I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason that Republicans had no interest in extending the low interest rate for student loan paybacks until Romney said he supported it, and then it only took them three days to introduce it themselves in the House...

...paid for, of course, in part by cutting funding for breast and cervical cancer research.

Republicans really are that stupid.

They have about a 20% gender gap with Democrats so far as women voters go, and they pull schit like this.

It's like Romney going after the latino vote by launching a campaign called "Go Home Beaners!".

Dumbasses.

And fools.

Do they really think that Obama will sign the bill? He'll veto it, and everyone will know why, and it's not because he wants to raise the interest rates on student loans.

Yeah, Republicans will try to swing it that way, but the only ones who will believe them are their base whack jobs, the ones who would vote for Darth Vader if he had a "R" after his name...kind of like they did for Cheney.

For women voters, swing voters, independents...they'll see it exactly as it is...a very poorly thought out political ploy that uses female health as a very poorly played chess piece.

Come on, Hank...Illy...tell me why the few dollars saved by reducing cancer screening for women is required to keep the student loan rates low, which is a multi-partisan issue that all agree should happen.

Fish on...

Todd

Put your pink tights on, untwist your [Bleeeeep!], quit fingering your cervix and go do some fund raising for Susan G Komen. That way about 25% of what you raise will actually go towards research. Don't ask about where the other 75% goes though...

In any case you'll be winning big kissa*s browny points with RantyM.

So what you're saying is that I'm right, the Republicans have once again made a political blunder of epic proportions that will bring out the dipshitedness of their base, but will alienate those who they actually need to get to win elections?

That's what I thought.

Fish on...

Todd

You forgot cutting taxes for the multi-corps and billionaires so that they can "create " jobs, all while Moms are at home trying to figure out how to feed the kids.



Fishy

Also, it's more directed at actual preventitive care...cancer screenings...than it is towards research...which makes it even sillier to cut.

Dumbasses...don't these fools have any advisors who aren't drinking the same Kool-Aid as them?

Fish on...

Todd

I thought obamacare was gonna' save us all.

Yeah that's what I'm sayin'....not.

What I'm offering though is to personally do as many screenings as I can.

I'm not a gynecologist but I'll take a look.

I think that the voters Republicans need to win elections will completely agree with you, and Romney will now win the Presidency.

Or...they'll think that it's retarded, because it is, and it will cost them.

Fish on...

Todd

Here's the AP version....Huffington Post version next (long version of Todd's version)...I especially like this part: "Democrats voted solidly earlier this year to take money from the preventive health fund to help keep doctors' Medicare reimbursements from dropping. Obama's own budget in February proposed cutting $4 billion from the same fund to pay for some of his priorities."....full story below


By ALAN FRAM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans defied a veto threat and the House voted Friday to prevent federal loan costs from doubling for millions of college students. The vote gave the GOP a momentary election-year triumph on a bill that has become enmeshed in partisan battles over the economy, women's issues and President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The measure's 215-195 passage was largely symbolic because the package is going nowhere in the Democratic-dominated Senate. Both parties agree students' interest costs should not rise, but they are clashing along a familiar fault line over how to cover the $5.9 billion tab: Republicans want spending cuts and Democrats want higher revenues.

Friday's vote underscored how with Election Day just over six months away, much of Congress' work and passion can be aimed as much at political positioning as it is at writing law. Both parties want to show they are trying to help college students and their families cope in today's unforgiving economy and, when possible, force their opponents to cast votes that might create fodder for TV attack ads.

The GOP bill would keep interest rates for subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent for another year, rather than automatically growing to 6.8 percent on July 1 as they would under a law enacted five years ago by a Democratic Congress. The increase would affect 7.4 million students and, the Obama administration says, cost each an average $1,000 over the life of their loans.

Democrats trained their fire on the Republican plan to pay for the bill by abolishing a preventive health fund created by Obama's 2010 revamping of the health care system. Democrats said that program especially helped women by allocating money for cancer screening and other initiatives and that eliminating it was only the latest GOP blow against women - a charge Republicans hotly contested.

"Give me a break," roared House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to rousing cheers from Republican lawmakers. "This is the latest plank in the so-called war on women, entirely created by my colleagues across the aisle for political gain."

