has on the American people.

Although it is Paul's third attempt at the highest office in the United States, his current campaign appears to be slightly different from previous attempts, with Paul's message resonating with more voters, albeit still a relatively small audience. His supporters range from younger voters to a more mature audience, with most of his voting bloc coming from the younger generations who rely upon the Internet and social media as an everyday tool.

Paul's libertarian approach to reducing the size of government in conjunction with his voting record in Congress has prompted several supporters to declare Paul as the Founding Fathers' ideal candidate, counting on his touted claim of never compromising to American principles.

Despite Paul's recent success and seemingly increased stake in presidential politics, the Texas congressman remains in the single digits of most national polls. Although the likelihood of Paul occupying the White House remains low, especially with the Republican Party keeping Mitt Romney in their sights, Paul's message is what will have an impact in national politics for years to come, whether good or bad.

Nevertheless, the Paul campaign moves forward, looking to give voters an alternative option to revolutionizing American politics. Here is a look at the most recent news about the Ron Paul campaign.

Ron Paul:

• On Sunday, Paul appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," saying he wants to end federal student loans because it's a failed program, putting students in $1 trillion of debt in an economy with no job security. "Just think of all this willingness to want to help every student get a college education," Paul said. "They're a trillion dollars in debt, we don't have any jobs for them, the quality of education has gone down, so it's a failed program. I went to school when we had none of those. I could work my way through college and medical school because it wasn't so expensive."

  According to a study released by The Project on Student Debt, the average graduate will have $25,000 in outstanding loans, with student loans surpassing credit card debt as the nation's single largest source of debt. And since 1978, the price of tuition for higher education has increased by more than 900 percent, forcing more students to obtain student loans to finance their education. However, Paul's message to eliminate student loans is only half the battle. With the ever-increasing costs of tuition, students will continue to be forced to borrow money to pay for their education. And eliminating federal loan programs will only force students to take on private loans with higher interest rates, thus compounding the problem. Any serious talk about eliminating student loans must also include the reduction of tuition rates.

  *Paul's campaign released a statement Monday, saying Paul is not "ending" student loans.

• Prior to last week's Republican debate in Las Vegas, Paul released his economic plan, calling for $1 trillion in cuts by eliminating five departments in the federal government. Paul said his plan was the only solution to turn the economy around, saying, "I am absolutely convinced this is the only way to prosperity. If we want jobs, we have to get the government out of our way."

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Paul's plan would eliminate the departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce and Interior, cutting about $179 billion from the federal budget and reduce the federal workforce by approximately 134,000 federal jobs. The plan would not lay people off, but would transfer them to other departments until they retire.

Additionally, Paul said he would reduce funding to remaining departments, with the Department of Defense losing $832 billion. The food and Drug Administration would see a 40 percent reduction and the Environmental Protection Agency would see a 30 percent reduction. Paul would also reduce the salary of the president to about $39,336 -- "approximately equalt to the median personal income of the American worker" -- instead of the current salary of $400,000.

"A lot of people will say, ‘Cutting $1 trillion in one year -- that sounds radical,' " Paul said. "I operate on the assumption that the radicals have been in charge way too long."

The campaign approach to eliminate several federal departments is often a reason why the candidate struggles with mainstream Republican voters, but that is exactly Paul's point: Americans have been led to believe the federal government should have the power they have.

"We are on economic suicide if we are not willing to look at these overseas expenditures," Paul said in last Tuesday's GOP debate. "I want to hear someone up here willing to cut something that is real. … To me, foreign aid is taking money from poor people in this country and giving it to the rich people in poor countries, and it becomes weapons of war."

1. The Paul campaign recently released new ads as part of a $2 million advertising blitz in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. The two ads review the congressman's economic plan and his consistent voting record, in comparison to GOP front- runners Mitt Romney, Herman Cain and Rick Perry. Paul released his anti-abortion rights and national defense ad prior to the other ads. The Paul campaign plans to use $2 million raised in the most recent "money bomb" to create more ads attacking other candidates and providing voters with information about Paul's campaign. Email: jfurlong@ksl.com

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