How much does it cost to buy votes? It can be a high price tag, whether you’re talking about using tax money to subsidize favoured businesses or tariffs that shield workers from competition and drive-up prices for consumers. In the case of President Joe Biden’s latest proposal for relieving borrowers of the burden of paying back student loans, the cost will be many billions of dollars on top of the hundreds of billions already offered to young college graduates who also happen to be voters.