Obama’s Student Loan Gift to Occupy Wall Street

In the 2008 election, Senator Barack Obama reached out to young Americans with a fresh message that appealed to their dissatisfaction with the nation’s political process. He called it hope and change, and he connected with their hearts and minds with such success that he captured 66 percent of the vote of those under 30. Now, three years later, some of those young Americans have taken to the streets not in joy and exuberance but in anger and frustration. President Obama has heard their call, and he’s now appealing once again to his political base.

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Last week President Obama came bearing gifts in a speech at the University of Colorado in Denver–relief from student loan debt, delivered by way of an executive order without congressional authorization. Under the President’s plan, money lenders cannot require students to pay more than 10 percent of discretionary annual income for student loans. It also completely forgives student loans in 20 years, five years fewer than before. But here’s the fine print, a key fact that the President failed to mention in his speech: For all its pomp and circumstance, the President’s plan would save college students less than $10 per month–barely enough to buy two cups of coffee from Starbucks. But that supposed “relief” will still cost taxpayers, who are already stretched thin. House Education Committee chairman John Kline (R-MN) criticized the President’s plan on Fox News on Monday and says it’s not something America can afford: More...

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