Quite some time ago, I sent an e-mail to Mike Pompeo about the need to fix the student loan crisis, asking him to work for affordable student loans, and to reject using market conditions. I finally got a reply today, but it was simply junk mail. Here is his actual e-mail, and then my response to that. Dear Larry: Thank you for contacting me regarding federal student loans. I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me. In order to make sound decisions, it is important for me to hear from Kansans. As you may know, the Department of Education provides loans to undergraduate and graduate students through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (DL) program. The DL program includes: Subsidized Stafford Loans, Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, and Consolidation Loans—through which borrowers may combine their loans into a single loan. Subsidized loans are available for individuals in low-income households. The non-subsidized federal loans, which are available for many Americans, offer low-interest rates that compete with non-government lenders. Since 2007, federally-back student loans have maintained an interest rate of 3.4%. This rate is set to increase to 6.8% on July 1st, which is based on various market conditions, if Congress does not reauthorize the lower rate. The House, with my support, recently passed legislation that would tie student loan interest rates to 10-year treasury notes– a first step toward getting Congress out of the student loan business and returning it to a market-oriented system. If you have any additional concerns, please do not hesitate to call on me or Mike Netherton of my Washington, D.C. staff. It is an honor to serve the people of Kansas in the United States Congress. Dear Congressman, I am insulted that you sent me a form letter, several weeks after I sent my initial e-mail. Your e-mail does not respond at all to my concerns, and ignores my arguments about the needs to make student loans affordable to all who need them. Instead, you give me a bunch of right-wing garbage about market reforms. I am an economics teacher, and you need to know that public goods and services such as education do not respond to market conditions very effectively. In the future, if you (or your aides) cannot be bothered to actually respond to my letters or e-mails, please just be honest and throw them away. You haven’t been listening to your constituents for some time anyway.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 21:08:21 +0000
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