1. Govt Reps get elected for a lot of things. Maintaining our roads, bridges and infrastructure are always buzzwords during elections.
2. Your link to Brookings just reinforces the issue. For profit schools account for 10% of students, borrow more often compared to public school students, and borrow more money. The Fed link shows that these students default more; they also are higher in pure dollar terms when it comes to Pell grants and Stafford loans. There's no good defense for profit schools.
3. Our tax to GDP has been constant for decades. Wow. I guess that wouldn't coincide with the Republican and Grover Norquist's efforts to "drown the baby in the bath tub?" A tax code can be "progressive" in theory while in practice it's regressive since the wealthy can shelter so much of their income. By underfunding the IRS, we're leaving money on the table. That's what the rich want, and since they largely control Congress, that's what they get.
4. If you look at trust in government, it was in the mid 70% range up until 1960. So obviously all the people in 1950 were so scarred by how poorly the British Parliament treated us in the 1700s. The drop in trust dropped during the Vietnam War when both parties continually lied to the American people, and since then has hovered in the 30% range for 40 years. But it's pretty clear that one party has had a platform for over 40 years to diminish the accomplishments of the Federal Government (except the Military), to starve it of funds, to politicize it's agencies. The other party sees the Government as a solution to many problems that are simply too large for individuals to solve.