SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Democrats Continue War Against the Public Option
Reconciliation Rules Might Require Student Loan Reform
Mar 12, 2010
The good news is that Democrats might have to include some form of
student loan reform in the reconciliation bill to meet the cost-saving
requirements of their reconciliation instructions. From Politico:
The Senate parliamentarian notified
Democratic leaders that, in order to meet the reconciliation
requirements, both the Senate health and finance committees would need
to produce $1 billion in deficit savings each over the next 10 years,
Conrad said.With health care alone, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee would not be able to show the items within its jurisdiction
save at least $1 billion. By inserting the education package, the
committee would satisfy the reconciliation instructions, Conrad said.
If this is the case, it is great news because it means student loan
reform will be dealt with this year. That means billions to help
students and struggling community colleges hurting because of the
economic downturn. Of course, the question remains as to what kind of
student loan reform it will be. Will it be like the student-friendly
reform that already passed the House, or will it be some baloney Sallie
Mae/JPMorgan Chase-created "compromise" that would allow them to
continue ripping off billions from American taxpayers?
But the bad news is that Democrats need to add student loan reform
because Democratic leadership is now in all-out war against the public
option. If Democrats add a public option, which would save $25-110
billion and is under the jurisdiction of the HELP committee, they could
get enough cost savings from that to not need to add student loan reform.
It is unfortunate that Democrats so desperately want to protect the
private health insurance companies that they are prepared to waste an
extra $25 billion of taxpayer's money to enrich the private insurance
companies by denying the American people the public option they
overwhelmingly want. If the public option isn't included in a final
reconciliation package, thank Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Harry Reid (D-NV), who aren't whipping for the public option-they are apparently whipping against it.
This begs the question: If we were told we could not have a public
option because it does not have the votes, why would Reid need to whip
against it?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 FireDogLake
Jon Walker
Jon Walker is political writer who has written for FireDogLake, Vice, The Intercept, @TheProspect and The Week. He is an expert on health care policy and the politics of health care reform.
The good news is that Democrats might have to include some form of
student loan reform in the reconciliation bill to meet the cost-saving
requirements of their reconciliation instructions. From Politico:
The Senate parliamentarian notified
Democratic leaders that, in order to meet the reconciliation
requirements, both the Senate health and finance committees would need
to produce $1 billion in deficit savings each over the next 10 years,
Conrad said.With health care alone, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee would not be able to show the items within its jurisdiction
save at least $1 billion. By inserting the education package, the
committee would satisfy the reconciliation instructions, Conrad said.
If this is the case, it is great news because it means student loan
reform will be dealt with this year. That means billions to help
students and struggling community colleges hurting because of the
economic downturn. Of course, the question remains as to what kind of
student loan reform it will be. Will it be like the student-friendly
reform that already passed the House, or will it be some baloney Sallie
Mae/JPMorgan Chase-created "compromise" that would allow them to
continue ripping off billions from American taxpayers?
But the bad news is that Democrats need to add student loan reform
because Democratic leadership is now in all-out war against the public
option. If Democrats add a public option, which would save $25-110
billion and is under the jurisdiction of the HELP committee, they could
get enough cost savings from that to not need to add student loan reform.
It is unfortunate that Democrats so desperately want to protect the
private health insurance companies that they are prepared to waste an
extra $25 billion of taxpayer's money to enrich the private insurance
companies by denying the American people the public option they
overwhelmingly want. If the public option isn't included in a final
reconciliation package, thank Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Harry Reid (D-NV), who aren't whipping for the public option-they are apparently whipping against it.
This begs the question: If we were told we could not have a public
option because it does not have the votes, why would Reid need to whip
against it?
Jon Walker
Jon Walker is political writer who has written for FireDogLake, Vice, The Intercept, @TheProspect and The Week. He is an expert on health care policy and the politics of health care reform.
The good news is that Democrats might have to include some form of
student loan reform in the reconciliation bill to meet the cost-saving
requirements of their reconciliation instructions. From Politico:
The Senate parliamentarian notified
Democratic leaders that, in order to meet the reconciliation
requirements, both the Senate health and finance committees would need
to produce $1 billion in deficit savings each over the next 10 years,
Conrad said.With health care alone, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee would not be able to show the items within its jurisdiction
save at least $1 billion. By inserting the education package, the
committee would satisfy the reconciliation instructions, Conrad said.
If this is the case, it is great news because it means student loan
reform will be dealt with this year. That means billions to help
students and struggling community colleges hurting because of the
economic downturn. Of course, the question remains as to what kind of
student loan reform it will be. Will it be like the student-friendly
reform that already passed the House, or will it be some baloney Sallie
Mae/JPMorgan Chase-created "compromise" that would allow them to
continue ripping off billions from American taxpayers?
But the bad news is that Democrats need to add student loan reform
because Democratic leadership is now in all-out war against the public
option. If Democrats add a public option, which would save $25-110
billion and is under the jurisdiction of the HELP committee, they could
get enough cost savings from that to not need to add student loan reform.
It is unfortunate that Democrats so desperately want to protect the
private health insurance companies that they are prepared to waste an
extra $25 billion of taxpayer's money to enrich the private insurance
companies by denying the American people the public option they
overwhelmingly want. If the public option isn't included in a final
reconciliation package, thank Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Harry Reid (D-NV), who aren't whipping for the public option-they are apparently whipping against it.
This begs the question: If we were told we could not have a public
option because it does not have the votes, why would Reid need to whip
against it?
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy