Student Loan Bill a No-Brainer That Actually Might Pass

For health reform watchers despairing that lawmakers "will never be able to do anything, ever," it's time to turn an eye on the no-brainer student loan reform in the House, Gail Collins writes in the New York Times. Right now, the government gives banks money, pays them to lend it to students, and guarantees the loans. Under the new plan—wait for it—"the federal government makes the loans," she writes.

Sounds simple, right? But GOP Rep. John Kline wants to leave things the way they are and “convene a nonpartisan commission,” which makes Collins want to "topple over in despair." Regardless, Democrats should be able to push the bill through the Senate, and "Congress will have come a way toward fixing this problem," Collins writes. Which leaves just one other issue: tuition that "keeps running ahead of the rate of inflation like Secretariat closing in the Belmont." (More student loan reform stories.)