04.24.09 | Obama Is In It To Win It
Obama says hes ready to battle on student loan reform:
Posted by Foon Rhee of the Boston Globe
Saying he feels their pain, President Obama today reached out to families struggling to pay college bills, highlighting his plan to revamp student loan programs to cut out private middlemen.
Obama wants to end the private Federal Family Education Loans program that the White House says costs taxpayers an unnecessary $5 billion a year by using private firms as brokers.
“That is a premium we can no longer afford,” he said, saying the system is “rigged” to give profits to “special interests” without any risk.
He told reporters that “wasteful subsidies” are worsening the paradox facing the country: a college education is more important than ever, but the cost of attending is also higher than ever.
“The stakes could not be higher,” he said.
Obama said he wants to boost the percentage of Americans attending college to the world’s highest again, and a key part of that is reforming the student loan system.
He acknowledged that private loan companies vehemently oppose the change. “They are gearing up for battle,” he said. “So am I.”
The private student loan industry has also been beset by allegations of kickbacks to college officials to steer students to the loans. Investigations by Congress and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found that some lenders had secret deals to give colleges or their staffs consulting fees, company shares, and other perks.
Article link can be found here
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Remember Animal Farm. Napoleon is going to take your puppies and they will come back to bite you. A student loan bring with it servitude.
May 6th, 2009 | #