With student loan interest rates set to double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent on July 1, it leads students to wonder about the legislators behind the scenes and which ones fight for their needs.
When thinking of American politicians, big names like Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may come to mind. But do they fight for students’ needs?
Which government officials currently have the best interest of students in mind?
A relative newcomer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.) has been making headlines after she tackled two of the largest economic issues in this country.
Recently, Warren proposed a new bill that would set the interest rates for federal student loans at 0.75 percent, a rate that is currently enjoyed by large banks through loans from the Federal Reserve.
The name of the bill, “Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act,” symbolically touches on the issues of banking and student loans, issues that Warren has devoted her career toward.
While she focuses on the student debt issue, Warren has been tackling other controversial issues with a very middle-class agenda.
As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Warren’s main agenda was to question the contention that many of the country’s largest banks were too big for criminal prosecution, after the financial crises and mistakes over the past several years.
Oftentimes, sanctions against banks end up as settlements through fines.
Unfortunately, little has been done to change the leadership of the banks due to the settlements reached.
Warren has repeatedly pushed for criminal prosecution of individuals in charge of these big banks for the crimes they have committed.
Challenging current Atty. Gen. Eric Holder in a hearing, Warren grilled him about big banks’ progress since the collapse of the housing bubble.
“It has been almost five years since the financial crisis, but the big banks are still too big to fail,” Warren said in a Huffington Post article.
“Attorney General Holder’s testimony that the biggest banks are too-big-to-jail shows once again that it is past time to end too-big-to-fail,” Warren said.
Right now, students are struggling financially, but many have managed to make it through their studies despite high student loan interest rates.
As financial aid checks are sent out in the fall, many students will be left wondering about the bill after their college experience. What kind of job market will there be for students upon graduation?
If conditions don’t improve, is getting a master’s degree a viable option? Will we be able to afford retirement?
These are all important questions that, through people like Warren, should be answered in a way that meets the needs of concerned students.
If there is a Senate session on Halloween, I expect Warren to show up, dressed appropriately as Robin Hood.
Nicolas Rodriguez is a senior political science major and an assistant opinions editor at the Daily 49er.