Student-Loan Shenanigans
Democrats assist their nonprofit friends.
President Obama and Congressional Democrats have been criticized for being antibusiness. But Washington is about to bestow a huge gift upon one particular type of business—the type that doesn't pay taxes.
Despite bipartisan opposition, this week the Democrats hope to use budget reconciliation in the Senate to ram through changes to the health-care bill the House passed on Sunday. Coming along for the legislative ride is a federal takeover of the student-loan market.
On the heels of recent changes in the law that discourage private loans to students, the new reconciliation bill includes a ban on private companies originating federally guaranteed loans. All such loans will now come directly from the U.S. Department of Education.
This plan is hitched to ObamaCare for several reasons. For one, the student-loan takeover could never attract a filibuster-proof 60 votes if it had to pass as a stand-alone measure, and it might not even get 51. The government's bogus accounting for student loans also creates the illusion that this bill will help save enough money in the first five years to protect the ObamaCare provisions from Republican challenges under budget rules. Remember, budget reconciliation is