Cruz “Gets It”
When Senator Cruz opened the floor to the attendees at the meet and greet in the American Legion Post, Ali Steinberg asked, “Many students struggle with the rising cost of college. How do you plan to address this issue?”
Cruz immediately sympathized. “Let me say first hand, I understand this problem,” he said.
He shared that in high school his parents went bankrupt. This forced him to become financially independent at seventeen, working two jobs to pay his way through college. Between undergraduate and law school, Cruz took one hundred thousand dollars in student loans, and only finished paying off his mortgage six years ago.
“I get first-hand what it is like to come out of school with debt.”
Senator Cruz attributed the rise in college tuition to the Obama administration. “If you want to kill economic growth, do what we have done for the past seven years” Cruz said.
“From 2008 to today, [the economy] has grown on average only 1.2%. If we stay at an anemic 1.2 percent economic growth, we can’t solve any of these other problems” Cruz said. He compared the current economy to that of the Reagan administration when it grew at 7.2 percent.
Like Reagan, Senator Cruz said, as President, he would turn the economy around by passing tax reform and regulatory reform. He also said he would repeal Obamacare and pass a simple flat tax.
“Young people were enamored with Barack Obama, he was hope and change. It was exciting.” Cruz stated, but he also noted that President Obama’s approval rating has plummeted.
Americans are “coming back from school with debt up to their eyeballs and no jobs” Cruz said. Senator Cruz believes the best thing for young people is to create an environment with a booming economy, so young Americans could secure employment after college.
Comparing his beliefs to those in the democratic party he said, “the approach of the Democrats is real simple: free stuff.” He disagreed with this and said, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch,” Cruz added, “everything government gives, it’s gotta take from you.”
In efforts to connect to the younger generation he then mentioned a meme that his campaign tweeted out. The meme said, “Reaganomics: you start a business in your parents garage. Obamanomics: you move into your parents garage.”
“So you wouldn’t actually do anything to lower the cost of college?” another individual from the crowd asked him. Cruz played the federalism card. He said that he does believe that we should do a lot to lower college tuition, but states should be the one to push it rather than the federal government.
