What the GOP thinks of college students

Karl Rove, chief political strategist for U.S. president George W. Bush, said:

As people do better, they start voting like Republicans --- unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing.

If you know any college students who are thinking about voting for Bush or not voting at all, pass this information on to them.

The GOP has consistently tried to make it harder for you to go to college by shifting financial aids from grants to loans, then trying to move the loans to private lenders who can charge higher (and variable) interest when you graduate. Tax cuts for their rich friends are more important to them than your education. It's that simple.

When I went to college in the 80's, I probably got less than $1,000 a year from my family, but I only had to work in the summer because financial aid covered the rest. There's no reason we couldn't go back to that, or better, IF STUDENTS VOTE.

Why do you think politicians of both parties trip over themselves trying to give money to old people? THEY VOTE. It's the same reason big business people make political contributions: it's the best return they will get on their investment.


Taking the time to register and vote could mean you can quit your second job sometime before the end of your college career. Click on this link to register in your state:

https://www.workingforchange.com/vote/index.cfm?ms=OVR002

If you think you won't have time to go to the polls election day, you can ask for an absentee ballot when you register, and mail it in before the election.

Bush backs cutting college PELL grants $270 million and 84,000 students

The Bush administration’s Department of Education approved changes in the formula families use to determine if their college-bound students are eligible for financial assistance under the Federal Pell Grant Program. The changes, announced May 30, will rob 84,000 of aid and reduce financial help to hundreds of thousands of other students beginning in the 2004–2005 academic year, according to a memo from the Congressional Research Service. Education experts predict the impact of the changes will ripple into many state and university administered aid programs that base their eligibility formulas on the federal model, denying educational opportunity to even more students.

New York Times article with details:
http://corzine.senate.gov/clippings/collegeaid.nytimes.7.18.03.pdf

Republican Bill Pending in Congress Could
Eliminate Savings for Students

Wednesday, June 2, 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While welcoming last week’s news of another drop in interest rates on student loans for college, Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) also warned that the main higher education legislation pending in Congress could eliminate altogether the benefit that enables students to consolidate their loans at a low fixed interest rate and save thousands of dollars over the life of their loan.

http://edworkforce.house.gov/democrats/releases/rel6204b.html