Maxine Waters was heading a meeting of the House Financial Services Committee when she decided to make it hot for the bankers appearing before her committee. She started spouting the numbers such as 1 million defaults two years in a row and she asked the bankers what they intended to do about it.
They said they could do nothing since the government took over the student loan program back in 2010. You would think Waters would know that since her committee oversees the program. But, evidently, she did not. Didn’t anyone in her office know? And if they did know, did they tell her and she simply forgot it?
Democrat California Rep. Maxine Waters challenged bank executives during a Wednesday morning hearing, appearing to blame them for the student debt crisis.
What she appeared to leave out was the fact that student loans were nationalized nearly a decade ago under former President Barack Obama to cut banks’ ability to offer government-backed loans.
She added, “Last year, 1 million student loan borrowers defaulted which is on top of the 1 million borrowers who defaulted the year before.”
Then, Waters turned the questions on the bank executives, asking what they intended to do about the student debt crisis: “What are you guys doing to help us with the student loan debt? Who would like to answer first? Mr. Monihan? Big bank?”(RELATED: Waters: God Is On The Side Of People Driving Trump Supporters From Restaurants)
“We stopped making student loans in 2007 or so,” he responded.
“So you don’t do it anymore? Mr. Corbyn?” she pressed the next banker.
“We exited student lending in 2009,” he replied.
“Mr. Dimon?” Waters tried again.
“When the government took over student lending in 2010, we stopped doing all student lending,” he said.