Wednesday, May 9, 2012

No News Flash: GOP Hates Education

Sahil Kapur of TPM:

Senate Republicans’ Tuesday filibuster of a Democratic bill to avert a student loan interest rate hike signals a return to familiar territory for the party. The move comes after a brief detour that spurred speculation about whether, with the general election in full swing, Republicans were ready to ease up when it comes to blocking hot-button issues.
...
As recently as Monday the Capitol rumbled with rumors that Senate Republican leaders would follow the same playbook [as on VAWA] with the student-loan measure — which President Obama’s re-election campaign is seizing on to energize young voters — and potentially let Democrats advance it. But the GOP’s position quickly hardened and it didn’t happen. Tuesday’s party-line 52-45 vote fell short of the 60 needed to overcome the GOP’s filibuster.
...


Until the rules of the Senate are changed to prevent a 41-vote minority from suppressing legislation even if it has a majority of Senators voting for it... we do not live in a democracy.


As for the issue, I was a poor kid who went to college only because he got an outright scholarship. Without help, or with a loan instead of a scholarship, I'd have been out of luck altogether. On the whole, I think society got a pretty good deal by paying for my education (through the good offices of Rice University). But kids like me today will not have that opportunity... and our nation will suffer.


AFTERTHOUGHT: GOP theme song!


CORRECTION: "40-vote minority" corrected to "41-vote minority".

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