I take back what I said during the health care debates about Pres. Obama not being politically savvy enough in his dealings with Congress. I’m not just referring to Obama’s success in pushing health reform through Congress (after everyone but he and Pelosi had given up on it), although that was impressive, not to mention fun to watch. No, what I’m talking about is the way the health care reform bill also included another of Obama’s priorities, which slipped in under the radar: the biggest rewrite of college assistance programs in about 40 years. It was a legislative move nearly worthy of Lyndon Johnson, the ol’ Master of the Senate.
The President is in Virginia today to sign the measure, which will make the government the primary lender to students and will take that power away from banks. It’s a pretty far-reaching law that should benefit students and, let’s face it, their parents. Under the new law, banks will no longer get fees for being middlemen in federal student loans, a move that will save an estimated $6 billion to $7 billion per year.
That money, says the Prez, will be used to boost the number of Pell Grants made to students; lower some borrowers’ interest rates; and make it easier for some workers to repay their student loans. When the law takes effect in 2014 (what is it about 2014 that has Congress under its spell?), student loan repayment will be capped at 10 percent of a graduate’s income. Throughout his presidential campaign, Obama said one of his goals was for America to return to the days when we had the highest per capita proportion of college grads in the world. I don’t know if this one law would carry that heavy a load, but it’s nonetheless great news for college students and, yes, their parental units.
Some Tea Party leaders say the President is being unfair in his efforts to make it easier to go to college. Anse Hatfield of the West Virginia Tea Guzzlers stated, “Everbody and thur cute little cousin knows that the more college ye git, the more likely y’are to vote Demurcrat. This is just one more sneaky, underhanded move by our Kenyan overlord to drag us down into a socialist hell.” OK that last part didn’t really happen. But the student loan stuff is, fortunately, for real.
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2010.
This is such great news. I am very proud of our President. Furthermore, I don’t doubt it that those teabagging rightwingers are thinking such trash whether they actually say it or not. They yelled racist and homophobic slurs at our congressmen and have spawned their own radical militia groups to kill innocents, all in the name of their sick, false agenda.
I will be watching the CNN coverage of the President today in Virginia. This is yet another great accomplishment. God bless him!
Congratulations to President Obama for another fine piece of legislation that will help millions of Americans. He’s been on quite a roll of late, defying the so-called “experts” by passing comprehensive health care for all Americans and by outflanking the visionless, rudderless opposition. That’s leadership!
The electorate gave Obama and the Democrats a mandate, and it’s time good to see them doing the people’s business!
This is a very important and valuable step in restoring the country’s prominence in higher education. It’s a win-win for the U.S.
It’s also refreshing to see the President put forth a positive agenda that stands in such stark contrast to the anger and negative energy you see from the Tea Bagger/right wing these days. Let Boehner and the rest of them act like bratty little children. It only makes Obama look that much more valuable!
I agree with the column and with several of the posts here. It is indeed refreshing to see a positive, forward-thinking alternative to the “Party of No.” This is important legislation that will help many millions of Americans further their educations. Nice job!
I wholeheartedly agree that this is a terrific piece of legislation, and that President Obama should be applauded. He continues to grow into office and reward the vast majority of voters who put him and the Democrats into positions of leadership.
Let the bitter Tea Baggers stew in their anger, confusion and self-pity. It is their loss and the country’s gain!
No question, it is the bitter right-wing Tea Bagger crowd who are the sheep, being blindly led off a cliff by the likes of Glenn Beck, Limbaugh, Palin, and other misinformed and unimaginative demagogues. They have no answers, no ideas and no vision, so they sit on the sidelines and try to throw darts at the movers and shakers.
Luckily Obama is not interested in playing to lose, but rather leading America into a better and brighter future.
Ridiculous, foolish statement by Frank Griffin as usual. Pity he doesnt’ even realize everything he just described was George W. Bush through and through. He did nothing except to take care of his ‘base’.
The Republicans won’t be able to repeal much of anything. The country will not allow it. They only see the right wing republican fools as getting crazier and crazier with their militia and Palin fiascos. Sick.
It’s certainly true that the right wing has taken on the role of infant, with its insistence on throwing temper tantrums at every piece of legislation from the other side. It reminds one of what happens when children don’t get their own way.
President Obama continues to right his ship and do good work. He has passed landmark health-care legislation that is all but impossible to overturn. Even if the GOP makes gains in November — as the opposing party almost always does during the mid-term of a President’s first four years — they won’t come close to the numbers needed to overturn vetoes or repeal the health-care bill. It will join Social Security and Medicare as long-standing programs that help the American people. Of this there can be no doubt.
Obama and his party will certainly be rewarded in 2012, when Americans have had time to absorb the benefits of his stellar legislation.
There’s no question that Obama has done a fantastic job these last few weeks in moving the country forward.
I agree 100% that Obama and the Democrats are showing leadership and initiative, and that the opposition party has shown little more than confusion, desperation and bitterness.
These are truly exciting days for the U.S. progressive movement!
It’s hilarious just how crazy and demented the rebpublicans have gotten. I can’t believe shuch crap that I hear about them doing, but don’t doubt it for a second. If they can’t have it their way, where the rich and well off are taken care of the most, then they are mad as living hell.
Talk about mind controlled freaks. They are all programmed by lunatics at Fox News and then want to wage a war against their own country. Now that’s patriotic as hell, ‘dontchaknow’?!!
The Republicans showed an inability to govern, which is why they were soundly defeated in 2006 and 2008. They had plenty of time to show they could lead in a responsible manner, and they failed miserably. That’s why they were voted out of the majority in a couple of landslides.
The American electorate has not forgotten that. Independents and centrists might not be enamored of some of the Obama agenda, but they don’t like the Republicans any better. Polls prove this.
Obama is rallying his base, which makes up around 40% of the electorate. It was important that he do this. He will never win the 40% of diehard Republicans who hate Democrats.
He still has time to sway most of the 20% in the middle. The Tea Baggers is already scaring part of that 20% into voting anti-GOP, if not pro-Dem. So Obama’s work really is in swaying 10% of the electorate over to his side. Since the GOP has yet to come up with any viable option, he can certainly do this.
Everytime real change comes to America, people start screaming that the sky is falling. It happened with the New Deal programs, it happened with the Great Society programs. The sky has not fallen. Economic cycles come and go, political cycles come and go, and the U.S. remains the standard by which all other nations are measured. The health care bill is neither Savior nor Armageddon. It will have minimal impact on most Americans. Those who compare it to fascism, or say it will bankrupt the country, will go down in history as hysterical zealots. This has been proven time and again.
I agree: the Obama loan program is a great way to help many get an education. I also am happy that affordable health care will be available to all. These measures should be applauded.
Like you, Frank, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but here goes: God-DAMN, you’re an idiot.