Monday, February 14, 2011

Remember The Tax Cuts The Millionaire Got In January?

Well guess on whose shoulders the tax loss is going to be made up upon?
Obama reportedly to seek changes in Pell Grants
MSNBC
By Darlene Superville
The Associated Press
2/13/2011

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's budget plan would cut $100 billion from Pell Grants over a decade through belt-tightening but use the savings to keep the maximum college financial aid award at $5,550, an administration official said.
I spent that in one semester and I’m only taking two classes. Let alone two semesters.
The first proposal would end the "year-round Pell" policy that let students collect two grants in a calendar year, with the second grant used for summer school. The official said the costs exceeded expectations and there was little evidence that students earn their degrees any faster.
Um…Mister President, In today’s economy the faster you get your degree the faster you can to begin looking for a job.
A second proposal would reduce loan subsidies for graduate and professional students. That would free $2 billion next year and save $29 billion over 10 years, according to the official.
For many of my fellow students, the Pell Grants are the only way the can afford to get their masters in Social Work and if you are going into practice you need to get a MSW in order to be licensed.
Faced with growing annual budget deficits and a national debt into the trillions of dollars, Obama has said his latest budget proposal would save $400 billion over the next decade, including a five-year freeze on most discretionary spending and cuts to programs that even he cares about.
Mister President o you remember when you extended Bush era tax cuts back in December and it costs us hundreds of billions of dollars? So now you are making up this tax cuts for the rich on the shoulders of the poor.
The Pell Grant program is the primary college financial aid program for low-income students. The program helps more than 8 million students attend college each year, according to the White House, and under Obama the maximum award was increased to $5,550.

Demand for the grants — which don't have to be repaid — has increased sharply since the economic slump because more job seekers are returning to school to learn new skills and they need help paying the tuition, the administration official said.
So now you want to cut them just when they need it the most. (Just for the record, I am not receiving any government funding for my schooling, but I do think those that need it, should get assistance.)

Update: I just learned that another area of cuts is home heating assistance. Yup, lets take away the safety net for the most needy and give the money to the rich, sort of like ‘Robinhood” in reverse.

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