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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 OPINION 
16

Student Loan Bill a No-Brainer That Actually Might Pass

But issue of rising tuition remains

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(Newser) – For health reform watchers despairing that lawmakers "will never be able to do anything, ever," it's time to turn an eye on the no-brainer student loan reform in the House, Gail Collins writes in the New York Times. Right now, the government gives banks money, pays them to lend it to students, and guarantees the loans. Under the new plan—wait for it—"the federal government makes the loans," she writes.

Sounds simple, right? But GOP Rep. John Kline wants to leave things the way they are and “convene a nonpartisan commission,” which makes Collins want to "topple over in despair." Regardless, Democrats should be able to push the bill through the Senate, and "Congress will have come a way toward fixing this problem," Collins writes. Which leaves just one other issue: tuition that "keeps running ahead of the rate of inflation like Secretariat closing in the Belmont."

New graduates cheer during the New York University commencement ceremony at Yankee Stadium in New York on May 13, 2009.
New graduates cheer during the New York University commencement ceremony at Yankee Stadium in New York on May 13, 2009.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, file)
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The assumption that kids can just pay the bill with borrowed money has to be one of the reasons schools aren’t feeling more pressure to control costs. - Gail Collins, The New York Times

It is a tad depressing to imagine all those committees of yore, sitting there and saying: 'Gee, it sure would be nice to improve Pell grants and community colleges. But everybody says we need that money to give to the banks.' - Gail Collins

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16 comments
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odowd80
Sep 17, 09 9:31 AM CDT
For the GOP, apparently, government is great, so long as it is merely there to take on financial risk for corporations. Medicaid, Medicare, defaulting students, etc. Corporations get the cream of the crop, and government gets the rest. What bullshit. Reply
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+3
IN RESPONSE:
NewserScooter
Sep 17, 09 6:04 PM CDT
This was originally a Dem idea to use the gov't to back up the student loans so that banks would make high risk loans.
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0
Reader65069154
Sep 17, 09 9:37 AM CDT
Government cars. Government banks. Government loan agencies. Government run health care. What I'm really hoping for is Government run grocery stores and internet. Then I'd feel really safe. Reply
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+1
IN RESPONSE:
BeatBlaster
Sep 17, 09 10:02 AM CDT
If we as a society F up to the point where we can't run a grocery store correctly we're all screwed. Government isn't running these industries because it wants to. It's running it because these companies can't be trusted to run themselves.
Vote up! Vote down!
+4
IN RESPONSE:
osu1067
Sep 17, 09 10:35 AM CDT
@BeatBlaster: you make some good points. I wound contend that the major reason why so many industries can't be trusted and are poorly run is because of a lack of business ethics today. Ethics = SELF regulation. Without it, greed runs rampant, and America suffers for it. Gov. can regulate but they can't root out an unethical business culture. I shudder at the thought of government running industries. History shows, government doesn't seem to have a good track record in efficiency and ethics.
Vote up! Vote down!
+2

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Democrats • New York Times • higher education • House of Representatives • health care reform • student loan reform • college tuition • House Republicans • Rep. John Kline

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