Who Cares If Sallie Mae Employees Lose Their Jobs?


As the battle over student loan reform heats up with news that the proposal will be included with health care legislation, the Sallie Mae PR/lobbying machine is ratcheting up its criticism of the plan.

According to the bill, the United States government would save taxpayers and borrowers billions of dollars by eliminating middlemen in the federal student loan program -- and offering the loans exclusively through the United States government. The savings could be used to increase financial aid for low-income students.

No one seems to be disputing the cost-savings potential of the proposal. Instead, Sallie Mae is banging the "jobs, jobs, jobs" drum -- and some politicians are buying it. Delaware Republican Congressman Mike Castle whines that the plan will "eliminate hundreds of jobs for Delawareans, and tens of thousands of jobs across the country, in the middle of a harsh economy."

Sallie Mae employees are staging protests, and retiring Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind), who happens to be a moron, has said he will oppose student loan reform over "concerns about the short-term impact reform efforts could have on employment in Indiana."

Here's a question I would pose to anyone who opposes student loan reform on the grounds that it will cost people their jobs: Why should college students pay more money than necessary in order to create pointless jobs that can easily be consolidated by allowing the government to administer all federal student loans? The notion that Congress should stick it to college students to preserve jobs for Sallie Mae employees is an appalling and transparent one, and hopefully enough members of Congress will see through it that student loan reform passes.

And Sallie Mae employees can go find jobs somewhere else. I hear Wal-Mart (WMT) is hiring.

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