With $468.2 billion left to cut from the Federal budget, I have no alternative other than to close down the Department of Education. I've already been forced to wipe out the Pell grants program. Now come the Federal loans for higher education. Now come the State education grants. Everything in the Department is going to be shut down.
All I can say, in my own defense, is that the cost of higher education is going to have to come down, as a result of this action. By removing almost $100 billion in student loans from the demand side of the equation, I've sucked the pricing capacity out of the supply side. Without that guarantee of federal money augmenting the ability of students and their families to pay for college, a vast number of students will be unable to afford the current cost. Universities will be emptied out, unless they either lower their tuition or private financing steps into the breach.
Of course, I know a few teachers who will be happy about this development. The paperwork burden that the Department of Education is requiring of teachers is enormous, and the Department's goal of turning Universities into factories that churn out a mass-produced product (meaning students) is causing a lot of outrage among teachers. Well, my friends, it's all coming to an end.
The Department of Education is history. That's $148.6 billion saved. $319.6 billion left to go. What's next?