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Political gamesmanship enveloped a battle over legislation to prevent student loan rates from doubling at the end of June, as House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) denied that Republicans had resigned themselves to the notion that no deal could be struck.
Boehner and New York Sen. Charles Schumer (NY), Democrats’ messaging chief in the Senate, waged a war of words on Capitol Hill on Thursday following a Politico report that House Republican leaders had told their rank-and-file members that reaching an agreement to prevent student loan rates from jumping was “unlikely.”
The report prompted Schumer to pounce on the issue, which is imbued with election-year politics.
"These overheard comments by Speaker Boehner confirm our suspicions that Republicans were never serious about wanting to stop rates from doubling on college students,” he said in a statement. “To many on the hard right, government should not play a role in helping students afford college. Speaker Boehner seems to be following their lead and throwing in the towel on this issue a month before the deadline.”
If Congress does not act, student loan interest rates would rise from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Both President Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney said they support legislation to prevent the jump, though the hangup in Congress has revolved around how to finance the cost of that bill.
Recognizing the political potency of the issue, Boehner’s office pushed back hard against Schumer and sought to clarify the speaker’s closed door comments.
"Boehner told the members that the president wants to fabricate fights on things like student loans because he's out of ideas; he doesn't want to talk about his record or his failed policies. Told them the House has passed a responsible bill, and that we are waiting on Senate Democrats,” said spokesman Michael Steel. “But that if the interest rate lapses because of their inaction we can fix it retroactively. He also reiterated what he's said before … that if there's a solution that can pass both chambers, we're ready to talk about it."
Congress has been in a stalemate over how to pay for extending the current student loan interest rates into 2013. The cost totals $6 billion, and House Republicans want to pay for it by taking money from a preventative health fund created under President Obama’s healthcare law. Senate Democrats want to close a tax loophole that large corporations use to avoid Federal taxes.
The House passed their version of the bill; so far, the Senate has not passed anything.
Going a step further so as to prevent being painted as intransigent, House and Senate Republican leaders sent a letter later on Thursday to Obama, outlining three possible ways they would be willing to pay for the price tag of the student loan bill. Those possibilities are outlined here.
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BTW, the Congressional members who have children rarely apply for loans! Yet, doubling down on interest rates is a popular program with Congress, or stopping the rate increase by acting in a decent and moral manner. Make cuts on both sides. The loopholes that allows Apple and their brethren to avoid paying taxes while hoarding their vast amounts of money is immoral. Close a loophole, let the corps pick up the tab because hopefully they willl fulfill their promise and create jobs for the grads. Cuts in the health care can be arranged also, and offset by closing loopholes for the Pharmaceutical corporations.
But, the GOPers will once again show their complete apathy for the person struggling to get through college while their kin lives in a nice dorm, is a member of a fraternity or sorority, lives and eats well with no worries about financial arrangement. If you do not believe this just check out how Mitt got through Prep School, BYU and Harvard for two degrees. His family paid for it. He didn't work a day for his tuition.
Get the drift of their hypocrisy You vote in the GOP slut for president and watch your country disappear into another immoral, costly and unnecessary war. Thats what they do.
Obama/Biden 2012
The Republicans have one answer for everything. The poor have to pay for it. The rich don't have to pay for anything.
College graduates should just take their college degrees, move to a foreign country to work, and then default on their student loans.
Let's see. Progressives have taken over universities. Prices have skyrocketed because professors are paid too much to do nothing. Administrators also and sports programs get all the funding. Parents and students borrow money from Banks and the Federal Government to pay these crazy high prices for 3rd rate educations, and now you want to stick the taxpayer with the bill. Sounds just like the @!$%#ing progressive socialist reaction to everything; healthcare; housing; food; welfare in general; school lunch programs; The money will stop soon people. all conservatives ( about 40% of the population) are not wealthy but we have traditional values. Totalitarian socialist marxists like obama are just going to force the wealth out of us? Ha! We will run out of money soon. You asses best be prepared.
Paul,
Lots of spew without one verifiable link to any fact.
Can we all here say "Typical Clueless Republican?"
Of course we can!
I just told you how it is and you talk about spew. What did you say? Let's see: You said nothing. Let's do simple because that's what progressives can handle. You want the taxpayers to pay for private student loans?
Here is an idea. Make the loan rate double for those that don't graduate. Those are the ones that will be less likely to pay it back so they should be charged a higher rate.
