In less than two months, government student loan interest rates are set to double, and most politicians are turning a blind eye—except for Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Young people saddled with student loan debt have been hit hard enough by the recession. They’re struggling to find jobs and pay the rent—let alone stow some cash for future savings. Last year, outstanding student debt hit $1.1 trillion, and it’s climbing rapidly.1
But here’s the good news: Yesterday, Sen. Warren introduced legislation that would lower the student loan interest rate to 0.75%—the same exact rate government gives to Big Banks.2
It’s a brilliant move. It would give millions of people struggling with student debt much-needed relief, and it shows the hypocrisy of subsidizing Big Banks while shortchanging our students. This is exactly why MoveOn members fought so hard to elect Sen. Warren last November.
But Sen. Warren can’t do it alone. Big Banks are already mobilizing their million-dollar lobbying firms. And the media are barely paying attention.
We’ve got less than two months before interest rates on college loans will double for millions of students—so we need to move fast. We’re aiming to raise $200,000 to launch a rapid-response campaign to push forward game-changing legislation to ease student loan debt.
Can you chip in?
MoveOn’s 8 million members can make big change when it comes to combating student debt. Last year, Robert Applebaum, an attorney from New York, launched a MoveOn petition calling for student loan forgiveness. More than half a million people signed the petition, and the campaign got so much attention that President Obama responded by lowering student loan payments for more than 1.6 million people.
We can do it again—especially with a heavy hitter like Sen. Warren fighting with us in the halls of Congress. Sen. Warren already started a petition on our online petition site—now we need to raise the funds to support nationwide organizing to pressure members of Congress to get behind her effort.
We’re ready to launch a high-profile pressure campaign led by MoveOn members struggling with student debt. We’ll work to sure every single Democrat and moderate Republican supports Sen. Warren’s legislation—so we have enough votes to win. But we can only do it if we raise $200,000 in the next few days.
Thanks for all you do.
–Anna, Wes, Bobby, Mariana, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “12 Student Loan Debt Numbers That Will Blow Your Mind,” Huffington Post, April 11, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=
2. “Elizabeth Warren: Give students the same deal as big banks,” Politico, May 8, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=
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