Afew months ago, a handful of lucky Gen Xers virtually won the lottery when the White House directed the Department of Education to “adjust” their student loan accounts, in some cases down to zero. Joel Lambdin, a 49-year-old string musician from New York City, became a poster child for this one-time forgiveness measure, as Business Insider reported. During his studies and bohemian career, Lambdin had accumulated $250,000 in student debt that remained in forbearance for more than 25 years — until suddenly, one day, a letter from the White House wiped his debt clean.

As Fox News host Jesse Watters commented to his audience: “Who paid for it? You did.”

Nobody on the right or left side of the political aisle denies the urgent need for reform in how the nation funds postsecondary education. America’s young people are being pushed into a one-size-fits-all college track that saddles many with large student debts — too often without preparing them for rewarding careers. But the left’s “solution” — transferring mountains of student debt to taxpayers, many of whom did not attend college — only encourages more bad behavior, including increased student borrowing and reckless spending by unaccountable universities.