After VA Scandal & Bergdahl Swap Controversy, Obama Pivots Back To His Favorite Subject – Class Warfare
By Kevin Boyd
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/06/145596-bergdahl-v-scandals-obama-pivots-back-class-warfare/
President Barack Obama used his Saturday internet and radio address to try and change the topic from the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap and the VA scandal and back on to a tried-and-true Obama topic: class warfare. This time, the Obama administration is pitting the “rich,” or as he likes to call them “millionaires,” against young Americans with student loan debt.
Obama used his broadcast to throw his support behind a bill Senate Democrats have that would allow college graduates with heavy debts to refinance their loans. This would be paid for by (of course) raising taxes on “the wealthy.”
From the AP:
President Barack Obama used the college commencement season Saturday to get behind Senate Democratic legislation that would let college graduates with heavy debts refinance their loans.
The Senate is expected to debate the legislation next week, but it faces significant obstacles.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama noted the program would be paid for by doing away with tax loopholes for millionaires. He says the choice facing lawmakers is whether to “protect young people from crushing debt or protect tax breaks for millionaires.”
Of course, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) points out, this bill actually does nothing to lower the cost of college tuition, which is what young Americans and college students need in the long term. In fact, it’s probably a good bet that this student loan plan will help with the cost of college in the same way Obamacare has helped with health care costs.
And of course it wouldn’t be an Obama “pivot” without Obama going to his “pen and phone” to make some new “law.” He’s using his executive orders to expand a current loan repayment program that caps repayment at 10% of income and he wants banks to work with tax preparers to help spread the word about this program.
Do you think these new programs would help address the student loan crisis or are they just more examples of tax-and-spend without addressing the underlying issues?
