Obama & Lauer’s 2010 Interview: Afghanistan & Health Care

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“Having sat in the Oval Office as president, I am much more sympathetic to all presidents generally,” Obama told TODAY’s Matt Lauer in a wide-ranging interview that aired Tuesday. “What is true is that there are big, tough decisions that you make, and you know that unless you try to avoid those problems, whatever you decide is going to make some people happy and some people unhappy.”The president spoke in the wake of the passage of the health care reform bill that has been a centerpiece of his presidency, and having just returned from a surprise visit to Afghanistan, his first since assuming office.

Afghanistan and Israel

Lauer asked Obama why he waited so long to make his first visit to Afghanistan. The president said that he hadn’t wanted to go during that country’s presidential election or during the shakedown period after the vote to avoid the appearance of trying to influence the election. While acknowledging progress by Karzai in reducing corruption and cracking down on the drug trade, Obama said he is not happy with the pace of reform.

“It’s an important time for President Karzai. He has made some important steps in the right direction, improving governance, reducing corruption. But there’s a long way to go,” Obama said. “I think that progress is too slow. And what we’ve been trying to emphasize is the fierce urgency of now. My hope is that President Karzai can recognize the incredible opportunity he has to be the father of a modern Afghanistan.”

Obama’s administration has clashed recently with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over settlements in East Jerusalem. The president said that despite recent ill will, the United States and Israel remain firm allies.“I think the underlying relationship is solid as a rock. So my commitment, my personal commitment, to Israel’s security is unwavering, and I think that there is broad bipartisan consensus on that. This is a disagreement among friends about how to move forward,” he said. “I think Prime Minister Netanyahu intellectually understands that he has got to take some bold steps. I think politically he feels it. But it’s not just on the Israeli side. I’ve been very clear that the Palestinians have to take steps.”

Sources: MSNBC, Today Show

Pres. Obama Signs Student Loan Overhaul & Health Care “Fixes”

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President Barack Obama has signed a law that finalizes his health care overhaul and makes the government the issuer of all federal college loans.

The president completed the measure at Northern Virginia Community College, where he emphasized new help for college students.

The legislation was the second of two steps needed for the Democratic-led House and Senate to approve a health care package affecting virtually all Americans.

The new law makes a series of “fixes” to the one Obama approved last week. It removes some unpopular provisions among other changes.

“It represents a major step forward,” Obama told the college audience.

In the same swoop, Democrats added in a rewriting of college aid which cuts commercial banks out of the student loan business, drying up a multibillion dollar profit stream.

The new law strips banks of their ability to issue federal student loans in favor of direct government lending.

The student loan overhaul fulfills a long-time goal of Democratic lawmakers to end the bankers’ role as middlemen and replace them with direct federal loans and aid to students.

The White House said the change would save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade. The money saved will help expand and strengthen the federal Pell Grant program for students.

The change will cap college graduates’ annual student loan repayments at 10 percent of their income, spends more at community colleges and awards $2.55 billion to historically black colleges and universities.

While student groups and Democratic lawmakers have backed the overhaul, student loan giant Sallie Mae and other private lenders have staunchly opposed it.

Opponents say the action will reduce students’ lending options and eliminate the jobs of thousands of private lenders, hurting efforts to remedy an ailing U.S. economy that has a 9.7 unemployment rate.

A number of lawmakers, most Republicans, opposed the measure, saying it would end a successful program and amount to an unwarranted federal takeover of the student loan industry.

Private lenders would still have a role, albeit a greatly diminished one, in servicing loans, such as helping collect payments.

Sources: MSNBC