Sun-Sentinel: Politicians battle over student loan interest rates

Washington, DC, May 1, 2012

By Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel

DAVIE – The latest issue to get stuck in the swamp of Washington politics: student loan interest rates.
It has a big impact in Florida. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, said Monday as many as 500,000 students could face higher interest rates on their subsidized student loans if a fix isn't put in place by July 1. That could add $1,000 a year to the cost of a typical graduate's repayment cost, she said at a visit to Broward College's Main Campus.
It's a familiar pattern. Unless Republicans who control the House, Democrats who control the Senate, and President Barack Obama come to an agreement, the student loan interest rate will double to 6.8 percent.
Wasserman Schultz said it's time to put aside partisan politics. She also said the problem is the Republicans' fault. For their part, Republicans lay the blame squarely at the feet of President Barack Obama.
Both sides say they want to continue the 3.4 percent interest rate. Here's where the politics comes in: Democrats would pay for it by eliminating tax breaks for oil companies. Republicans would pay for it by cutting a public health and disease prevention fund set up under the Affordable Care Act.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called it "an Obamacare slush fund." Wasserman Schultz said it would fund programs to prevent cervical cancer, breast cancer, diabetes and suicide, and initiatives to reduce birth defects.
It isn't a political game to Cindy Hoskin, of Davie, one of about 25 high school and college students who appeared Monday with Wasserman Schultz.
Hoskin was laid off from her construction management job in 2010. Looking to a new career, she gets her associate's degree on Friday from Broward College and plans to go on to a bachelor's degree and law school.
"That extra 3.4 percent is substantial for us," she said. "We can't afford that."