Musgrave and Financial Aid for the Rich

I missed this when it passed a couple of years ago, but our darling Marilyn inserted an amendment into the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 that exempted owners of small, family-owned businesses from reporting their assets when they applied for federal financial aid. Her reasoning was that it was unfair for small business owners to face the prospect of selling off parts of their livelihoods in order to send their kids to college. Fair enough... except that the qualification hinges entirely on the number of employees, not the value of the assets.

The way it stands, any family-owned business with fewer than 100 employees qualifies for the exemption. 98% of U.S. businesses have fewer than 100 employees. It doesn't take a great deal of accounting wizardry to finagle your finances around so that the family "business" controls most of your assets. In the same way that Fortune 500 companies have been receiving money intended for small businesses, the rich are sending their kids to college using government money.

Combine that with Musgrave's consistent opposition to increasing financial aid to students, and it shows her commitment to reducing educational opportunities for those that can't actually afford to go to college.