Lobbyists Set Sights on Killing Student Loan Reform

http://www.hillbillyreport.org/diary/1148/lobbyists-set-sights-on-killing-student-loan-reform


-snip-

This really good idea seemed like a no-brainer just a few months ago:

Four months ago, it appeared all but certain that the White House and Democrats in Congress would succeed in overhauling the student loan business and ending government subsidies to private lenders.
President Obama called the idea a "no-brainer" last fall, predicting it would take billions of dollars from the profits of private lenders and give it directly to students, and many colleges were already moving to get loans directly from the federal government in anticipation of the next move by Congress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02...

However, just like everything in Washington nothing really gets done until the lobbyists have their say:


But an aggressive lobbying campaign by the nation's biggest student lenders has now put one of the White House's signature plans in peril, with lenders using sit-downs with lawmakers, town-hall-style meetings and petition drives to plead their case and stay in business.

House and Senate aides say that the administration's plan faces a far tougher fight than it did last fall, when the House passed its version. The fierce attacks from the lending industry, the Massachusetts election that cost the Democrats their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and the fight over a health care bill have all damaged the chances for the student loan measure, said the aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Of course, the student loan lenders have much more money to spend wooing our "leaders" than the average American student who is trying to better their own future by becoming educated:


Sallie Mae, a publicly traded company that is the nation's biggest student lender with $22 billion in loans originated last year, led the field in spending $8 million on lobbying in 2009, more than double the year before, and other lenders spent millions of dollars more, according to an analysis prepared for The New York Times by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Political action committees for the lenders and company employees made $2.1 million in political contributions last year, with the money split evenly among Democrat and Republican candidates, the data showed. Sallie Mae's PAC alone made $194,000 in donations.

-snip-

America, this once again drives a stark and painful reminder home. It matters little what sector is involved, military, healthcare, and now student loans, our government continues to be bought and paid for and the American people simply are not the highest bidder. How long will we allow the big-money interests and Corporate entities to buy off our legislators and rob us blind in the process.
-snip-
----------------------

ignorance is so much better

I believe a Vast Majority of Americans see this as the predominant problem with America today.

The first party able to distance themselves from their corporate overloads Wins in 2010 and beyond. American tax payers are just plain fed up

is one of the essential elements of Fascism.