The last thing most college students need after graduation is more debt. Many, if not most, college kids will have to take out loans to pay for their educations. at some point.

But under President Barack Obama’s economic plans, more debt is exactly what we’re going to have.

You really have to hand it to Obama. To solve a crisis caused by people borrowing money and buying things they couldn’t afford, the president plans to borrow even more money and buy even more things that we, as a nation, can’t afford. Between the so-called “stimulus” bill and the budget he submitted to Congress, Obama is on his way to adding more to our national debt than every other president, Washington to Bush combined.

The president has sold this spending as “stimulus” for our ailing economy.

But don’t let that fool you – much of the money is going to fund his far-left priorities. After all, as his closest adviser said, “You never want a crisis to go to waste.”

As our economy continues its downward spiral, our president knows he can pass almost anything he wants in the name of fixing the economy. But what America needs is a way out of the recession, not political opportunism in the midst of a crisis.

Obama went to Washington promising change from the way things were.

During the campaign, he eloquently vowed to end earmarking, which allows members to essentially buy votes with taxpayer money by funding frivolous pet projects. But the most recent general spending bill passed by Congress included some 8,000 earmarks, including funding for a Honey Bee Lab in Weslaco, Texas, an Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference and tattoo removal at a foundation in California.

What does all this government spending mean for us? In the near future, not much. As college students, we’re mostly insulated from the effects of the national debt. But as we emerge from campus to enter the real world, the President’s economic policy is going to have very real effects on us.

Taxes are going to have to go up. And for America’s most successful citizens, taxes are going to go up a lot. Of course, newly minted college grads aren’t going to start out making six figures. But every single dollar confiscated by the government is one less dollar that can pay the salary of an entry-level accountant, nurse or engineer.

The calculus is simple. If a business owner is burdened with an increased tax liability, either he takes a pay cut, or he eliminates another position to compensate. Which sounds more likely?

But the consequences don’t stop there. As most of this debt is maturing, our generation will be to putting our children through college. When our earning potential is highest, we could end up giving nearly half our income to the government.

Though many students at Villanova agree with most of the president’s agenda, it’s vital we remember that it will be us, ultimately, who will finance his excess.

Obama seems to see no problem that cannot be solved by spending massive amounts of taxpayer money: The more ambitious the promise, the more expensive the price tag.

President Obama is funding enormous projects with a taxpayer credit card; he intends to stick our generation with the bill.

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John Elizandro is a freshman business major from Radnor, Pa. He can be reached at [email protected].