President Obama is pushing a plan through Congress to change the way the Federal government handles student loans. Instead of merely providing subsidies to private financial institutions to encourage them to lend to students, as is the current practice, Obama proposes that the Federal government simply offer loans directly to students.
The CBO estimates this change would save $87 Billion over the next 10 years. Naturally, the banks are furious. They are crying "socialism" and "takeover," which appears to be the usual response whenever the government attempts to wean private institutions off the public teat--in this case one that has been remarkably nourishing. It appears the House Education Committee is now on board. We shall see.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Cutting out the Middle Man
Posted by Dr. Strangelove at 5:30 PM
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4 comments:
Good on him. Sounds like how it works in the UK - there's the "Student Loans Company", who are actually a government thingo - works well, because students don't get gouged, for example the interest is linked to inflation, so it's (usually) nowhere near the interest banks charge. Which is nice once you've got enough money to pay it all off, stashed in a high interest bank account :-)
Well of course the banks are mad. Guess where that $87 billion is going now.
...bonuses? :-)
LOL Dr. S.
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