July 20, 2006 2:23PM 

# Boldly Buying Votes 

By [Neal McCluskey](https://www.cato.org/people/neal-mccluskey) 

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Yesterday, [at a news conference](http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/07/20/initiative) featuring New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) unveiled “a bold new plan” for American higher education. The *[American Dream Initiative](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=194&contentid=253965)* would “award states $150 billion over 10 years to reduce tuition and increase graduation rates”; consolidate several federal tax breaks into “a single, refundable $3,000 college tuition tax credit”; and bolster “accountability” by instituting federal price controls.

What terrific, bold ideas these are! First, plow even more government money into a system that has grown [obese on taxpayer funds](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5215), then throw government “accountability” on top of it, creating a groundbreaking socialist blend of wealth redistribution and government control!

Of course, in reality there’s nothing bold or new about anything in the DLC’s proposal; politicians have been [dumping huge loads of money](http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_339.asp) into higher education for decades, and proposing [price controls](http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=20033&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=6302) for years. No, far from being “bold,” the *American Dream Initiative* is just another disgusting attempt to [buy American votes](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6265) by politicians who believe that a big enough dollar sign, wrapped in just enough lofty rhetoric, is the key to political power.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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