Democrats voted solidly earlier this year to take money from the preventive health fund to help keep doctors' Medicare reimbursements from dropping. Obama's own budget in February proposed cutting $4 billion from the same fund to pay for some of his priorities.

Since the early days of this year's GOP presidential contest, Democrats have been accusing Republicans of targeting women by advocating curbs on contraceptives and other policies. Polls show women leaning heavily toward Obama and Democrats would like to stoke that margin.

In its veto message, the White House argued that "women in particular" would be helped by the prevention fund and added, "This is a politically motivated proposal and not the serious response that the problem facing America's college students deserves."

House GOP leaders abruptly scheduled Friday's vote after Obama barnstormed around the country in recent days to accuse them of ignoring students' needs. Presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney began the week by saying he, too, wanted current interest rates extended temporarily, heaping further pressure on congressional Republicans to act.

Democrats said Republicans only staged Friday's vote to remove it as an issue on which they would be vulnerable. They noted this months' lock-step GOP vote for a 2013 federal budget that would have let Stafford interest rates double in July, and said Republicans had done little in Congress on the issue until this week.

"They're just looking for a way to cover their rear ends," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

Republicans said they were working methodically on the problem and accused Democrats of inventing a controversy to stir up their voters.

"People want to politicize this because it is an election year. But my God, do we have to fight about everything?" said Boehner.

Democrats broke 165-13 against the bill, with some of their members reluctant to vote against keeping students' costs down, despite the accompanying health care cuts.

Democrats wrote a version of the bill, paid for by ending subsidies for oil and gas companies. It never had a chance of moving through the GOP-led House.

Senate Democrats plan a vote next month on their own legislation extending today's interest rates for a year and paid for by making it harder for high-earning owners of many privately owned corporations to shield some of their income from Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. That vote will also be little more than political posturing because Senate Republicans are certain to derail the measure.

House Republicans prevailed Friday only after staunching a brewing rebellion among their own conservatives, many of whom are skeptical about whether the government should subsidize student loans at all.

A lobbying campaign by outside conservative groups like Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America pressured GOP lawmakers to vote "no." But an 11th-hour effort by GOP leaders to keep their rank-and-file onboard prevailed and Republicans ended up backing the legislation 202-30 - with half the opposition coming from the feisty, largely conservative GOP class of freshmen.

"The government doesn't belong in that business," said Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
Associated Press writers Jim Abrams and Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I think the political posturing by both parties is pathetic. I also will not defend the stupidity of the Republicans, in fact I've become totally put off by the chit they put out there.

It's become a choice between dumb and dumber.

Here's another version of the same story from the Huffington Post..

Interest Rates, Student Loans, Politics News .

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives advanced a bill Friday that funds cheaper student loans by cutting a preventive health care program -- sparking a heated battle in which House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused Democrats of manufacturing a war on women.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 215 to 195, with 30 Republicans bucking their party to oppose the bill, and 13 Democrats voting in favor. Democrats might have blocked the measure if the stayed together. The interest rate for federally subsidized student loans is scheduled to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent for some 7.4 million students on July 1 if Congress does not act.

Republicans had voted earlier in the week for a budget that allowed the rate to go up, but under public pressure offered a plan Wednesday to preserve the rate by cutting the Prevention and Public Health Fund created in President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. Republicans say the move would save $6 billion dollars.

Calling the health program -- which aims to lower health care costs by encouraging prevention -- a "slush fund," Boehner said its funding should be used to help students instead.

The White House threatened to veto the bill Friday, and House Democrats objected as well, arguing that the $11.9 billion program (which was already cut from $16 billion) goes to fund things like cancer screening, child immunizations and programs designed to help people quit smoking and eat right.

They also argued that the Republicans' choice of that funding stream to pay for low loan rates showed the GOP doesn't really want to pass the bill.

"Make no mistake ... our Republican colleagues haven't changed their minds about this, they've changed their tactics," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). "If they really wanted to stop student loans from increasing, they wouldn't seek to cover the cost by cutting funds for cervical cancer screening, by cutting funds for breast cancer screening, but cutting other women's health care measures. They wouldn't push a measure the president has already said he will veto."

