Least Likely To Succeed: Now’s The Time For The Senate To Act To Prevent Student Loan Rates From Rising

• Last month, the House passed a bipartisan plan to prevent student loan rates from doubling.

• Young people are already facing the burden of a high unemployment rate and a country that is $16 trillion in debt. Now, if Senate Democrats don’t act, they’ll be paying higher student loan rates too.

• To top it off, the plan passed by the House even “echoes a plan Obama offered in April.”

• Americans know Washington is dysfunctional, but they should be outraged when Senate Democrats won’t even vote on a bipartisan bill, similar to President Obama’s own plan, that will keep student loan rates from doubling.

Last Month, The House Passed A Bill That Would Prevent Student Loan Rates From Doubling. (H.R. 1911, Vote #183, 221-198, 5/23/13)

The House Bill “Echoes A Plan Obama Offered In April.” “[T]he Republican bill echoes a plan Obama offered in April to tie interest rates to the yield on the 10-year Treasury bill, rather than setting them via an act of Congress. (Nick Anderson, “House Approves Republican Student Loan Bill,” The Washington Post, 5/23/13)

Unless Legislation Is Signed Into Law, Student Loan Rates Will Double On July 1^st. “ The legislation responds to a looming deadline: On July 1, unless the law is changed, rates for a certain type of new loan for undergraduate students in financial need will double to 6.8 percent, from 3.4 percent.” (Nick Anderson, “House Approves Republican Student Loan Bill,” The Washington Post, 5/23/13)

Generation Opportunity, A Non-Partisan Advocacy Organization, Found That The May 2013 Youth Unemployment Rate Is 16.1 Percent. (Generation Opportunity, Press Release, 6/7/13)

The National Debt Stands At Over $16 Trillion. (U.S. Department Of Treasury, Accessed On 6/19/13)