According to today’s Deseret News Senator Hatch thinks Democratic efforts to cut interest rates on student loans by half and increase the number of students eligible for Pell Grants is a “blatantly political bill.” In addition, our very own Senator for life seems to have conveniently found his fiscally responsible side stating “our budget won’t allow” a significant reduction in interest rates or additional student aid.

At both the state and federal level whenever it comes to programs that help people, whether it is providing dental care or making higher education more affordable, “our budget won’t allow” it. Yet when it comes to multi-billion dollar tax cuts or subsidies for the oil and gas industry borrowing a little more doesn’t seem to be a problem.

This year’s high school graduates are facing 10% increases in tuition payments over last year. In addition, they are about to get clobbered with significant increases in the interest rate for the loan they must take out to pay for it. The Democrat’s “political bill” would save the average Utah college graduate $2,208 over the life of a 10 year loan and offer roughly 3,795 additional students federal Pell Grants according to the Deseret News. This kind of investment in education is what our society demands if it is to grow and remain competitive over the long-term.

Hatch et al. would be far more credible when they pled poverty if they weren’t engaged in corporate welfare giveaways and budget breaking tax cuts at the same time they were refusing to give America’s poor and college students a hand up. “Political bills” that help American families, students and disadvantaged are exactly what voters expect from their representatives.