Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I appreciate the comments from the Senator from Oklahoma. As far as the legislation that has been passed by the House Republicans, we know that for the 4 years of borrowing at the maximum loan amounts, for students entering college in 2018 and 2019, it would be $5,650 more. Whatever subsidy we are giving, those families are going to see $5,650 more in costs to their student loans. I am told the Senate Republican version would increase costs, versus current rates, by $6,700. So talking about the subsidies we are giving and not giving disguises the fact that if we don't act by July 1, we are going to see students over the next several years increasing their debt, not decreasing it and not even holding it constant. The other remarkable thing is that we score things based on budget CBO scoring. I am also informed that based upon the cost of borrowing, the Federal Government and their lending--they are making billions of dollars a year now on student loans. It is a profit center for the Federal Government. And, indeed, in looking at the 10-year projections for the bill that I believe was submitted by my Republican colleagues, there is a projected $15.6 billion in additional savings or income to the Federal Government. We are in this irony where students are now going to be contributing billions of dollars to deficit reduction, weapons platforms, and other programs, but the reality they are going to see is that this mountain of debt they have today is much higher.…”