Well this was a real breath of fresh of air. If this is what Progressive legislation looks like -- well give us more!
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants student loans to get Fed discount rate
by Jim Puzzanghera, latimes.com -- May 8, 2013
[...]
With the interest rate on federal student loans set to double to 6.8% this summer, Warren said it's unfair that big banks can borrow money at 0.75% from the central bank's discount window.
"In other words, the federal government’s going to charge interest rates nine times higher than the rates they charge the biggest banks -- the same banks that destroyed millions of jobs and nearly broke the economy," Warren said in introducing her first stand-alone bill since taking office in January.
"That isn't right," she said.
[...]
Sen. Warren Introduces the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act
link to clip
Yes it is time we invest in our Students too. Afterall they ARE the future.
The Banks -- well their dead-weight track record already speaks for itself.
And what did the Republicans think of this Progressive Legislative proposal, to put actual people on an equal footing with the conniving Big Banks?
Well I'll give you 3 guesses, on how they think this is the end of Society-as-they-know-it ...
Elizabeth Warren Q&A: Students “deserve the same break that big banks get”
by David Dayen, salon.com -- May 8, 2013
[...]
In her interview with Salon, Warren noted that the federal government profits from student loans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the government will make $34 billion in 2013, in fact. Aside from that, the investment in helping a young person afford higher education is massive in terms of their future earnings and even overall economic growth. Evening out student loan interest rates and big bank discount window interest rates simply expresses the notion that educational opportunity is as crucial to the overall economy as a strong financial system.
As expected, bank lobbyists are unhappy with the proposal, particularly the idea that “short-term” discount window loans in a time of crisis are irrelevant to student loans. Of course, many economists, including the New York Fed, believe that student debt is reaching crisis proportions. And banks have relied on that “emergency” cheap money for years. [...]
House Republicans stepped back from the brink in 2012, when the subsidized loan rate was set to double, patching it for a year. They could do it again, and Warren’s plan would go even further.
But will they? Will Republicans get behind Elizabeth Warren's "common sense" Bill?
Yeah right! Right after they make Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, the "top priority" of the Boehner Congress -- in other words, only after we send them packing -- back to the unemployment lines themselves.
Hey Buddy, can you spare them a low-interest student loan -- Then?