Conservatives are going to lose on the student loan issue because Caveat Emptor Capitalism is deeply unpopular. People don't feel they should have to learn technical language and read fine print to not be sent to the poorhouse, and no amount of grandstanding will change that.

I'm saying this as somebody who paid off about $40K in loans. Yes, I lived in some CRAPPY apartments to pay them off. But I recognize myself as someone who is above average in financial literacy. Most people don't know what compound interest even is.

Moreover, most people have a general disposition of trust toward government. They see "Income-Based Repayment Option" and assume that somebody is being understanding toward them, not tricking them into blowing their debt up by not paying the full interest.

The one thing the Trump era has taught me is to have a little empathy for people who *aren't* like me. People who didn't go to college. Or aren't good at math. Or don't read fine print. Or can't just smoothly adapt themselves into a new six-figure job when they lose the old one.

Or, you know, *ever* get a six-figure job. Or believe the bank when they're told adjustable-rate mortgages usually go down. Or believe the university adviser who tells them they should get a theater degree.

A civil society is built on a foundation of unwritten rules & conventions that allow us to trust each other and not have lawyers always on speed-dial. Caveat Emptor Capitalism says, nah, if you trusted somebody and got screwed, that's your problem for not being smart.

"You should have known that the university is just trying to harvest all your money and not actually prepare you for life. You should have known the government is trying to put you in hock for eternity." No, actually, people should not try to screw you.

And, moreover, it doesn't matter if your FRAY MAHKAT PRANCAPALS say so, the reality is an economy where it's fine to screw people by exploiting their ignorance or default trust is WILDLY unpopular. People will vote for whoever says they're not about that.

This is why Republicans aren't trusted on health care. People feel like they get SCREWED by hospitals when bills come in, and you have no idea how many more bills you get, or how big they'll be. The Dems' plans are bad, but the GOP's messaging is, "CAVEAT EMPTOR, BITCH!"

The GOP absolutely could craft a smart approach to health care that didn't make us more socialist, but they have no core message, because they believe companies have the right to screw you, and the only right you have is to read the fine print first.

Even basic price transparency laws are castigated by conservatives as "against free market principles," since it would require, you know, making a rule. And that's "big government."