Big government activists are emboldened with Democrats in control of Congress and the White House, as well as many state governments, and they are pushing for restrictions on consumer borrowing through the creation of interest rate caps. These pieces of legislation, similar to a proposal put forth by Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019, would place a government-mandated ceiling on interest rates for personal loans -- thereby reducing available credit. Although proponents contend these measures would protect working Americans and minority communities from over-using credit, this claim couldn’t be further from the truth.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In response to the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to cut interest rates close to zero, John Tamny, FreedomWorks Foundation's Director of the Center for Economic Freedom (CEF), commented:
The volatility in the stock market in recent days offers a clue to the dangerous power of the Federal Reserve, and further underscores the need to get government spending under control and finally start tackling the national debt.
As I wrote some time ago, the market for student loans is a mess that is rapidly heading for a painful correction. The Obama administration’s misguided quest to provide higher education for all has distorted the cost calculations of college to a devastating degree. Yet, rather than recognize the dangerous bubble he has created, the president is now doubling down—backing a policy dreamed up by Elizabeth Warren to allow the refinancing of student loans en masse at current interest rates, and making up the cost with the “Buffet Rule,” a special provision that would ensure that millionaires pay a minimum income tax rate.
Here it comes again, the “great sell out” of American students. The Senate has arrived, once again, to “save” college students by extending artificially cheap interest rates to them. Politicians warn that without passing legislation, students are going to face major cost increases. Couched as the moral, right, and compassionate thing to do, the legislation they’ve cooked up is merely a cover for selling out our students.
After Congress failed to reach a compromise before the July 4th recess, student loans subsidized through the Federal Direct Stafford Loans program will see interest rates double from 3.4% to 6.8%. Pundits and the media have been reporting this as “Congress’s failure to act,” and a “catastrophic increase” on students. However, there are several reasons this “failure to act” is a good thing.