Republicans stood by the "slush fund" description, however, and argued that money would still remain for screening and prevention programs.

"All of these things are going to continue to receive base discretionary funding," said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) "All these programs are going to remain in existence, so how can you come come down to the floor and constantly say we're going to cut? The slush fund will not affect women, families and children."

Several Democrats noted that while the student loan measure would not cost all of the $11.9 billion that would be saved if the health care program is cut, the GOP intends to slash the remainder of the money from its budget. The House blocked a Democratic alternative that would have paid for the student loan bill by taking away tax subsidies for oil companies.

Boehner accused Democrats of being the ones to play political games, saying they were making the student loan battle part of a phony war on women.

"How in the world did we ever get here? Think about this -- a fight being picked over an issue that everyone knew was going to get resolved," Boehner said. "Nobody wants to see student interest rates go up."

But he contended that Democrats wanted to score points with the issue by opposing the cuts to the health program, and he mocked their contention that the Republican stance was more evidence of an anti-women bent in the GOP.

"Why do people insist that we have a political fight?" Boehner said. "People want to politicize this because it's an election year, but my God, do we have to fight about everything?

"Now we're going to have a fight over women's health. Give me a break," Boehner said to cheers from his side. "This is the latest plank in the so-called war on women entirely created by my colleagues across the aisle for political gain.

"To accuse us of wanting to cut women's health is absolutely not true," he said. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is beneath us, this is beneath the dignity of this House."

But Democrats said the political maneuvering was coming from the GOP, and maintained that Republicans were indeed trying to cut a program that would help thousands of women.

"They're using the student loan issue to drive their agenda. I find that very cynical. I find that in fact quite repulsive," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). "They're not looking for a better way. They're just looking for a way to cover their rear ends."

The Senate is expected to bring up its version of the bill next month. It will be paid for by closing a tax loophole on S-corporations.

Then why do Republicans almost all agree that not allowing the low loan rate to expire is a good thing?

I'm not asking you for your own little spin on the merits...I'm asking you to objectively look at who will win this battle, and the obvious answer is that amongst those who the Republicans need to win, the Republicans are once again failing, and miserably.

They're not going to get the young vote, that's a given...but the female vote is one they really need to close the gap on, because there are millions of women who don't just vote for who their husband tells them to, and those women predominantly vote for Democrats...and schit like this will only make that problem worse.

And, of course, "women" is the largest voting bloc in the country.

Politically speaking, the Republicans are once again proving that they are their own worse enemy.

Fish on...

Todd

This tuition thing is such a political mess. The bill that lowered rates from over 6% to around 3% is expiring. I believe the Dems pass it in the first place. Now interest rates are already much lower so the $6 billion needed to pay for "reducing" the rate is confusing at best....it does deal with the government subsidized loans...so instead of dealing with the real issues it is now a campaign issue for both sides....I listened to Pelosi a bit ago and Boehner and I don't think anything can get done. I also think Pelosi might be related someway to Todd....

It's not an issue for either side, as they all agree that it should be done...it's paying for it by reducing funding for preventitive care for breast and cervical cancer that will once again put the GOP in the hot seat.

They keep saying "stop talking about other issues, it's all about the economy!"...and then they keep making really stupid decisions regarding social issues, which keeps them and their retarded Victorian and anti-woman agenda right there in the forefront.

If they want that to be ignored, they should stop talking about women, abortion, and gay rights every time they open their fuckin mouths.

Fish on...

Todd

create jobs for china..........

They'd be more likely to vote with their pocketbooks...mistakenly, if they are voting for Republicans...if they didn't see Republicans harping on gay rights, reproductive rights, and health care all the time...

In 2010 when everyone ran on the "fix the economy!" platform, all the Republicans got right down to work...drafting bill after bill dealing with abortion rights and gay rights, and ignoring the economic issues.

Voters will remember that.

Fish on...

Todd

All this hullabaloo over $1000/student over the life of their loan?

Pthththththth........c'mon how big a deal is that?


Actually I think it's that Democrats like dirty women.
















that's a joke......