When did Americans become comfortable in accepting handouts without clear means of repayment?

This week, President Barack Obama announced that he wants to change key parts of the federal system for student aid. Among the proposals is a move to turn Pell Grants into an entitlement program, similar to Social Security. A pair of Planet Money Twitter pals began (quite civilly) duking it out over the issue. We asked Eric Sipple and JL Johnson to take it outside the 140-character box. Sipple supports the Obama plan -- you can find his response here.

Below, Johnson argues against the change:

In his book The Audacity of Hope, then U.S. Senator Barack Obama spoke heavily on values, values that in his own words "help realize opportunity." The values of self-reliance, self-improvement, drive, discipline, temperance, hard work, and personal responsibility, says Obama, are rooted in "a confidence that each of us can rise above the circumstances of our birth [and] society as a whole will prosper." Later he states:
"Our system of self-government and our free-market economy depend on the majority of individual Americans adhering to these values. The legitimacy of our government and our economy depend on the degree to which these values are rewarded."
Considering these words, written less than five years earlier, I find it troubling that now President of the United States Obama has sponsored the ambitious goal of making Pell Grants an entitlement program the likes of Social Security and Medicaid.
At some point in recent years, did the values of self-reliance, thrift and personal responsibility that Mr. Obama spoke of become blurred? When did Americans become comfortable in accepting handouts without clear means of repayment? Where have the American values of independence and self-reliance gone? As a people, how can we become outraged over recent federal loans (bailouts) of private industry which have clear repayment plans but look the other way when it comes to taking taxpayer money without the same repayment requirements? Finally and perhaps most importantly, how do Pell Grants reward values or incentivize success?
Many individual states offer respectable and successful student aid programs which do in fact reward the positive American values that President Obama recognizes and respects. One such program, sponsored and administered by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is the A+ program. With this program high school students who maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, have at least a 95 percent attendance rate through grades 9-12, complete fifty hours of mentoring (community service), and remain drug- and alcohol-free are eligible to have their first two years of tuition at a junior or community college paid for by the citizens of the great State of Missouri ("Facts about Missouri's A+ Schools Program"). With the A+ program the State of Missouri rewards students who are dedicated to their self-improvement, who possess drive and recognize that hard work and discipline do pay off.
It is my contention that state sponsored and administered programs which reward and incentivize students to succeed should take precedence over federal entitlement programs. States have historically been the incubators of innovation. Why not entrust states to take the problem of higher education into their own hands, or even model future federal programs after successful, proven state programs?
Handouts do not strengthen individuals nor do they strengthen society. Instead, we must recognize, reward and incentivize the values of self-reliance, self-improvement, drive, discipline, temperance, hard work, and personal responsibility. In then Senator Obama's words, "The legitimacy of our government and our economy depend on the degree to which these values are rewarded."

categories: Letters

12:48 - May 7, 2009

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