Republicans and Democrats agree: nobody wants to see the interest rates of student loans go up this summer. They disagree, however, about how to cover the costs that would keep that from happening, our colleagues Peter Baker and Jennifer Steinhauer report this week.
President Obama has been touring college campuses this week to promote college affordability, even spreading his message in a slow-jam with Jimmy Fallon. Mr. Obama characterized Republicans in Congress as unsympathetic to college students; Republicans accused the president of playing politics, our colleagues report:
Caught in the middle were seven million college students who will see the interest rate on their federally subsidized loans double to 6.8 percent on July 1 unless Congress and the White House come together on a plan to prevent that, at a cost of $6 billion. For a typical student, the White House said the higher rate could mean as much as $1,000 in additional debt per year at a time of high unemployment among recent graduates.
Mr. Obama has made the issue his top talking point in recent days as part of an effort to put Republicans on the defensive and duplicate the political success of the payroll tax cut extension last winter. Speaking at the University of Iowa here, he seized on a comment by an aide to Speaker John A. Boehner that the president should focus on fixing the economy.
“This is the economy,” Mr. Obama said with indignation in his voice. “What economy are they talking about? You are the economy.”
Republicans were equally indignant at what they saw as game-playing, saying that they, too, want to forestall the rate increase. They quickly tried to outmaneuver the president.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Boehner hastily called a news conference to announce that the House would vote Friday on a student loan bill that seemed to take shape just as suddenly. The proposal would extend the current interest rate for federal student loans for one year. The $6 billion cost would be offset by eliminating the remainder of the money from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, a portion of the health care law.
(The article goes on to report that Mitt Romney, the Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee, favors extending the lower rates, too, at least temporarily.)
After you’ve read the full report, we’d love to hear your thoughts. What, if anything, should the government do about student loan rates? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.
