In 10 Days The Republicans Will Force Student Loan Rates To Double

This week, PPP released a survey showing that Republicans-- plus 4 New Dems who voted with them (Jared Polis, Dan Maffei, Joe Garcia and multimillionaire Scott Peters)-- are way on the wrong side of public opinion when it comes to education. (Rumors have been floating that Obama's backward and overly corporate Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, actually encouraged the 4 New Dems to cross the aisle and vote with the Republicans against the best interests of education policy-- which would be par for the course for Duncan.)

The national poll shows that an overwhelming 83% of Americans want to keep student loan rates at 3.4% or to adopt Elizabeth Warren's plan to lower them to the same 0.75% that the big banks pay. Even better, three-quarters of voters say they would be less likely to vote for their Representative if he or she voted to double rates to 6.8%, or allowed them to increase to a maximum of 8.5%, which is the Republican plan that was proposed by John Kline (R-MN) and passed with only 8 Republicans dissenting.

And so do 195 Members of Congress. 195-- that's the number of Members who have signed Joe Courtney's discharge petition that would force Boehner and Cantor, no matter how against it they are, to schedule an up-or-down vote for H.R. 1595, which prevents the rate from doubling by extending the current 3.4% rate for another two years. I don't see a single Republican on that list, although I do all 4 of the New Dems who voted for the Republican bill that world force rates to rise dramatically: Scott Peters (CA), Jared Polis (CO), Dan Maffei (NY) and Joe Garcia (FL). They need 218 signatures to get Boehner off his fat ass.

With Peters finally aboard, it looks like the whole California Democratic delegation is on this now. One of them, John Garamendi, formerly a University of California Regent as well as a Cal State Trustee, who has UC Davis in his district, warned that "If Congress fails to stop the Stafford loan rate from doubling by July 1st, it will take money out of the pockets of working families and students, including 11,000 students at UC Davis. Those stopping this vote from happening should be ashamed. We live in a country where half of the children from wealthy families complete college, but only one in ten children from the poorest families are able to get their degree. The Stafford loan is a vital lifeline for those trying to bridge the achievement gap, making the American Dream more accessible to all... If you believe like I do that college should be accessible to every qualified student, that a well-educated workforce creates a more resilient economy, then you should join me in calling on the House Republican leadership to give the Student Loan Relief Act the up-or-down vote it deserves. Education creates our greatest return on investment.”