LYNCHBURG, VA — The student loan debate was (literally) in the air as Mitt Romney prepared to make his commencement address at Liberty University here. As the graduation ceremony at this evangelical Christian university began, a single-engined plane flew circles around the commencement towing a banner reading “GOP = HIGHER SCHOOL DEBT.”
The fight to extend the interest rate on Stafford loans is one of the few where President Obama and Romney are on the same page. Both favor extending low interest rates on Stafford student loans. The extension is currently tied up in Congress, where Republicans and Democrats are split on how to pay for the rate extension.
UPDATE:
In a release, MoveOn.org took credit for the banner. The group says Romney wants to cut $170 billion from the Pell Grant program.
““More young people are graduating today with debt than with jobs but Romney has been MIA on the issue,” said MoveOn executive director Justin Ruben said in a statement. “It’s clear that with Romney and the GOP the sky’s the limit with student debt. If Romney really wants to connect with young voters, he’s got to take the silver spoon out of his mouth and start talking solutions.”
