E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
COLUMBUS, OH – President Obama unveiled a new line of attack against Mitt Romney over education, casting his opponent as out-of-touch, and claiming he would institute harmful cuts to student loans if elected.
The president seized on comments first made by Romney in April in Ohio, in which he encouraged would-be students to pursue entrepreneurship, even if it meant they would "borrow money, if you have to, from your parents."
“I want to make sure everybody understands, not everybody has parents who have the money to lend," Obama said Tuesday before a crowd of more than 3,000 at Capital University.
While Obama did not mention Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan by name, much of his criticism of Romney’s education policy referred to the cuts to programs, including education, in the Wisconsin congressman's budgets.
“The economic plan my opponent has would cut our investment in education by nearly 20 percent,” Obama said. “It would cut those grants so deeply that one million of those students who we have helped would no longer get a scholarship at all. It would cut financial aid for nearly 10 million students a year.”
But Ryan’s cuts leave the Republican ticket open to Democratic speculation about what they “could” cut – something the Obama campaign underscored in a radio ad that aired in Ohio ahead of the president’s visit.
“What does it say about Mitt Romney that he chose Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate, the architect of a budget so extreme it could slash education funding by 20 percent?” a woman’s voice says in the minute-long radio ad.
“Ryan’s budget could cut Pell grants for up to 356,000 Ohio students,” the spot continues.
Ryan has indicated he would maintain a maximum Pell grant level of $5,500 while also increasing eligibility requirements for students looking to apply for a grant.
Obama on Tuesday contrasted that with his expansion of the popular higher education program.
"Since I took office we have helped more than three million additional students afford a college education with grants that go farther than they did before,” he said.
He also touted what he characterized as a victory over House Republicans in the battle to keep student loan interest rates from doubling, as they were scheduled to at the end of July.
“We fought to make sure the interest rate on federal student loans didn’t go up over the summer. We won that fight,” Obama said. “Some of these Republican members of Congress would have allowed those rates to double,” he continued, his one allusion to Ryan’s colleagues in the House.
Obama will continue his focus on education this evening at a rally in Reno, Nevada.
Leave a Comment:
OUCH! Keep hammering these two out of touch mongrels!
Here's a basic question, if a students parents has the money available to fund their childrens education, WHY would there be a need for them to take out a loan?
Do these idiots think people enjoy racking up debt to receive a higher education?
Ryan look at what you built. Obstruction and mountains of debt for years since you've been a tool of the GOP & T-potty (Koch bros). What you outline is clear as day that you do not care about the future of America; our children's education. Yet, you got your education from the government. It would have been very easy for you and MYTH Romney to borrow money from your parents since you both are multi-millionaires.
BTW: the government helped build Ryan Construction
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/08/14/688761/paul-ryans-family-business-built-on-government-contracts/
Lean Forward
Obama/Biden2012
Oh Brother...
Both Romney-Ryan budgets would slash funding to Education by 20 percent - which would cut 1 million students from scholarships, and 10 million students from financial aid.
Rombley's two big ideas/solutions for students is to (1) borrow money from your parents and (2) to shop around.
Ah, the voice of out-of-touch privilege.
The question is, why do we need the Department of Education to spend money on their salaries instead of paying teachers more and putting more money in classrooms?
JERSEY GIRL - You show with that post that you really don't understand much. OMG - a typical Republican and truly from New Jersey!
Obama/Biden 2012
Aren't you forming an argument for not for profit or publicly funded education?
Liberals would rather grow Washington and the Department of Education, than educate our children and pay our teachers. Very sad.
Just "out-of-touch" on everything will do. The rightwing agenda of destroying everything from education to an energy policy to you name it, as well as attacking every group in this country -- It's easier to ask what is NOT on the hit list?
JERSY GIRL 1 -- Prove it. Sweet Jeebus. Speaking of which...
I realized last night that Romney/Ryan are trolls. They change the topic with a new lie every time they are cornered on their own failed ideology.
Again, not a one of the right wing nitwits can answer a simple question!
