Fact Sheet: Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Bank On Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act

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http://www.thenation.com/blog/180716/fact-sheet-senator-elizabeth-warrens-bank-students-emergency-loan-refinancing-act



Earlier this summer, the Senate voted on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act (S.2432). Although the bill failed to reach cloture (vote was 56-38), it was an important step toward alleviating the more than $1.2 trillion of debt carried by 40 million Americans [Congressional Budget Office]. The bill received bipartisan support, and Democrats have stated their commitment to reintroduce the bill later this year [Politico.

The Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act would:
1. Allow all eligible federal student loan borrowers to refinance their loans down to interest rates offered to new 2013–14 borrowers (see chart below).

2. Allow eligible borrowers to refinance high-interest private loans into federal programs in order to take advantage of lower federal rates, as well as benefits and protections offered by the federal student loan program.

3. About 10 percent of borrowers hold private loans eligible for refinancing. [The Washington Post]

4. Allow an estimated 25 million student loan borrowers to refinance their student loans at lower interest rates, saving the typical borrower $2,000 over the life of his or her loan. [The Domestic Policy Council & The Council of Economic Advisers]

5. Pay for refinancing by implementing the Buffet Rule to close tax loopholes for millionaires and billionaires.

6. Reduce the deficit by about $14 billion during the 2015–24 period. [Congressional Budget Office]

Bank on Students would refinance loans down to the 2013–14 direct loan rates:

1.Direct Subsidized Loans (Undergraduates): 3.86 percent interest rate

2. Direct Unsubsidized Loans (Undergraduates): 3.86 percent interest rate

3. Direct Unsubsidized Loans (Graduate or Professional Students): 5.41 percent interest rate

4. Direct PLUS Loans (Parents and Graduate or Professional Students): 6.41 percent interest rate

[merrily]

1. I tried to find the yeas and nays on that cloture vote, but did not succeed.

I don't know whether it was a voice vote, or if my "finding" skills are to blame.

If it was a voice vote, fuck everyone who allowed it to be a voice vote, without calling for the yeas and nays. In fact, fuck everyone who allows the minority to foil the majority.

I think most Americans want young people, including their own kids, to be able to get an education without onerous debt. I also think most Americans would like to know exactly who was responsible for killing this bill via failure to reach cloture.

The cloture vote was entirely predictable and I am damned sick of the electorate being able to hold ANYone accountable for ANYthing. I am also damned sick of trying to figure out what in DC is what it seems and what is kabuki.

If anyone reading this post thinks that only one party is responsible for continuing filibusters, esp. faux filibusters, the tyranny of the minority over most Americans, or for kabuki, or for anything else in this post that seems undesirable for American citizens, I would like to try to interest you in purchasing what I believe to be one the most beautiful bridges in the USA.

http://www.kiewit.com/projects/transportation/bridge/leonard-p-zakim-bunker-hill-bridge/

The potential for return on your investment is limitless. Or so I would try to convince you.

On the other hand, if the yas and nays were recorded and I failed to find them online, I humbly apologize to everyone. About this one instance, anyway.