April 24, 2012 09:35 PM UTC

Obama Hearts Friendly CU Campus Setting, Issue

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #3: CU student Madalyn Starkey meets the Prez at The Sink:

You really can’t fake that.

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UPDATE #2: Politico goes down the memory hole, and once again:

Mitt Romney generated quite few headlines Monday when he voiced support for keeping federal student loan interest rates from going up – a position that puts him at odds with Republicans in Congress, and maneuvers him closer to the political center for the general election.

It’s also a stance that appears to clash with some of Romney’s rhetoric on the campaign trail during the Republican primary…

“Now that the government’s taking over the student loan business, I think you’ll get less competition. I’d rather have more competition, with private lenders as well as government lenders,” Romney said. “The right course for America is for businesses and universities and colleges to compete, and for us to make sure that we provide loans to the extent we possibly can at an interest rate that doesn’t have the taxpayers having to subsidize people who want to go to school.” [Pols emphasis]

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UPDATE: a reader’s photo from today’s protest by the Boulder County Republicans at the CU-Boulder campus, where an estimated 30 or so people demonstrated:

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The Colorado Independent’s John Tomasic on tonight’s big speech at CU:

President Obama will speak this afternoon at the University of Colorado Boulder, part of a swing-state campus tour designed to pressure Congress into extending low-interest rates on federal student loans. The rates are set to double in July.

“There was no other way for me to go to school than to take out student loans,” Brittni Hernandez, CU-Boulder student body president, told reporters Monday. “Like many students, I’m worried that if the interest rate doubles, I won’t be able to afford to finish school. We shouldn’t have to sign away our future financial security just to get a degree.”

If Congress fails to act, the rates for federal Stafford loans, the flagship government student loans, are set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent . Sources told reporters that roughly 167,000 Colorado students would be affected, the new rates adding about $1,000 to the annual cost of a typical loan.

The debate over the interest-rate extension is the latest charged subject in the larger battle over government spending and deficit reduction.

The political upper hand Democrats enjoy on this issue is best illustrated by the fact that Mitt Romney has called for extending the reduced Stafford Loan interest rates, even though he also says he supports the newest GOP budget proposal that allows the interest rate to double. No word yet on how that conflict would be resolved, we doubt he has thought about it much.

Lynn Bartels reports today on the inevitable pro-Romney press conference held by former CU President Hank Brown “giving Obama an ‘F’,” and liberals who respond with Romney’s record as governor on education–where public support for higher education dwindled and tuition “skyrocketed.” We’ll post press releases and updates on tonight’s event as we get them.