Just Send Money

From the Daily Reckoning…and AlterNet's article, "Student Debt Crisis: Are There Any Solutions?"

"2006 has been the worst in history for government action against student borrowers," continues the article. "In February, President Bush rolled out the Deficit Reduction Act, which cut $12 billion in federal student aid money. Part of the plan includes a hike in interest rates on federal student loans and loans taken out by parents. The interest rate on Stafford Loans to students rose from 5.3 percent to 7.14 percent on existing loans and to 6.8 percent on new loans. Interest rates for Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) loans increased even more dramatically, from 6.1 to 7.4 on existing loans and to a whopping 8.5 percent on new loans."

I’m trying to understand how this fits in with Bush’s “image” of being supportive of education. After all, he bills himself as the “Education President”. I’m sure there’s a connection here, I just can’t see it.

But I do know what the results will be… "We are faltering while other countries are making investments -- China graduated 500,000 engineers in 2004; the United States graduated 70,000. We have to do better for families if we want to stay on top,"