OPINION EDITORIALS

By Daily Editorial Board June 18, 2014

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Dont politicize student debt
Lawmakers cant let politics get in the way of progress on loan debt.
Last week marked an important step for college students with burdensome loans: President Barack Obama signed an executive order to
ease the debt burden for student borrowers. Local politicians have also had students on their minds, as Sen. Al Franken recently threw his
support behind a student loan bill introduced last month by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Warrens bill would allow those with outstanding student loan debt to refinance their public and private student loans at the lower interest
rates currently offered to new borrowers.
However, the Senate voted last week to block Warrens bill. Republicans claimed the bill was a political stunt to distract constituents from
a bill on veterans health care. Democrats argued that the bill was a choice between helping students and helping the rich.
The bottom line is that it doesnt matter whether it was a political stunt or that the bill comes down to an ultimatum between the rich and
students. The current state of Congress has turned the issue of student loan debt into a polarized, politicized and dehumanized debate.
Despite attempts to lower the crushing rates of student loan debt, the amount of outstanding debt rose to about $1.1 trillion last year. That
amount of debt is only second to mortgage debt owed.
Politicians need to start addressing the issue from a realistic perspective, rather than a partisan one. Less than half of millennials have
started saving for retirement, and more than 80 percent of those who havent saved say they cant because of loan debt.
When our generation cant feasibly get out of loan debt, lawmakers cant reduce this issue to mudslinging. Its time to seriously tackle the
issue politics aside.
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