“To many on the hard right, government should not play a role in helping students afford college. Speaker Boehner seems to be following their lead and throwing in the towel on this issue a month before the deadline.”
Once again we see where the problems are coming in America. The right wing supported by Boehner does not want Americans to be educated and by saying that government should not play a role on helping students afford college should really tell Americans that the GOP does not want America to be successful.
College educations create successful Americans who know how to manage their affairs and create a stronger America through education.
Boehner and his minions hate those who seek the assistance from the government for loans because it means less money that the GOP can skim from to put into their pockets.
Boenher and the right wing only want Americans to have a limited education so we will be put into jobs of menial status where are second job is that of worshipping.
Boehner and his court have no idea of how to keep America successful. All they know how to do is so no to education while countries like Japan and India continue to excel past America in the area of education.
America is no longer a grass roots country and Americans MUST go after secondary schooling in order to keep America strong.
Don't listen to those who say a secondary education is not necessary, look how they turned out.
Wrong. America needs to educated and the government helping with the costs of schooling ensures that America remains strong lest we fall under the uneducated and back water crowd supporting Boehner and the GOP.
Boehner wants America to fail.
Seeing things in terms of absolutes is a sign of the Sith.
This is reality not a george lucas fantasy world.
Now the GOP and religious right are trying to block people from posting on Craigslist.
HUH? Pay back the loans. How complicated is that? No free lunch ass holes.
Those who are not pro education are pro communism.
Here we go again, the Republicans are holding student loans hostage to get what they want.
Seriously, is it really such a bad thing to close a loophole? You're not raising anyone's taxes, you're just eliminating a way to avoid paying them.
Republicans don't have to worry about the student vote, since they have all those voter suppression laws in place, now.
If you're offended by the following statement, then please, look in the mirror and decide for yourself, then move on with your life.
If you are not offended, please..leave the country.
Fascism: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
That's from Webster's
Did you read the letter they sent to the White House? Their "ideas" to pay for this was sticking it to federal retirees or messing around with Medicaid. So let me get this straight, make federal employees pay more into their retirement, or adjust the social safety net for the poor people in the country. Instead of closing a simple loop hole on big corporations? It's pretty obvious whose side John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are on. The 1% in this country who are sucking the life out of it.
Impasse? Stalemate? Plain and simple pig-headed jackasses! What about a COMPROMISE? Why not a little taken from BOTH sides? Or all you fools in Washington so wrapped up in PARTY POLICIES that you can't see the forest for the trees? Your policies are worthless and stupid. Your performance across the aisles are completely idiotic and NOT ONE of you can come out and speak out, not ONE of you have the GUTS to tell the rest that the PEOPLE and THEIR HARDSHIP and EASING THEIR BURDEN are the ONLY things that matter. Just ONE of you, have the decency to represent THE PEOPLE!
It's your way or no way huh Repubs?
They are acting like asinine children. Vote! Let's fix the House!
Put simply:
Obama: Wants everybody who wants an education to have the opportunity and be able to afford it.
Republicans: Education is a luxury only the rich deserve and anyone else who wants to be educated is a snob.
Compare education in the US with other first world nations around the globe and you will see that our educational system sucks rocks. So, why is it so expensive? If education was a car, most would refuse to buy at such overblown prices b/c you get crap for the money.
Tom many loans are repaid ON TIME, including my own. That interest rate that you could care less about, means a great deal to someone over the course of 10 or so years. Student loans that are defaulted on are like any other debt as far as collection. The government will send bill collectors after you just like the banks will. The government will also take your tax returns. Since students loans are the only debt that cannot be dismissed by bankruptcy, it never goes away. Doesn't matter if its through a bank or the government.
If you think teachers are overpaid, think again. It's not the teachers. It's the million dollar stadiums, the millions of dollars wasted for silly projects named after politicians. It's the deals for big corporations to sell their proprietary text books and materials. Oh and the book deals by politicians to the tune of a couple hundred thousand like the one at Florida State.
As far as federal aid for illegals....you need to do some reading.
If the student is a US Citizen but one or more parents are undocumented, the student is eligible for federal student aid. However, if the parents supply a fake or stolen social security number (SSN) on the form, the student's FAFSA will be rejected when the parent's social security number fails to match. http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/undocumented.phtml
You do see the U.S. Citizen part right? If states grant them aid, then that's another subject and not the one addressed in this article. I'm tired of the BS too! People so filled with hatred that they cannot even get their facts straight before making an ass of themselves.