Wednesday, February 01, 2006

The Raid on Student Aid--Completed

The night before the book comes out, we have this piece of inspiration:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - By a vote of 216 to 214, the U.S. House of Representatives this afternoon narrowly approved a Republican-backed bill that cuts $39 billion out of critical health, education, and other services for American families, including a $12 billion cut to the federal student aid programs, in order to finance multi-billion-dollar tax breaks for the wealthy. Not a single Democrat voted in favor of the bill.
When coupled with those tax breaks, today's legislation - which Republicans misleadingly claimed was meant to help reduce the budget deficit - will actually increase the deficit.
"Congress has just enacted the largest raid on student aid in history in order to give more money to the wealthy, even while millions of American families are struggling to afford the rising cost of college," said Rep. George Miller, the senior Democrat on the House education committee. Miller led the fight against the cuts to student aid programs.

It's important to note: 13 Republicans crossed the aisle to vote against this bill. The tireless and intrepid student advocates came very very close. Meaning this fight is winnable.

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