U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is spending a lot of time bloviating about the student loan crisis.
It’s insufferable.
He even took the Senate floor earlier this month and delivered a long, rambling lecture on the supposed evils of Republicans, their “heroes,” Ronald Reagan and the American Right’s allegedly extreme posture towards loan rates rising from 3.4% to 6.8%. Ironically, the point of this highly-partisan speech (if there was one?) was that Republicans are politicizing the loan debate. Really, Hudson Bob? The only reason I wasn’t more pissed off listening to him is attributable to that boring monotone voice of his! It’s oddly soothing; I’d imagine freezing to death feels about the same.
Something Senator Bob forgot to mention during the course of his rant, Save Jerseyans? His own prominent role in CREATING the crisis!
A few Republicans are speaking out. Menendez’s Tennessee colleague, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), penned a great piece on the crisis for this week’s Tennessean. Alexander clearly and articulately outlined the role ObamaCare’s provisions (and its Democrat supporters including Bob Menendez) have played in driving student loan debt above $1 trillion nationally:
The president has been talking about how to keep student loan interest rates from increasing, and he has proposed that for one year, for new undergraduate subsidized loans, rates would remain at 3.4 percent. Governor Romney and I – and most members of Congress—agree that rates should not go up.
But here’s one of the real drivers of higher tuition and higher interest rates: The government and congressional Democrats who passed the health care law are actually overcharging students — all students — on student loans and using some of the profit to pay for the health care law.
How could Congress be overcharging students? Well, under the health care law, the government took over the student loan program and borrows money at 2.8 percent, then loans to students at 6.8 percent. That produces a profit, some of which is used to pay for Obamacare. The Congressional Budget Office has said that the Congress could have lowered the interest rate from 6.8 to 5.3 percent and save the average student $2,200 over the life of their 10-year loan.
So, I agree with the president that it is a good idea to keep interest rates at 3.4 percent for about 40 percent of new loans for one year. What we don’t agree on, is how to pay for it.
If Menendez is serious about helping students in a way that doesn’t hurt small businesses or generate more national debt, then he’d support Alexander’s infinitely reasonable Interest Rate Reduction Act. This legislation would keep interest rates at 3.4% (like Obama says he wants) for all new subsidized Stafford loans as of July 1, 2012; the rate freeze would be paid for by redirecting money away from the Prevention and Public Health Fund created under ObamaCare.
It’s already through the GOP House. Obama, however, says he won’t sign it. Harry Reid is also refusing to support it in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Why? Because Obama, Reid, and Menendez are much better demagogues than leaders, Save Jerseyans!
Republican challenger Joe Kyrillos needs to loudly and proudly call Menendez and his ilk out for it… Mitt Romney, too!
there hasn't been many issues over the past few years where menendez was on the right side. he's got to go in november.
Let students pay more! Then mayne they'll make wiser decisions before going into 6 figure debt?