Hillarysworld

The prospects for piggybacking a student loan reform bill onto the Senate health care fixes improved considerably Thursday, with Democrats signaling support for the move and the Senate Budget Committee chairman also giving his assent.

The move could deliver twin victories to President Barack Obama, who has pushed to shake up the student loan market. But it also opens Democrats to attacks from Republicans who say Congress and the White House are already overreaching by using fast-track parliamentary rules to finish health care reform – let alone enact major changes to the college lending industry.

Only a day earlier, key Senate Democrats were resisting calls to insert the proposed overhaul of lending programs into the budget reconciliation bill with health care reform.

But two developments intervened, Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) told POLITICO in an interview Thursday night.

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.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz0hvq2PCvo

These people are just UNBELIEVABLE. They KNOW the health care bill doesn't cut the mustard for savings so they add in the student loan bill?

Call you representatives and call them OUT on this.