Grassley calls student loan reform a tax; possible opponents correct him

[rurallib]

Folks, my future former senator is saying stupid things again. Now we hear his polling numbers are heading down the crapper. YAHOO!

Grassley:
......"Although Iowa’s delegation mirrored these voting patterns, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, not only took issue with this fundamental shift but argued the bill will inevitably place a tax on students. He fears the new laws will eliminate thousands of bank jobs nationwide."
"Asked to clarify how the new reforms will amount to a “tax” on college students, Grassley’s press-secretary, Beth Pellett Levine, told The Iowa Independent in an e-mail that the revenue to pay for this new spending is based on a Congressional Budget Office estimate using a methodology that the CBO says is incomplete."

Tom Fiegen response:
“Sen. Grassley, of all people, should applaud the reduction of billion of dollars of college student loan costs,” Fiegen said. “The private lenders making guaranteed student loans are akin to the defense contractors who took a $14 dollar hammer and sold it to the government for $300. With the savings, additional student loans and college aid will create more teaching and support jobs on our college campuses, offsetting any job loss in private lending. I for one would rather have more college instructors and professors than loan processors.”

Roxanne Conlin response:
“Sen. Grassley’s criticism is ridiculous and not based in fact. He is parroting Republican talking points instead of supporting Iowa’s students,” Conlin said. “This program will help students afford college and is a fiscally responsible approach to solving the troubled student loan program. These reforms will cut out big banks and allow students to receive loans at reduced interest rates and without exorbitant bank fees. Sen. Grassley has voted against students 11 times and is simply out of touch with Iowa families struggling to improve their lives through higher education.”

Bob Krause response:
“This shows, sadly, how removed that Sen. Grassley has become from ordinary Iowans,” Krause told the Iowa Independent in an e-mail. “There is no tax on college students. To say that there is, is the same as his assertion that health care reform would ‘pull the plug on Granny.’”

Here is their actblue page if anyone wants to help Chuck retire: http://www.actblue.com/directory/IA/all/fed-senate

[laughingliberal]

1. Next he'll be telling us they want to pull the plug on Grandma. nt

[rurallib]

2. He just responded to an LTTE in a local paper claiming he never

mentioned death panels (technically true). Gotta think it is bad form for a sitting senator to get into a public debate with a citizen (especially when there is tons of video easily available to prove you wrong.)