Cap All Fees In Education: A Modest Proposal

My friend bgates has a brilliant legislative proposal:

I renew my call for federal CAFE (Cap All Fees in Education) standards to first limit and then steadily decrease the cost of higher education in this country. Congress feels competent to tell engineers how much the latest advances in materials science, aerodynamics, and engine design will translate into greater fuel efficiency; surely if they can do that they can tell colleges to quit hiking tuition.

Besides being the right thing to do, a Republican proposal to halt the increase in student debt would make two important Dem constituencies into mortal enemies. Couple CAFE with new copyright law – I’m thinking a limit of 14 years or $14 million in sales, whichever comes first – and we win the college vote by cutting two of the most vocally anti-American Dem constituencies off at the knees.