Ever eager to buy votes with money the government will have to borrow, the Biden administration is proposing new rules allowing the Education Department to forgive student-loan debts.

In today’s Martin Center article, I explain why the Center opposes this latest venture in vicarious generosity.

For one thing, it’s illegal. Of course, there is no actual legislation allowing the Department to wipe out student debts, but I argue at a deeper level that nothing in the Constitution gives the government the authority to lend money at all.

Second, the Department’s rules will have bad effects on students (more spending, less studying) and on colleges (less reason to keep tuition and fees down).

We need to get the government out of lending (for higher education and everything else), but Biden would have us dig the hole even deeper.