Lot's of hyperbole and ZERO facts!
Feisty Dumb Fux, maybe the Government should give the Student Loan program back to the banks. They had no business taking it over...you see when the government takes over programs, they screw it up. Freddie and Fannie, the Postal Service, GM, and now Healthcare. Most of the increases in tuition is because colleges are adding Rock Climbing, Spa's, elaborate dining facilities and what not. Why, because of competition...to get students to go to their university.
JFK -
Do you have any evidence to support that, or is it merely your opinion?
Evidence to the contrary:
Paul Ryan - The Deficit? I Built That!
Look up University of Missouri...
Great link TNSEVOL,
GOP has been cutting Higher Ed for decades. GOP governors have done a big slash job on Head start and K-12 while cutting 300,000 teaching jobs (mostly women).
GOP figures they can pay all those teachers they laid off in peanuts - in right wing private for-profit schools.
I understand that a ton of money gets spent on salaries in Washington that doesn't benefit one single student. I went to school when there was NO Department of Education in Washington. I had a great education. I had really good school lunches. So you tell me what happened. As the Department of Education grew, less money was being spent in the classrooms. You Liberals all seem to think that the government IS the answer to all your problems. Washington is so out of touch with reality, they are the last ones to decide on a child's education and how to spend money effectively. I had a 3.6 grade average in high school and a 3.9 grade average in college. You don't have to be Liberal to be smart.
Wow Jersy Girl 1--interesting--for years the conservatives and now the TPGOP has whinged on that it was the public school teachers and the teacher's unions that were sucking up all the money out of education. Now it is the Department of Education in Washington that is the culprit? Who knew...?
"We have met the enemy and he is us!" Pogo by Walt Kelly
Romney made the same comments in Portland at a rally held here during the primary. A woman in the audience was talking about the huge debt these young people are graduating with, and Romney's "solution" was, basically, these kids shouldn't go to college if they can't pay cash.
I worked while I went to college and paid for my education out of the money I made. I didn't expect the government to help me and my parents couldn't afford to.
JERSY GIRL 1
yeah, well, medical school costs a little more today than what you paid to become a certified beautician, so do take that into consideration.
JERSY GIRL,
I did the same working full time.
But when I went the cost was about 10% of my take home pay. With the cost of college today at the same university (OSU) the cost would be about 40% of my take home pay.
I wonder what the cost would be at a private university.
Amy, FYI, I own my business and it isn't a beauty school. I have managed an office for a finance company back when there were no female managers. As I said you Liberals think you are the only people with brains, when in fact I wonder whether you have brains and are even capable of thinking on your own.
Yes but it also didn't take most students the 5 or 6 years they are taking to graduate today because they change majors, can't make up their minds or generally just party too much. I have so many family members and friends whose children are on their 5 year mark and still haven't graduated. One of my cousins and her husbands are both doctors and both of their sons took 6 years. In my previous position I interviewed and hired a lot of recent graduates and very few graduated in 4 years.
Dennis, not everyone needs to go to a private university and not everyone is going to become a doctor. I understand that schools are much more expensive now, but the question is why are they more expensive? Why is there such a big jump in costs every year? Ask yourself these questions.
Jersey Girl, The fact that the Department of Education exists is not necessarily the reason why education costs so much more now. I wouldn't be so sure of a cause and effect relationship there. I suspect it's a combination of factors, of which the Dept. of Education may only be a small part. I don't think the problem would be solved by eliminating the Dept. of Education.
I have noticed that our government does not make use of foresight and "objective based solutions" very often. By "objective based solutions" I mean deciding on the objective first and then calculating the steps needed to get from here to there. It seems that more often they just take ideological action and hope we might end up somewhere better than where we are. I have noticed in my life that that philosophy doesn't really work very well.
Is it any wonder that the right doesn't want an educated electorate?
Is it any wonder brainwashed libs buy into the Government as their Mommy, Daddy and Nanny?
