The Republicans are lying their asses off again. This time it’s about student loans.
You see, most students use federal loans to pay for their education. The interest rate on those loans are set to double on July 1, which pretty much sucks for low- and middle-income students who will be buried under a mountain of debt after they graduate. President Obama has been taking his message about maintaining the current 3.4 % interest rates on the federal student loans to the streets, making stops in North Carolina, Colorado, and Iowa.
President Obama feels broke-ass students’ pain:
The Republicans — not so much:
FOXX: I went through school, I worked my way through, it took me seven years, I never borrowed a dime of money. He borrowed a little bit because we both were totally on our own when we went to college, totally. […] I have very little tolerance for people who tell me that they graduate with $200,000 of debt or even $80,000 of debt because there’s no reason for that. We live in an opportunity society and people are forgetting that. I remind folks all the time that the Declaration of Independence says “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” You don’t have it dumped in your lap.
What Foxx said is more or less the Republican party line. I say “less,” because one Mittens Archibald Romney decided that he agrees with President Obama on this issue, which is no surprise considering that a poll this week shows Obama kicking Mittbot’s ass with young voters. (President Obama has a seventeen-point lead according to the Harvard Something Or Other poll.)
Presumably to stop the bleeding, Romney told a group of supporters in Pennsylvania earlier this week that he “supports extending the temporary relief on interest rates for students.” Oops. That puts him directly at odds with not only his new BFF Paul Ryan of the Serious Budget Ryans, but also errrybody else in the Republican party that voted for Paul Ryan of the Serious Budget Ryan’s Serious Budget.
Republicans are panicking, natch, and trying to figure out a way to woo all the young whippersnappers to the Romney camp without letting the young whippersnappers know how badly the Republicans are trying to screw them.
[read the rest at TRS-ABLC]
Little Boots
NOW they come around.
they can actually be moved.
we have to get that, and get used to that.
Republicans are not supermen. they can be turned around. they can.
Just Some Fuckhead
School only went through the eighth grade when Mrs. Foxx attended. Something doesn’t add up.
Brachiator
is there a betting line on how soon Romney will deny ever having said such a thing?
Of course, if somehow Mittens holds his position here, pundits will use this to show how Romney is indeed pivoting to the middle.
Oh yeah, and bootstraps, or something.
General Stuck
Mitt Romney fielding questions at the bullshit factory.
Culture of Truth
Obama is back in campaign mode. They really have no idea what they are in for.
Culture of Truth
@efgoldman: They’re been telling each other teleprompter jokes for 3 years.
To quote Pink, it’s so on right now.
lamh35
@Culture of Truth:
KARMA IS A BITCH!!!!!
And This Is Why It Was Foolish to Crack Those Teleprompter Jokes
lamh35
ABL, your favorite CNN pundit is at it again!
CNN’s Loesch Revives Obama-Madrassa Smear Five Years After CNN Debunked It
The Dangerman
Easy solution; don’t allow “young people” to vote.
Change “young people” to “women” or “poor” or “minorities” as necessary.
Hill Dweller
@efgoldman:
The House is voting on the legislation, but they’re paying for it by taking funding from the preventative medicine program in Obamacare, which Boehner called a “slush fund” during his press conference this afternoon.
The administration wants to pay for it by closing a tax loop hole.
Tone In DC
@Just Some Fuckhead:
When she went to school, the Civil War was a recent memory.
jimmiraybob
I say “less,” because one Mittens Archibald Romney decided that he agrees with President Obama on this issue
Don’t count on it. The breeze will eventually shift.
Tone In DC
Ever so off topic… GO CAPS!
Bruins: EAT THAT.
General Stuck
And Obama should thank the wingers for setting the table so nicely for a feast on Mitt’s liver.
Citizen_X
For me, the most killer recent Obama line has been, “I’m President of the United States. We just paid off our student loans eight years ago.”
If that was me, I would have felt compelled to throw four or five variants of “fuck” or “motherfucker” in there.
Valdivia
@Citizen_X:
I was thinking of this. He should repeat this often. It is a powerful line. The whole Fallon thing was great.
I am now totally addicted to Luther Anger Translator skits on Comedy Central.
Culture of Truth
People who ask, why didn’t he do this before?, etc. Obama can only do a show like Jimmy Fallon once. He hit the colleges, he did it, he nailed it. As I’ve said before, he only makes it look easy.
Mitt otoh makes everything involving humans look hard.
