From a column by Alan M. Collinge in the Denver Post:

When Congress amended the Higher Education Act 10 years ago, defaulted student loans became the easiest and most lucrative debt to issue and collect. The amendments imposed huge fees on defaulted student loans and took away bankruptcy protection for student borrowers. It banned refinancing of many student loans, and also allowed draconian collection measures to be taken against student borrowers, including wage garnishment, tax garnishment, withholding of professional certifications, termination from employment, and even Social Security garnishment.

Yikes. I hadn’t realized it was that bad. And if it’s true, it makes all the more disappointing the Democrats weasling out of their pledge to fix the mess. The Democrats have scheduled a vote to cut the rates on some students loans in half (yay), but only on needs-based loans, and—despite their campaign promises—the Dems are not reducing rates for parents who get loans to help them pay for their children’s education.

Of course, the Democrats are still doing way better than the Republicans, who in the previous session of Congress cut $12 billion from student loans. (Info comes from the AP.) [Tags: student_loans education democrats politcs]

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