Thank you Washington
Our political leaders in Washington have done right by us little people once again. To reward all of us hard workers who take time out of our lives to acquire a higher lever of education than is required by the Republic, our wonderful leaders have decided, in a vote that passed the Senate 51-50, with Vice-President Cheney casting the deciding vote, to cut federal aid for student loans by $12.7 billion (that’s with a “b”).
That number cuts the total amount awarded for loans, and it increases rates by at least 1% for insurance fees (in case the student defaults on the loan — but then again, the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that the government can use a student’s Social Security payments to collect its money, so maybe the insurance isn’t really needed). The L.A. Times is reporting that “students would absorb about 70% of the cuts through higher interest rates upon graduation…and banks and other lending agencies would cover the rest.”
I don’t know if you remember, but during his re-election campaign, President Bush, in response to questions about how the U.S. worker should respond to foreign out-sourcing, said that Americans needed to go back to college in order to acquire the skills demanded by the new economy. He said in the third debate, “…[A]bout the unemployed: absolutely, we’ve got to make sure they get educated.” The idea was that, if the third world was going to monopolize manual labor, the first world would have to compete for intellectual labor. But now, with a $12.7 billion (that’s with a “b”) cut in education funding, how is Joseph and Josephine Outsourced-Worker going to afford college, and without college, how are they going to get a new job so they can afford food and housing?
What makes it all worse is that it won’t even do much to the deficit. It’ll cut $3 from every $1,000 that the government owes. And what’s even worse is that:
The spending bill would save $40 billion over the next five years. The tax bill [that extends the tax cuts from 2001 and 2003], which Republican congressional leaders hope to bring to a vote early next year, would cost $70 billion.
“Put the two together,” said Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the top Budget Committee Democrat, “and guess what: You have increased the deficit, not reduced it.”
Anyway, thanks so much Washington. Us back-to-college adult learners really appreciate all the help.