Politics
Obama to focus on student loan program
“It fails to lock in low rates for students while also eliminating a safeguard that provides middle-class families most in need with lower interest rates for student loans.”
Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, has said his proposal has a number of similarities to Obama’s plan and has described his proposal as a starting point for negotiations.
Some Democrats are seeking a two-year extension of the current rates until Congress takes up a higher education bill later. Republicans have rejected that proposal — expected to cost taxpayers US$9 billion — as costly and irresponsible.
Obama’s event on Friday comes as Congress prepares to return to Washington after a weeklong Memorial Day recess that has given Obama a respite from triple controversies, including an admission by the Internal Revenue Service that it singled out conservative groups for special scrutiny during the two previous election cycles.
“It’s obvious that the White House would love nothing more than to change the subject from its growing list of scandals, but scheduling this PR stunt reeks of desperation,” Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a blog post Wednesday. “Picking a fight out of thin air where there’s policy agreement isn’t going to get the White House out of trouble, and it certainly doesn’t do anything to help students facing a looming rate hike.”
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
