Mary Fallin Falacious Federal Fiscal Fit Was Funded
When a member of Congress makes statements that don’t make any logical sense, it’s a sign that their statements are being formed by something other than logic, and may be formed without the personal consideration of the member of Congress. Such is the case with U.S. Representative Mary Fallin, who complained loudly this year when House Democrats passed H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Fallin bemoaned the ending of the Federal Family Education Loan Program under the legislation’s reforms. She stated, “80 percent of our nation’s higher education institutions have chosen to participate in the FFELP program. This bill will force these schools, whose students hold over $400 billion in outstanding loans, into a government-run program.”
Closing the Federal Family Education Loan Program would force universities into a government-run program? The Federal Family Education Loan Program is run by the U.S. Department of Education. It is a government-run program.
There is a private component of the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Student loans under the program are provided through private financial institutions, which make some profit out of the interaction. That’s good business for the banks, but it’s an inefficient way to deliver financial aid to students. Why not just cut out the middlemen?
Because the middlemen will lose money if they’re cut out of the process, that’s why. The middlemen in this instance are represented by organizations such as the American Bankers Association. It just so happens that the American Bankers Association was among the top donors to Representative Mary Fallin’s 2008 re-election campaign.
The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act is still awaiting action in the Senate.
