Romney's Solution for College Costs? Just Borrow from Your Parents

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8L-2_DvFtY

It's the time of year when students and stressed out parents are scrambling to make sure they have enough money to pay those college bills. Which presidential candidate will help ease that burden? According to President Obama's latest campaign ad, which is set to air in Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia, if you're looking for a president who wants to make sure college is affordable for as many students as possible, Mitt Romney isn't your guy.

The ad shows some pretty damning footage from a speech Romney gave in April at Otterbein University in Ohio. Romney tells students they should "borrow money if you have to from your parents" to pay for their education or start a business—as if every family has tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars saved up.

And if the Romney-Ryan budget takes effect, you can forget about Pell grants as well. Jeff Zients, the acting director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget noted back in March that under the proposed Ryan Budget "9.6 million students would see their Pell Grants fall by more than $1,000 in 2014, and, over the next decade, over one million students would lose support altogether." The Tax Policy Center says Romney's plan would also eliminate tax credits for college tuition. There's certainly more that President Obama could do to pressure schools to make college more affordable, but at least he's gotten the ball rolling on student loan reforms and used the savings to double funding for Pell Grants.

Mitt Romney's not wrong to encourage students to get an education, of course, he just sounds completely out of touch in assuming the costs aren't crippling.