Topic: Student Loans

Debate: Obama, McCain spar over “reality check” versus “blank check” for America

By Christine Anne Piesyk | October 16, 2008 |

Having watched all three presidential debates (and the Palin/Biden VP debate), I just can’t imagine what the GOP was thinking when they nominated John McCain, and followed that up with Alaska’s Governor, Sarah Palin.

Okay, when McCain first popped on the Election 2008 radar back in that early New Hampshire primary, I was next door in Vermont, wondering with a bit of perverse pleasure how McCain managed to dislodge the likes of Romney, Giuliani, and others in a presidential nomination bid. It just got interesting, I thought. Little did I know…

I know now, though, that his nomination has been a boon to the Democratic Party, a boon magnified orders of magnitude by his choice of Palin as VP. Thank you, John for handing over so many states to the Dems. Three times in a row, I watched the debates, and watched the post debate charts fade from red to pink to yellow to light blue…you get the idea. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Education, Events, Issues, Opinion, Politics | No Comments

Congress boosts Pell Grant funds; bucks lenders on loan subsidies

By Christine Anne Piesyk | September 7, 2007 |

College students will be getting a financial break, thanks to bi-partisan approval today to an educational finance package that increases Pell Grants to low and middle income students over the next four years and alters the ground rules for student loans.

Both the House and Senate approved the changes, and in the bi-partisan Senate vote the numbers came in 79-12 in favor of the changes, with Democrats citing this win as one campaign promise fulfilled.

“We need a bold new commitment that will enable the current generation of Americans to rise to the global challenges we face. Today we will help millions of students achieve the American dream.”

–Sen. Edward Kennedy, Senate Education Committee Chair

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Sections: Arts and Leisure | No Comments