College students, new graduates, about-to-become college students and their parents – stop –don’t tweet #dontdoublemyrate until you’ve got a few facts to help you aim at the correct target.
First, Stafford Student Loans have helped countless middle class American kids get a college education since Congress first created the program in 1965.
Second, July 1,2012, is a “triple witching day” for student loans programs because of three separate changes Congress has made to the Stafford Loan Program
- In 2006 — established a fix interest rate of 6.8%
- In 2010 — terminated all private bank lending for Stafford and other Federal Family Education Loan Programs.
- and assigned all lending responsibility to the Department of Education
- 2011 – eliminated all government subsidies for graduate and professional school loans.
Third, the increase from 3.4% to 6.8% only applies to the “subsidized” portion of undergraduate student loans –
- The 6.8% interest rate already applies
- to professional and graduate school student loans
- and to undergraduate loans that do not qualify for government subsidies.
Fourth, there is broad, bi-partisan support for extended the 3.4% rate at least until 2014.
In the private sector, a CEO would work to avoid this problem erupting into a crisis.
So why is the President spending $179K an hour of tax payer money
- crisscrossing the country
- from one college campus to another, with a quick stop on the Jimmy Fallon program
- urging students to tweet ??
Because Rahm Emanuel was right – a “crisis is a terrible thing to waste” –.
It’s an Election Year.
It would be terrible to avoid creating a crisis over an issue that reasonably smart people could settle over lunch!!
- A 1 year extension at 3.4%
- helping 7.4M borrowers
- at a cost of $5.9B – .005% of a $1.2T current year budget deficit.
- The only issue is to pick a source to debit as the “pay for”
To which we should all tweet #POTUS #dontdoublemyrate – just pick one before dessert is served!
