FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Say goodbye to the FAFSA form if Hillary Clinton is elected president.
Reducing student loan paperwork may not qualify as a marquee issue like ending the Iraq war and establishing a universal health-care system. But it’s one way Clinton can portray herself as a detail-oriented policy wonk who will make voters’ lives easier.
While her rival Barack Obama delivers a broad message of hope and change, Clinton’s speeches are so laden with specifics you can almost see the bullet points.
For voters who deal with the federal bureaucracy on a regular basis, that can be an appealing proposition.
“The day I retired from the military, I became a third-class citizen,” one man told her during a question-and-answer session here. “I just wanted to thank you for what you’re doing for the veterans.”
Fayetteville is located next to the U.S. Army’s Fort Bragg, and Clinton spent much of her time discussing the difficulties faced by veterans. Surrounded by several retired military officials, Clinton promised to bolster a broad range of veterans programs from health care and tuition assistance to home loans.
She was cheered when she mentioned the shortcomings of Tricare, the military health plan.
And she promised to mothball FASFA, short for Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a form evidently much hated by the students forced to fill it out.
Clinton’s willingness to talk specifics was an important asset for Keith Zeigler, a Navy veteran who said Obama’s affluent, youthful supporters don’t have to worry about navigating the United States’ paltry safety net.
“They go to college to party. They have the money to pay their way out of trouble,” said Zeigler, who said he couldn’t afford to go to college and now drives a truck.
“They’re not educated in the ways of the real world,” he said.
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Is anyone concerned about the millions in contributions that Billary is hiding on her tax return? Why hide it? Where is the transparency? If for some devastating reason she should be the nominee she won’t own the white house. Her global ‘contributors’ will run this country. And is anyone concerned about her memory. Remember the real estate deal? How many hundreds of times did she say “I don’t remember”…and with Bosnia and now the 10% spin whenm in fact she had 9.2% on Obama. Who by the way reduced her lead by more than 50%.
- Posted by michalCan someone please explain to me why the media says Billary won by 10%? 9.2% to be exact; can’t even be rounded to 9.5%…it’s 9% if rounded - what’s with that. And why would that be considered a knockout when Obama reduced her lead by more than 50%? She’s had 10 years of the politio branding machine at work; the demographics on her side; 3 family serrogates; family ties to PA. The ‘win’ was reduced to single digits - what Obama was shooting for. Please tell me where the 10% comes from…is that another one of her spins?
- Posted by michal[...] memeorandum wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptFAYETTEVILLE, NC - Say goodbye to the FAFSA form if Hillary Clinton is elected president. Reducing student loan paperwork may not qualify as a marquee issue like ending the Iraq war and establishing a universal health-care system. … [...]
- Posted by Hillary Clinton declares war on paperworkHillary worked on getting healthcare passed for eight years and couldn’t do that. What makes me think she can pull this off?
- Posted by JulieAs the writer generally does not write the headline, this is no big criticism, but I thought Obama said that for most people, those with simple tax returns, the federal government could send out the bill and the individual sign it if correct, rather than the individual do the tax calculations. This would be a nice paperwork reduction, no matter whose idea it is. Anyway, it is something to add to the paperwork reduction list.
- Posted by David RasmussenI wouldn’t trust Hillary with any kid of war!
As to a “war on paperwork” she has a habit of “losing”
important records! Also getting rid of records and
paperwork (travel office).
- Posted by Joy DeichI also am more than a little preturbed by that no one is calling the Obama campaign for double speak and their OWN constant use of smear tactics that they accuse the Clinton campaign of using (by applying convoluted spin to the most innocuous of Clinton statements).
I’m glad this editorial finally appeared! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2008/04/24/AR2008042402976_ pf.html
- Posted by LindaI take issue with the statement “They go to college to party. They have the money to pay their way out of trouble…” I’m a 30 year old white woman who has spent hundreds of hours in 4 states volunteering for Obama, and I got into college with a homeless father and a mother who didn’t make enough to have to pay taxes. I filled out all the forms myself, and I took on enough loans that I still have about 20 years of payments before I’m through.
Obama supporters are not all useless rich kids who don’t have to pull their own weight. I have met people from all backgrounds who support this historic campaign.
- Posted by Rena