It still baffles me that the Congressional Research Office can tell your Representatives and Senators that their plan won’t save you money, and that very few of you will realize any benefit at all, and yet Congress persists in pushing this unworkable mess down our throats.

The Congressional Democrats are truly excited about what the Kennedy Plan will save you. What the plan is going to cost you is really much more to the point. Let’s take a look at what you’re going to lose.

First, you won’t have a choice of lender. The Kennedy plan sets up a ridiculous “auction” scheme, where the government has already capped the maximum interest rate it will accept from lenders, and limits the “winning bids” to two institutions per state.

Second, you’ll lose stability. If your state musters two lenders who are willing to make loans under these absurd conditions, they’ll only have the right to make these loans for two years at a time. After two years, the government again “auctions” the right to make student loans. You may get stuck with two or three lenders in the time it takes you to complete an undergraduate degree, and if you go to grad school, you might end up with lenders four and five. Is that kind of complexity really what you want?

Third, you’ll lose the ability to consolidate your loans. This is the thorn in Congress’ side, and they want it out bad. They were the ones who originally decided that you should be able to consolidate loans. When interest rates fell, however, that cost the Feds a lot, and they’re very unhappy about it. It seems like they’re taking it out on the FFELP lenders. In truth, they’re sticking you – the borrower. Under Kennedy’s plan, you won’t be able to consolidate your loans anymore. You could be paying five different student loan bills every month after you graduate. Five!

Fourth, the Kennedy Plan relies on deficit spending to fund student loans. Government issued bonds are long-term obligations. What this means for you is that after you finish your student loan payments, you’re still stuck paying the interest on the bonds the government issued to fund your loan in the first place. There’s no savings in this plan for you. You’ll be paying for this plan long after your itemized debt has been retired.

If this doesn’t really sound like a good way to save a few bucks, you’re right. It isn’t. Call your Senators and Representatives and tell them that you’re not interested in losing choice, stability, your ability to consolidate loans and that you don’t want to fund student loan programs through deficit spending.

Protect your right to choose. If you don’t speak up now, your rights may be gone forever.