Student Loans

There are 2 types of student loans - the ones that come from the government (direct loans) and the ones that come from a bank. The ones from a bank are guaranteed by the government, so if someone defaults, the government pays the bank back for them. The question I have is why aren't all loans direct? What do the banks provide here? Nothing. I think it's a rip off and any politician who supports them is a crook.

Michael Kinsley has an article on this in Slate.

Relatively speaking, it's not a large issue, but it's one that pisses me off. College students get the shaft a lot. Textbooks are another example. If I was a freshman again, I'd get all my books from Amazon just cause the campus bookstore and the other local bookstore don't compete on price at all. They are just cash cows. That's not the market serving the consumer. Bastards.

Anyway, to me, this is an issue with clear good guys and bad guys. The direct loans were pushed by the Democrats in the Clinton administration, so that's a point for Hillary.