Left Turns

Today rates on new subsidized Stafford loans double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. But it didn’t have to be this way. The Democrat infighting on student loan interest rates has left a lot of people scratching their heads.

In April, President Obama urged Congress to pass a long-term, market based solution that would permanently take the threat of a rate hike off the table. One month later the House of Representatives did just that – with little support from House Democrats. Despite weeks of negotiations and the recent release of a bipartisan Senate plan that mirrored the House proposal,  Majority Leader Harry Reid sent Senators home last week without advancing any plan to avert the looming interest rate hike.

Now everyone is asking: Why do congressional Democrats oppose a permanent solution a Democrat administration supports? The Los Angeles Times has the answer:  

Democratic leadership aides said some in the caucus saw value in a one-year extension that would bring the issue to a head in 2014, when the party again hopes to rally younger voters to the polls in congressional elections when turnout is typically lower. 

So instead of working in good faith to find a lasting solution, Democrats want to use students as political pawns in next year’s election. Students are in this mess because Democrats made campaign promises the American people can’t afford. Enough is enough.

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