Sometimes it’s breathtaking, the mismanagement of the United States of America, which has been increasing over decades, to be sure, but which is to the point of being difficult to take.  (Of course, the feeling is especially acute in a place like Rhode Island, with a state government intent on leading the country in mismanagement.)

The examples come like a rising tide that never recedes.  Take, for example, the $16.6 billion taxpayer price tag for bailing out automobile manufacturers.  That’s 20% of the total program, down the drain.

Even worse is the cost of the government takeover of student loans.  What makes it worse is not just the fact that the price tag is $21.8 billion, or that it may be an annual expense, rather than a one-time loss, but the precedent that it sets.  Consider:

… because of a quirk in the budget process for credit programs, the department can add the $21.8 billion to the deficit automatically, without seeking appropriations or even approval from Congress.

In short, the Obama Administration has given the higher education industry a direct line to the debt of the United States of America — that seemingly imaginary debt that politicians pretend will never come due, but that is currently projected to be more expensive, each year, than either defense or discretionary spending by the time a child currently in fifth grade graduates from high school.