House Passes SAFRA, Senate Fight Coming

I congratulate the House passing the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) —see description of the bill here [1]. This historic legislation commits billions to student aid and higher education investments, while ending wasteful bank subsidies that total $87 billion.

Although certainly a victory, the tougher fight ahead will be in the Senate. I'm all but sure the Republicans will maintain their status as the 'Party of No' voting against the bill, but a few Blue Dogs (ex: Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson [2]) likely will join them, standing in the way. Meanwhile, lobbyists already have swarmed against SAFRA, like Sallie Mae –the prominent student lender –who has showered donations [3]to those in the Senate, Republican and Democrat, in order to gain support against the bill.

Also, look for message framing from opponents to mar the truth with descriptions of SAFRA such as, “anti-consumer choice,” “big government takeover,” and “deficit busting” –all which are flat-out false claims [4].

Follow closely the coming weeks as I sort out the battle of students vs. banks!