College May Get A Lot More Expensive Soon

Club for Growth is in the news again and is unsurprisingly on the wrong side of reason. They are opposing the Interest Rate Reduction Act (HR 4628) which would, well, do exactly what it says. The previous law had a sunset clause on it and that ends very soon. Without passing this one, interest rates would double for student loans.

Via ThinkProgress:

“It’s bad policy to subsidize student loans in the first place, but the net result will likely drive up tuition costs for all students, making the overall cost of the bill much higher than its current price tag.”

Tuition is rising for all students, that is true, but that is where the truth in their statement stops.  There are many causes for the tuition rise, but government sponsored student loans are not one of those reasons.

John Boehner has claimed that the Democrats are at fault if the rates double despite the Republican's record of obstructionism. He claims that Democrats voted to double the rate when the passed the bill with the sunset clause. Never mind that the Republicans refused to vote on it at all without it in the first place. So who is really at fault? Surely not the Republicans from before or they now that refuse to pass the Interest Rate Reduction Act.

Interest Rate Reduction Act, how could anyone oppose something so obviously good for students? I suppose this is similar to when the President put forward the American Jobs Act and Congress didn't want to touch it.

Mitt Romney has his own advice for college students:

This kind of devisiveness, this attack of success, is very different than what we’ve seen in our country’s history. We’ve always encouraged young people: Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business. -MittRomney at Otterbein University

Never mind that the cost of getting a degree is much higher now than it has ever been in the past, even compensating for inflation. Never mind that most students cannot just borrow money from their parents because their parents are not millionaires. That isn't an attack on success, just a fact. Not everyone has a trust fund waiting for them like Romney. Continued comments like this just prove how out of touch Romney is.

It will be a long road to November.