Additional funding isn't the answer especially at K-12 grades. The problem is parents who don't take an interest in their children education especially single welfare moms but we can't address that elephant in the room. The city of Holyoke MA a urban city known for generational welfare recipients spend more per student than Longmeadow MA an upper middle class community. Longmeadow graduation rate is 99% where as Holyoke graduation rate is 75%. Look at LA its has a 49% graduation rate. The other problem is English as a second language this program dosen't help students its a crutch for non english speaking student to not learn english. How many of them graduate high school and still can't read and write English? My father came here at the of eight and there were no English as a second lanaguage class and some how he learn English and graduated High School.
Obama spends his reelection campaign giving speeches trying to bribe voters and bragging about how much the government is spending...money we dont have.
Voters should know by now, you cant outbid Obama in his promises to give freebies...
Obama will take care of all you helpless dependents, not to worry...unlimited student loans (which you never will have to pay back, sshhh) free health care, cable TV and car washes.....
If the radical Obama gets a second term , it will be "Spending Gone Wild" You aint seen nothing yet, the giveaway of government money we dont have will accelerate.
Keeping Pell grants around "for all you helpless dependents"...you're right, wild and reckless! Republicans keep saying, pull yourself up, stop being lazy, don't depend on others.....but unless you're born rich....they're not going to give you any help whatsoever!
'Don't take out a loan; borrow the money from your parents'--(like I did). 'Shop around, look for a cheaper school'--(Ivy league schools are for the rich, like me)......out of touch with the middle class...oh, yeah.
Mittens is only saying "step down for the good of the country" because they might lose the Senate seat. PERIOD. GOP=suppress votes and Romney will win. (on tape people, wake up !!!!!!) They trying to steal this election AGAIN
Yesterday I taught Sunday school. I teach a science section
to elementary school children. That may seem a bit strange – teaching science
at a Church Sunday school. Actually it
isn’t but the point of this essay is not to examine how science and religion
relate to each other. There are many good books about it and no short essay
that I could write would ever make a meaningful contribution to the subject. I
am just a simple Christian physicist. The lesson was about how force could be
applied to an object without touching it. In other words, it was about how an
object could move without being physically pushed or pulled. The physics term is “action at a
distance”. Each student made an
electromagnet by wrapping a wire around a nail. Small nails and pins were
sucked to the wire wrapped nail when the wire ends were connected to a battery.
The children were intrigued. Then one of them accidentally discovered that the
nail was a weak magnet after the wires were disconnected from the battery. That
really got their attention. I showed them how two electrified nails could jump
together or push apart without touching. Just when they were sure that it was
the nail that made the magnet, I had them pull the nail out of the wire coil so
that it was hollow. Then they connected the empty coil to the battery. When one
of them held a pin at the mouth of the coil it was sucked into center of the
coil. I asked them what could cause that. One of the sixth graders said, “It
must be the electricity”. I said, “Yes,
sort of. Do you know what electricity is?” There were blank faces but after a
few seconds one of the older students said, “Energy?” He said that as though he
was quite unsure. I said, “Yes, sort of.”
At this point it was evident that none of the kids had ever
made an electromagnet or ever experimented with the very basics of electricity.
I was saddened as I thought back on my elementary school experience in the
1950’s but little did I expect what I was about to hear. I asked if anyone knew
who Benjamin Franklin was. They said, “No.” They had never heard of this man
who experimented with static electricity, who flew a kite with a key to find electricity
in a thunderstorm, who helped write the Declaration of Independence!
- From The Wind of Hope (Amazon Kindle book)
Read this book Martin Luther King said, "We begin to die when we stop caring about things that matter". This is a collection of essays about addressing things that matter. This is a book that will lift your spirit in spite of the divide and conquer campaign soundbite rhetoric that bombards you every day.
Dear Friends:
My post is under the protection of the USA Constitution for freedom of speach!
Ryan, the plumber comment was who's? You cannot think for yourself? Who or what is in your mind?
I know the Mormons are rampant out here 24/7 with their screaming heebee jeebies! Bugs!.