Tucker Carlson calls out Republicans over student loan debt: 'This is hurting the country badly'

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Tucker: Student debt shaping basic life decisions

We can make colleges responsible for loans that default.

Tucker Carlson called on Republican lawmakers to do something about student loan debt Friday, saying that the burden is impacting families and preventing new families from being formed.

"The student loan bubble has grown to more than $1.6 trillion, and that's not just an economic burden for young people, the ones who have to pay the loans off," Carlson said on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Friday. "Those loans are shaping the basic life decisions they make and changing our society."

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Thirty-three percent of people aged 18 to 34 have said they may put off getting married until their student loan debt is paid off, according to a study by LendKey Technologies.

"The survey didn't ask young adults about having children, but you know exactly what it would have found for young people," Carlson said. "Debts mean dreams delayed or destroyed. It means families aren't formed."

The host blamed Congress for the problem.

"It's an economic problem that people caused. Congress is pumping tens of billions of dollars every year into student loans," Carlson said. "Those loans, in the end, don't help the students. They enrich wealthy colleges and their overpaid administrators who hate you and then hike tuition by six percent every year."

"This is hurting the country badly and we don't have to tolerate it," Carlson added.

Carlson called on Congress to change the laws.

"We can change the law on all kinds of ways. We can make colleges responsible for loans that default like every other beneficiary of a loan they could cosign," Carlson said. "We could restrict student loans to schools that let tuition rise too quickly. If you're ripping off kids, we're not going to give you a federally-backed loan."

Carlson criticized conservatives for dodging the issue.

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"So far, we haven't done any of that. And one of the main reasons is the Republican Party hasn't tried to do any of that. And that's one of the main reasons the Democratic Party, which is insane and getting crazier, still has a shot to win [in 2020]," Carlson said. "They're not doing anything about student loans, but they're talking about them. Conservatives should talk about them, too. They're preventing families from forming. We should care."

Fox Business' Jeanette Settembre contributed to this report.