GOP blocks Senate debate on Dem student loan bill

GOP blocks Senate debate on Dem student loan bill

cheap louis vuitton jewelry Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill Tuesday to preserve low interest rates for millions of college students' loans, as the two parties engaged in election-year choreography aimed at showing each is the better protector of families in today's rugged economy.The 52-45 vote to begin debating the legislation fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to proceed and stalled work on an effort both parties expect will ultimately produce a compromise, probably soon. For now, each side is happy to use the stalemate to snipe at the other with campaign-ready talking points while they are gridlocked over how to cover the $6 billion cost.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the vote showed that despite GOP claims that they support preventing an increase in student loan rates, "Republicans showed today that it's only talk."He also noted that the likely GOP presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, supports a temporary extension of today's low rates and needled, "I suggest he pick up the phone and call Senator McConnell."That was a reference to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who said the battle is a phony one manufactured by Democrats to woo votes from students. Both parties say they want to extend low interest rates."The Senate has ceased to be a place where problems are resolved. It's become instead a place where Democrats produce campaign material," McConnell said.The vote was nearly party-line, with Reid voting "no" to give himself the procedural ability to demand another vote once a compromise is reached. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, voted "present," saying she wanted to avoid any vote that might affect a private education business of her husband, John McKernan.

cheap louis vuitton totes The Democratic bill would keep interest rates for subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent for an additional year, rather than doubling automatically for new loans starting July 1. It would have no impact on current loans.A 2007 law approved by a Democratic Congress gradually lowered the rates but pops them back up to 6.8 percent in July because lawmakers were worried about costs.Stafford loans are for low- and middle-income students. The Education Department projects the measure would affect 7.4 million undergraduates borrowing money in the year starting July 1.Republicans oppose the Democratic plan to pay for the bill by forcing high-earning stockholders in some privately owned corporations and professional practices to pay additional Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. Even if it passed the Senate, it would have no chance of emerging from the Republican-controlled House.Democrats reject the GOP version, which drums up money for the extension of low rates by abolishing a preventive health program created by Obama's 2010 health care overhaul. Republicans are demanding a Senate vote on their measure but it cannot pass that chamber, and the White House has threatened to veto a House-passed bill that uses that same funding mechanism.Both sides know they can push no student loan bill through Congress without a bipartisan consensus on paying for it.But with politics the governing dynamic for now, it was no coincidence that each side proposed snatching savings from favorite targets that appeal to their parties' core voters: the rich for Democrats and Obama's health care revamping for Republicans.

cheap louis vuitton hobos The issue has been a favorite of Obama's in recent weeks as he appeals to student voters who flocked disproportionately to him in his 2008 presidential campaign. He turned to it again Tuesday during a visit to the State University of New York in Albany, where he tried raising pressure on lawmakers to act."Before they do anything else, Congress needs to keep student loan rates from doubling for students who are here and all across the country," he said. He added, "Don't let politics get in the way. Get this done before July 1."Underscoring the political stakes, the Senate Democratic campaign organization distributed an email soon after the Senate vote saying that two Republicans facing tight re-elections this fall -- Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Dean Heller of Nevada -- decided to "side against students, middle class families by voting to double student loan interest rates."Playing defense, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sometimes mentioned as a potential running mate with Romney, said he still has student loans and supports preventing loan rates from rising. He said he could not support the Democratic plan because it would raise taxes on "the kinds of small businesses that give jobs to graduates who not only need low interest rates but need jobs in order to pay their student loans."Neither party wants to be blamed for letting students' costs grow larger in the middle of the presidential and congressional campaigns, so both have strong motivations to cut a deal. For now, each is daring the other to make the first move.McConnell told reporters that Reid might want to call House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, "and say, `Why don't we resolve this matter and move on with it, rather than leaving all these young people with a sense of uncertainty.'""Boehner has no votes over here," Reid snapped later, saying that if Republicans want to offer alternatives for paying for the bill, "Let's vote on them."Stafford loans are generally paid off over a decade or more after graduation. Allowing interest rates to double would cost the typical student about $1,000 over the life of the loan, the administration says.

cheap louis vuitton clutches The wife and mother of a kidnapping suspect have been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a family of four from Tennessee, according to a Hardeman County, Miss., court clerk. The wife and mother of Adam Mayes were arrested for "especially aggravated kidnapping" in connection with the kidnapping of JoAnn Bain and her three daughters, who were reported missing from their Tennessee home on April 28.The dead bodies of JoAnn Bain and her eldest daughter, 14-year-old Adrienne Bain, were found in the backyard of the Mayes' family home in Guntown, Miss. The other two daughters and Adam Mayes have not been located.The women were reported missing on April 27 by Gary Bain, JoAnn's husband and the stepfather of the children. During the investigation, police interviewed Mayes, who admitted he was the last person to see the four women prior to their disappearance. When police went back to request a second interview later in the investigation, Mayes fled, according to the police warrants obtained by ABC News.Tennessee Bureau of Investigation/AP PhotoInvestigators have obtained video from April 30, 2012 where Mayes is seen wearing a white t-shirt in the County Line One Market on Highway 348 in Guntown. Tennessee Mother, Daughters Abducted Watch Video Details in the arrest warrants show that on April 27, Adam Mayes and his wife, Teresa Mayes, worked together to take Bain and her daughters from their home in Tennessee to Mississippi, where Adam and Teresa share a home with his parents.Teresa and Adam's mother, Mary Mayes, both confessed to police during interviews that on April 27, they witnesses Mayes digging holes in his mother's backyard, where the two bodies were later found.Police said they believe that Bain and her daughters were confined on the Mayes property. At some point in their confinement JoAnn and Adrienne died and were buried on the property."It is believed that Adam Mayes removed or confined Jo Ann Bain and her 3 daughters...in a manner that substantially interfered with their liberty," the warrant states. "Concerning Jo Ann Bain and Adrienne Bain, both victims suffered serious bodily injury as a result of their removal or confinement."Police were digging in the Mayes' yard on Monday, but have not said what they were looking for or whether they found anything.Teresa Mayes' sister, Bobbi Booth, said her sister knew about the killings, but may have been too scared to call the police, according to the Associated Press. During the investigation, police also found a trailer that Mayes had rented from Union County, Miss., which contained property of the two girls who are still missing and thought to be in Mayes' custody.Mary Mayes is charged with conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping, while Teresa is charged with committing especially aggravated kidnapping.Police are still searching for Adam Mayes and the two girls, Alexandra Bain, age 12, and Kyliyah Bain, age 8. They have said that Mayes has likely changed his appearance and that of the girls.