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If passing health care reform wasn't hard enough, Democrats have decided to attach an overhaul of student aid to the controversial bill. With the move, Democrats hope opponents of the health care bill will switch their votes, but will it work?

The money would be directed towards Pell grants and other education programs. But as many as nine Democratic senators have expressed hesitation over the combined bills. MSNBC's Ed Schultz outlines what he sees as their reason for opposition.

"The president wants the government to stop subsidizing private companies"  "Of course banks don't want to lose those government dollars, and now they have six Senate Democrats on their side." " That's not good news to Democrats who want to include the student loan legislation in the reconciliation bill for health care reform."

An analyst on Fox Business says the addition would nationalize student aid and would not save money like intended.   

"This bill cuts federal payments to private student lenders, leaving the government to lend directly to students. Democrats were having trouble getting this through the Senate." "That nationalizes the student loan business, it wipes out the private lenders and puts it all through the Department of Education."  "The government says this will save $67 billion, but in this bill they plan on spending $77 billion elsewhere."

One writer for the New York Times says the new addition may ease passage of health care legislation.

"The Democrats have a chance of using the education measure to convince 35 lawmakers to switch their votes from no on health care to yes on a combined package including the financial aid changes."

But a writer for The Daily Athenaeum says adding student loan reform to the mix could bring down both health care and financial aid reform.

"Attaching it to health care as a last-ditch effort could very well end up delaying the much-needed reform at a time when financial stability is a necessity."

 

Writer:  Marlena Kopacz