Completely nuts.

Completely nuts.

Remember how inaction by Congress allowed interest rates on certain student loans to double as of July 1? Remember how that rate increase, if left unchecked, will add thousands of dollars to the debt load of the average student, further depressing their economic spending power once they enter the job market?

Well, if you're Tucker Carlson at Fox News, this rate increase is actually a good thing:

“What’s going to happen to these young people and all their big student loans? The answer is very bad things,” he added. “The president has been buying lower unemployment rates by essentially providing very cheap student loans and keeping people out of the labor market.” “Exactly,” Carlson agreed. “So, cheap student loans keep people out of the labor market. This is a dangerous spiral.”

Really. See, in the up-is-down worldview of Tucker Carlson and his economist pal Peter Morici, young people don't get high-paying jobs because the cheap student loan rates they get allow them to be lazy and move back in with their parents rather than go out and seek more gainful employment. Now, that's crazy enough. But here's what's crazier: That part only comes in after a 90-second discussion between the two about how the Affordable Care Act is supposedly forcing employers to restrict available opportunities because of the burden of providing health insurance.

In conclusion, then: Health insurance reform means there aren't any jobs available, so to force young people to compete harder for whatever jobs are still out there, we need to increase their student loan rates. It's Hunger Games as applied to economic theory.

Join Daily Kos and Credo: sign the petition asking all U.S. senators to support Elizabeth Warren's Bank On Student Loan Fairness Act, which will give students a 0.75% interest rate on their federal Stafford loans.