Hill Dweller
@Citizen_X: You could tell the President’s campus/Fallon swing was a big success, because the RNC immediately filed an official complaint with the GAO, accusing Obama of campaigning with tax payer dollars.
GregB
Virginia Foxx didn’t have to pay for history classes because history hadn’t happened when she was in college.
What a sad sack of a human.
Please pick Jan Brewer….please.
some guy
3.5% ???
what the fuck happened to Clinton’s “direct student lending” whereby the Dept of Education lent the $ directly to students, with the low low low interest rates returning to the Dept of Education?
student debt is larger than credit card debt, and the parasites profit while the kids get fucked.
some guy
making it look easy is why he is President.
SiubhanDuinne
@GregB:
This wins. End of discussion.
tbert
And she doesn’t think that the fact that, in 1968, a college education cost the equivalent of a few month’s pay per year meant that it was possible to bankroll yourself on a summer job no longer applies? That tuition at in-state public schools now averages > $10,000, excluding housing?
“Of course you’re all idiots, the world cannot possibly have changed in 40+ years!”
Some people.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Just Some Fuckhead: Foxx is an embarassment to my state, and on behalf of the state of NC, I offer my humble apology.
Zifnab25
I’m still amazed Republicans haven’t just said “Fuck it!” and tried to raise the voting age to 50.
Cacti
@Hill Dweller:
Then the next point becomes:
“Republicans want you to chose between affordable education or affordable health care, so the rich can keep their tax perks”.
Odie Hugh Manatee
What caught my eye is his inclusion of the word “temporary” in his answer. He may support them now but he is telegraphing that he may not be later.
The guy is a weasel. I do like it that the guy who lost to McCain in the last election is now the Republican party’s Great White Hope.
I hope the right is enjoying the shit sandwich they have made themselves…lol!
Cacti
@Culture of Truth:
Mittbot seems to have a line of programming that says “Must gratuitously insult financial lessers”.
Hence the cookie episode, snide remarks about Nascar fans’ rain ponchos, etc.
Citizen Alan
Anyone know how to find out just how long ago this repulsive wizened crone went to college and where? I’m old enough to remember when you could go to a good state college for $2000 a semester or so, which means the hag could have gone to school for seven years and come out owing about $28,000.
Steeplejack
@Valdivia:
I like it when he goes off on himself. “Luther! Stay up out the man’s personal space!”
Corbin Dallas Multipass
@Tone In DC: Word.
AliceBlue
@Citizen Alan:
I think she graduated in 1968. I can’t remember what school she attended.
some guy
@Citizen Alan:
She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in 1968 and later earned both a Master of Arts in college teaching (1972) and Ed.D (1985) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.[2][5]
cost of attendance at UNC Chapel Hill, 2012:
In-state: $19,706
Out-of-state: $39,532
average tuition costs for 4 year public universities in the United States in 1968: $997
Valdivia
@Steeplejack:
yes, me too. My favorite is the one where he starts yelling about the Tea Party. Soo good. And the whole muslim thing?
I spread that far and wide via email today.
Steeplejack
@Citizen Alan:
This was discussed in a thread within the last week. Per Wikipedia, she got her bachelor’s in 1968 (UNC/Chapel Hill) and her M.A. in “college teaching” in 1972 (UNC/Greensboro). Added an Ed.D. in 1985 (UNC/Greensboro).
I don’t remember the exact numbers, but the state colleges she attended were much more highly subsidized than they are now.
Finally, gratuitous joke: She’s so old that when she took chemistry there were only four elements on the periodic table–earth, fire, air and water. Boo-yah! Tip your waiter, etc.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Steeplejack: Those places should ask for their degrees back.
lacp
The only way I can see that the President doesn’t skin Willard alive in the coming election is an event far beyond his control….like the Earth getting hit by an asteroid.
Well, more realistically, if the Euros decide to tank the world economy. There’s not a whole lot he can do about that.
MikeJ
@Steeplejack: That’s just more burnsie trolling, right?
Steeplejack
@Valdivia:
Key & Peele: Obama caves to Republican obstructionism.
(This will be wish fulfillment for many Juicers.)
Steeplejack
@MikeJ:
Har.
amk
@Cacti:
Bingo
Such low hanging fruits.
ETA: For all the blog updatin’, fixing the fucking blockquote thingy seems to be a herculean task for the cole’s cats.
Valdivia
@Steeplejack:
OMG. That was Teh Awesome! :D
not motorik
Maybe Obama could have linked these issues back when he extended the Bush tax cuts for the ultra-rich.
