H.R. 3221 Passes Along Party Lines - Look What The Other Hand Did

Just hours after I wrote my story "You Have To Watch What The OTHER Hand Is Doing" the House passed H.R. 3221 the very bill that was the subject of my column.  What this legislation does is shut down all private lenders for higher education student loans, requires that colleges and universities adhere to a new federal bureaucracy (like we needed more of that), creates a new Green Schools Czar 9 (that's 48!), and hints that any school not complying will see its students denied federal student loans.  If the institution doesn't teach what the Feds want, or teaches what the Feds DON'T want them to, they can plausibly be denied funds from federal higher education loans and since, thanks to this bill, those are the only loans out there.

Who relies on student loans to go to college?  I don't know the exact figure and I haven't looked it up but I feel safe estimating it is on the higher side of 95%.  What colleges have students that receive student loans?  That would be every college in the country with maybe a handful of exceptions.

For the government to have the ability to dictate what every college in the country can and cannot teach is beyond scary, it's unthinkable.  The colleges I feel this will most adversely effect are the faith based institutions that teach religious based courses.  For example, take a Bible College that teaches Creation Science or Intelligent Design as an elective or even as a required course.  The new bureaucracy created by this bill can feasibly, and is likely to, deny that college student loan funding unless they delete those courses from their catalog OR include a course on Macro Evolution which would be contrary to the beliefs of that college.  Keep in mind that students CHOOSE to attend these schools and are well aware of the courses offered.  No one is holding a gun to their head and telling them they HAVE to attend a faith based course.

I just have to wonder who will be getting the contract to manufacture the brown shirts.

By the way, this still has to make it through the Senate and to the President's desk.  We still have a chance to stop it.