Leveling the playing field

Last week, it was reported that all in-state students would receive $300 toward tuition for the 2010-11 school year as long as they maintain a 3.0 grade point average during both semesters.

Even though I was disappointed that I would not benefit from this new initiative since I’m not an Indiana resident, I was still impressed with this news.

After all, I look at it as a “thank you” from the University to its hardworking students, who, in turn, better the University’s reputation. More so, I look at it as an incentive to increase academic efforts for many.

As I walked to class feeling good about what achievement hard work can bring, I picked up a newspaper and caught up on the latest news on the health care front.

Unsurprisingly, the article I read dealt with one of the biggest issues with the health care overhaul: cost. While town hall meetings are taking place and showing the passion of the American people on this topic, we forget how exactly we plan to pay for health care reform.

Senate Democrats have been discussing raising income taxes on America’s highest earners, from the current 33 percent and 35 percent rate to 36 percent and 39.6 percent, respectively, for all families making more than $250,000 annually to help pay for this health care plan. Additionally, federal tax deductions would be limited for the families that fall into the top tax brackets.

So, who exactly is paying for this overhaul again? Those students with a GPA of 3.0 and above, of course!

Some people have no problem taxing higher earners, but when you look at it in the context of students getting rewarded for higher grades, perhaps one can see the unfair aspect. I mean, how would you feel if President Michael McRobbie announced that your 3.0 and above GPA would be averaged into the GPA’s of all students on campus? This way, might everyone have a more equal chance at getting into a good graduate program?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, “Mr. Obama contends frequently that his plan would merely level the playing field, because itemized tax deductions currently are more valuable for higher-income earners than for lower-income earners.”

Well, tax deductions are more valuable for high earners because they pay more into the system. They get more out of it because they, for example, have the expendable income to donate to charitable causes, which is often tax deductible.

So while Obama is talking about leveling the playing field, which sounds a tad socialist to me, I don’t think high earners should be taxed to help pay for health care reform.

Many people agree; a current CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows that 45 percent of Americans currently oppose the president’s plans regarding health care.

If our values were based on creating a level playing field, then IU students certainly wouldn’t be rewarded for good grades. And I certainly would have stopped working as hard a long time ago.