Is it an election year or something?
amk
@Steeplejack: Thanks. Loved it.
Frankensteinbeck
@Steeplejack:
And she’s bitter because she can’t bend any of them?
300baud
Cost of 1 year in college (tuition, room, board, books) when wizened crone Virginia started school: $1365
That amount in 2010 dollars: $12,225
Cost of the same college for 2010-2011: $51,944
Good news! She’s the chair of the Subcommittee on Higher Education. So she can’t possibly be expected to know this.
Source: archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/tuition/2010.html
Steeplejack
Obama’s anger translator (h/t Valdivia).
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@some guy: Using a factor of 5 (mas o menos) for inflation, that still gives her an education at $5,000 as opposed to those numbers you quoted.
burnspbesq
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
The embarrassment you should really be apologizing for is Sylvia Hatchell. ;-)
Rathskeller
@some guy: right, but it’s even worse in context.
median income, 1968: 8,600
median income, 2012, 51,000
So in broad terms, education costs have gone from from 10% of the median income to at least 50%.
1. wiki.answers.com/Q/Average_income_in_1968
2. usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-02-09/income-rising/53033322/1
burnspbesq
@Citizen Alan:
She’s a Tarheel, class of 1968.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Steeplejack: My kids have been watching Key and Peele. OMG they’re funny! I’m gonna have to tell them to haul my ass to the TV when they’re on.
Steeplejack
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Yeah, I’ve been watching them, but Valdivia reminded me that their stuff is getting posted to the Comedy Central site. I had completely forgotten about that. Their non-Obama stuff is pretty good too.
trollhattan
O/T Somebody is SO not getting a Hanukkah card from John Bolton.
washingtonpost.com/world/israeli-military-chief-iran-will-not-build-nuclear-bomb/2012/04/25/gIQAQiha…
Martin
@Citizen Alan: In 1970, University of California fees were $600 per year. And most 4 year public universities wouldn’t tolerate anyone taking 7 years to graduate these days. There’s too much demand. You’re out in four, five if there’s a hardship.
The reason you could take 7 years at many publics back in the 60s is that the administrations set them up to support as many student deferrals as possible. It was the faculty’s way of telling the President what they thought of his war. For $600/year, you could stay out of Nam.
g
Actually, everyone’s been treating this story as an example of how out of touch Virginia Foxx is, but in fact, that’s not really the case.
It’s much worse than that. Virginia Foxx is the Chair of the House Higher Education Committee, and some of her biggest donors are organizations that represent private colleges – you know, the groups that get the money students go into debt for.
Yeah, she may be stupid, but she’s taking a fuck of a lot of money from people who get rich because students are forced to take out loans for their education.
Erik Vanderhoff
Goddamn but Obama is one gifted politician.
Doggerelo
Mitt Romney says he now condones
Republican support for Courtney’s bill
To keep low int’rest rates on loans
For students. It’s a gesture of goodwill
Designed to show that Mitt’s OK,
He’s not a total right wing nut
Like others in his party’s pay.
I wonder if this new Mitt’s but
A phantom on an Etch-A-Sketch
Or whether he might be sincere
In helping his pinched party stretch
Their tendency to be austere.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see
But up till now, the nominee
Hasn’t shown a tendency
T’ward social generosity.
bemused
@Steeplejack:
I love this.
Tim O
Has anyone asked Foxx what it cost to go to college in the freaking Jurassic Period when she went?!? All kidding aside, the cost of college when Fix. Went was a fraction of what it is now and if she were inCA or VA, she could have gone for free. What a freaking bitch.
Tim O
Has anyone asked Foxx what it cost to go to college in the freaking Jurassic Period when she went?!? All kidding aside, the cost of college when Fix. Went was a fraction of what it is now and if she were inCA or VA, she could have gone for free. What a freaking bitch.
Some Loser
@not motorik:
He extended the tax cuts for everyone. Which is a good thing in a recession. He also got unemployment benefits extended. And even more stuff for us poorer folks.
Tmill
@Odie Hugh Manatee
What caught my eye is his inclusion of the word “temporary” in his answer. He may support them now but he is telegraphing that he may not be later.
He said temporary because that’s is what they are. They were temporarily lowered to lessen the burden on sutdents whe the whole financial meltdown occurred. He wants to extend them and prevent them from ‘doubling’. He is telegraphing the truth. Nothing sinister about it.