There was an interesting discussion in the House the other day. They are thinking about repealing the internet gambling law of a few years ago. It wasn’t attended by a lot of people and it was a Friday so there were more people there to testify than Representatives. Luckily, C-SPAN doesn’t care if the Reps don’t care and they broadcast the proceedings. Several things struck me, but none more than the tone of the Representatives that did bother to show up. They acted like they were there to talk about themselves, not the issue and certainly not the people they have been elected to represent. Sure, maybe it was laid back because, as Rep. Barney Frank pointed out, Friday sessions are poorly attended, but aren’t they having the session to learn more about an issue? Is this how they treat all their legislation? With something as important to students and the future of our country’s higher education at stake, are they going to invite the top experts to come testify and then ignore them because it’s a Friday?

Every issue that comes before Congress should be treated as important and afforded respect. There’s a reason it’s made it to Congress even if it’s bad legislation like the STAR Act. These issues have meaning and Congressional decisions will have an impact on our lives. Certainly some of those decisions will have less of an effect than others. Some might not affect us for decades. The Congressmen who voted based on their party or their cronies or on their publicist’s advice will be long gone and we will be trying to clean up the mess from their decisions. Please, tell your Congressmen that you are watching them and that you care about the issues!

We are opposed to the proposed student loan legislation and middle-class families should be too! The government is taking money out of YOUR POCKET.

It only takes one minute to make a difference: call your senators, send your senators an e-mail, download a letter to fax to your senators, become part of our petition and help your friends find out the truth about the proposed student loan legislation.