Can anyone guess what that quote is a reference to? Huh? Am I that old?
Anywho, Congressman Edwards' office wrote to let us know that we are totally screwed when it comes to student loans:
On January 31st, Congress begins its 2006 session. While public attention is focused on the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, there is a little-noticed scandal brewing that will hurt millions of college students and their hard-working families.& Hidden inside an innocuous sounding reconciliation bill is an $11.9 billion cut in student financial aid. The House leadership intends to bring this vote up quickly, so most college students and their families won't know until after it is too late that a huge tax has been put on the backs of present and future college students who must borrow money to attend college.
This $11.9 billion cut in student loan programs over the next five years is the largest cut in our nation's history. It could not come at a worse time. Hard-working families are already facing fast rising costs for tuition, college textbooks, gasoline and home utility bills. Last year the United States had the largest international trade deficit in history-over $700 billion-and we are competing with China, Japan, India and other countries for good-paying jobs. Thus, the Congressional leadership's plan will hurt both working families and our nation's future economic competitiveness. It flunks the test of fairness and vision.
Ha ha, jokes on you Republicans. I never took out a student loan and I dropped out of college. You'll never get me, ha ha!
Seriously though, just by a show of hands, who thinks that cutting student aid is a good idea? I'm just curious. If you don't want to increase the amount we give in loans (not the kind of loans we give to oil companies; student loans actually get paid back) to students, that's one argument. Cutting $11.9 billion, that's just soulless.
Is the Republican leadership's brilliant plan to make sure no one whose family makes makes less than six figures goes to college so we'll always have people to manage our MacDonalds? Cuz that's what it seems like.
Rep. Edwards' advice is to consolidate all of your loans now so that you get screwed with your pants on instead of a total assrape later. Or, as Pink Dome suggests, maybe contact your Congressman and ask them to pretty please not fuck over the future America, please.