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| Warren and Reed |
Just got this email from Sen. Warren, and she’s mad!
Virginia --
I’ve spent years fighting back against credit card companies
that put out zero-interest teaser rate cards, planning to jack up the price
later and make all their profits in the fine print.
I also fought back against teaser rate mortgages that
promised low payments in the first few years, but then shot up to rates that
pushed millions of families into foreclosure.
So it’s shocking to me that the United States Senate would
offer its own teaser rate for our student loan system -- a system that is
scheduled to make more than $184 billion in profits over the next ten years.
That's not the business the United States government should be in.
Speak out right now to make sure the Senate doesn't pass a
deal that would let federal student loans go even higher than their current
6.8% rate.
We had a majority in the Senate to keep student interest
rates low, but because of Republican filibusters, the interest rate on
federally subsidized student loans jumped from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1st. Instead
of restoring that 3.4% rate, a new so-called "compromise" plan on the
table raises the interest rate on those loans this year to 3.86% for
undergraduate students, and 5.41% for graduate students in 2013.
And then it gets worse. The plan is set up to collect higher
interest rates in future years. After just 24 months, the rate jumps above 6.8%
for graduate students. Within a few years, rates for all loans will be higher
than if Congress does nothing -- and some could climb as high as 10.5%. Even
worse, with the federal government already making billions in profits off these
programs, the "compromise" plan is set up to actually increase those
profits by hundreds of millions of dollars more.
I can't support a proposal that squeezes even more profits
out of our kids, while millionaires and billionaires still don't pay their fair
share. This is a bad deal.
Senator Jack Reed has offered an amendment that is a true
compromise: let rates move with the market, but set a cap on student loan
interest rates at their current rates. I am proud to cosponsor that amendment.
It's the only way to ensure that students don't end up paying more than they
would if Congress does nothing.
In the end, this is a simple math problem.
If Republicans insist that we continue to make the same $184
billion in profit off of the student loan program, that just means that
students in future years will have to pay higher rates to make up the
difference.
I don't believe in pitting our kids against each other. In
fact, I think this whole system stinks.
We should not go along with any plan that demands that our
students continue to produce huge profits for our government. Making billions
and billions in profits off the backs of students is obscene.
Senator Jack Reed's amendment is the only plan on the table
right now that guarantees student loan interest rates won't skyrocket above
their current levels. We need to pass this amendment for our kids and
grandkids.
I appreciate the hard work that my colleagues have done to
try to defeat the Republican filibuster so that we can keep student loan rates
low.
But our students are drowning under a trillion dollars in
student loan debt. We need to start now with one basic principle: cut
government profits on student loans. I can't support a deal that actually
increases those profits.
Thank you for being a part of this,
Elizabeth
P.S. No matter what happens with this proposal, I'm going to
keep fighting to eliminate government profits on new student loan programs, let
people refinance existing student loans, and reduce college costs so that
American families can pay for college without burying themselves in debt. But
first, we need to stop interest rates from jumping even higher. Sign the
petition now:
Paid for by Elizabeth for MA
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