Political Quotes

“I just wanted to return to this question, since the Senator has raised it, about the Congressional Budget Office. Let's all be clear about what the current student loan interest rates produce for the government. The CBO, the agency in charge of estimating these costs for the government, maintains that this year the government will make $51 billion in profits from the student loans. Their most recent report on this--I read the language earlier--is clear and direct. We will make a profit. The CBO uses this accounting method because it reflects reality. It is the reality of how these loans affect the Federal budget. The CBO's method takes into account the cost of lending money from the Treasury and the projected money that will be returned to the Treasury. It takes into account the risk that some students will default; in other words, it is basic math. Some people don't like the idea that the government is profiting from the student loans. Their approach is to try to change the accounting rules to treat the government as if it were a private bank rather than the Federal Government, which it is. The government is not a bank in a private market. If we want to reduce the profits from student loans, then we should actually reduce the profits from the student loans, not change the map, not bury our heads in the sand and pretend those profits don't exist. Let's go back to what the Senator has proposed.…”