by me, on Tom Paine:
Why on earth would the government, in a time of unprecedented cutbacks in social spending, want to squash the cheaper direct loan program in favor of the more expensive subsidized loan program? Why would students be made to take the brunt of these cutbacks when both ends of the political spectrum agree that a better-educated workforce is essential to America's future competitiveness? Well, you could ask Terri Shaw, the head of the Office of Federal Student Aid in the Department of Education, which administers both programs. She spent most of her 22-year career working for Sallie Mae. Or you could ask Rep. Boehner, who received $136,470 in contributions over the last election cycle from members of the student loan industry, $22,375 from the Sallie Mae PAC alone. Or Rep. Howard ("Buck") McKeon, also of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, who got $77,750 from Sallie Mae. But you probably wouldn't get a straight answer from any of them.
CORRECTIONS: Luke Swarthout of the PIRGs says the $5800 figure, which I quote in the piece, is no longer viable because it pertains to the House bill, an earlier version. Also, the interest rate hikes from variable to fixed were apparently already in the law. I have asked Tom Paine to make the corrections online.
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Anya, you do understand that it's all the federal subsidization through grants and cheap student loans that has made much of the massive inflation in tuition possible, right?
It's nice that you understand your generation is getting screwed. That's a start. I don't see how making the federal government even bigger is a solution. You do realize that social security, medicare, and pension plans are all giant Ponzi schemes that are not sustainable? And that government workers get things like defined-benefit pension plans and early retirement that nobody in the private sector gets now because they can just squeeze the taxpayer for it? How about calling for the elimination of all the income transfer from the young and the poor to the old and the rich in the income tax system, like the mortgage deduction, the tuition deduction, and the childcare deduction?
You seem like you should be a libertarian, except that you didn't get past Econ 110.
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