"You can dress this up 100 different ways and put a Santa Hat on it, but this is still the same budget gimmick lenders have been pushing for months to line their own pockets" - Rep. George Miller

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), at the request of Sen. Casey, just examined the alternative to the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) written by Sallie Mae. The last time the plan was examined by the CBO, it found that it would mean $13-17 billion less in grants for students, investments in community colleges, funding for early learning programs, etc.

This time around, the CBO put that number at $4 billion.

But, as Rep. Miller said in a press release earlier today, “you can dress this up 100 different ways and put a Santa Hat on it, but this is still the same budget gimmick lenders have been pushing for months to line their own pockets with billions of dollars that should be used to help students.”  Both Rep. Miller and Sen. Harkin—Chairmen of the House and Senate education committees, respectively—pointed out that Sallie Mae was able to do better with the CBO this time because the lenders had their plan “sunset” after five years, while SAFRA is calculated for 10 years.

The lenders will, undoubtedly, fight for their plan to be continued in five years, which would mean at least $8 billion less to invest in education. (more…)