Boehner: Obama, GOP Student Loan Plans Aren’t That Different

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Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) quickly responded to President Obama’s criticism Friday morning at the White House Rose Garden of the GOP’s House-passed student loan plan.

Boehner said the differences between the White House and GOP student loan plans are “small” and that the president has “resorted to a campaign stunt to score political points.”

His statement:

“Last week, the House passed legislation that would prevent student loan rates from doubling and permanently take politics out of the issue.  The bill already passed by the House provides a market-based variable interest rate, mirroring what the president proposed in his own budget.  The differences between the House plan and the president’s are small, and there’s no reason they cannot be overcome quickly.  But today, rather than working to resolve the issue, the president resorted to a campaign stunt to try to score political points.  If the president is truly unhappy with inaction, the only place to look is the Democratic-run Senate, which has taken no action to prevent rates from doubling.

“With time so short and the differences between our proposals so slight, today’s event was misguided and deeply disappointing.  A president who promised young people he would reject petty partisanship, today practiced it himself. If he really wants to shield students from higher rates, he should work with his former colleagues in the Senate to act. That’s what our students deserve.”

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