Though he’s not excited about it, Congressman Davis has announced that he’s generally supportive of Obama’s plan to open up some coastal waters to oil drilling.
Even from an ecological standpoint, given that America will continue to consume oil for the foreseeable future (especially with Obama’s consumption-oriented stimulus plan in full bore), it makes more sense to drill within America’s stronger eco-guidelines than to import oil pumped under the lax rules of third world nations.
No, it won’t end our dependence on foreign oil, but if companies are willing to drill for it, this off-shore oil is certain to benefit the country, and Davis is right to support access to it.
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Having voted this year to encourage used car owners to take out private loans to buy new cars (the “cash for clunkers” program) and to encourage renters to take out private loans for new homes (the first-time home buyer tax credit), Davis issued a release on Tuesday reporting that he is “concerned” about a growing trend — students taking out private loans for college.
According to Davis, “The study by the Project on Student Debt raises concerns for education policymakers because it shows a dramatic increase in students’ use of private student loans that often lack important consumer protections, even when federal loans that include such protections are available. For example, private student loans typically have variable interest rates, lack options to make payments manageable (e.g., deferment, income-based repayment), and are almost impossible to discharge via bankruptcy.”
What the release doesn’t mention is that the difficulty in discharging private student loans through bankruptcy is an intentional government policy designed to encourage lenders to lend more money to students. Without such strict standards, there would be fewer private student loans available to the students who wanted them.
However, Davis goes on to say, “Congress should restore bankruptcy protections afforded to private student loan borrowers similar to those protections afforded to other unsecured debtors…”
If this is his intention, it would certainly mean greater protection for student loan recipients, but at the cost of reducing student ability to take on debt. We’ll have to wait and see if Davis truly follows through with this proposal. After all, if there’s one thing the Congressman seems to love, whether it’s for new SUVs or old wars, it’s more debt.
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