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zimmytws / Shutterstock.com WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Republicans released a bill last week to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling by permanently setting them according to the markets, an idea initially put out by President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal. The bill, known as the "Smarter Solutions for Students Act," would include all federal loans, except the Perkins loan and cap the rates at 8.5 for Stafford loans and at 10.5 percent for graduate and parent PLUS loans. Currently, l

The Second Amendment And States' Rights This past Wednesday night, the Missouri legislature passed a series of bills during a late night session.  One of these late night bills was aimed directly at the federal government.  It is a bill that is designed to "protect" the residents of Missouri of their Second Amendment rights from the federal government.  The bill states that all federal gun laws are banned within the state and enforcement of such laws is a misdemeanor.  Residents would also be a

Congressman Geoff Davis, a Republican serving Kentucky's 4th congressional district, announced in 2011 that he was retiring from office at the end of his term, but in the summer of 2012, Davis resigned his seat immediately. With a resignation so late in his term and hoping to save the cost of a replacement election on another date, this created an unusual scenario: a special election and general election on the same day. Thomas Massie, the judge-executive of Lewis County and the winner of the M

Photo by Woodley Wonder Works Fears about the absence of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird or JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye are merely myths that mask real facts on a new national curriculum, Common Core Standards Initiative advocates argue. National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel said: "Change is hard. And a healthy dose of skepticism may be in order, especially when the stakes are so high. But as a general rule, doomsday scenarios rarely materialize." Those doomsday

credit: http://ubcmisa.org From fights for equality in schooling overseas to new approaches to the issues that affect our campuses, education in 2012 had its share of highlights and headlines. By no means does this cover all of the significant events that may transform the future education, but here are a few to note: Malala Yousafzai Protest for Female Education In the Swat Valley of Pakistan, a young girl named Malala Yousafzai is known as an activist for equal educational opportunities in

(Credit: BBC) On Friday, President Barack Obama officially nominated Massachusetts US Senator John Kerry to become the next secretary of state. With UN ambassador Susan Rice rescinding her name from consideration, the Bay State's senior senator became the favorite to succeed the outgoing Hillary Clinton. The next big cabinet appointment will likely be for secretary of defense. Although he has not officially been nominated, former US Senator Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska, is said to b

Credit: www.ed.gov Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, and Wisconsin will get a share of the 2012 Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, a $133 million grant fund to enhance superiority and expand access to education programs throughout those states. The five finalists join the nine existing state grantees who secured first-round funding last year. Arne Duncan, the US Secretary of Education, said that every child is worthy of the lasting benefits of a high-class learning program: "Than

Sen. Bernie Sanders talked about protecting Social Security in the Senate Budget Committee in 2011. Photo: Bernie Sanders' Office Almost every American reaching retirement age is expecting support from Social Security benefits. An earner’s pay-in to the Social Security system and retirement age affect when they can enter retirement with benefits and how much money the government will be paying in Social Security income. As the federal deficit balloons and the fiscal cliff seems farther from res

Credit: BBC As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to exit her post, a few names have surfaced as potential successors. UN ambassador Susan Rice is facing stiff opposition from Senate Republicans John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte, all of whom said they were "more disturbed" after their Tuesday meeting with her. Another name is Massachusetts US Senator John Kerry. In a sign of the different political environment today versus 2004 when he was trying to become the nation's com

Photo: Stefan Wernli As lawmakers scramble to close the budget gap before January 1, the prospect of instituting a carbon tax has reemerged. It has encountered fierce criticism from organizations like the Institute for Energy Research, a think tank dedicated to free market energy policy, but proponents laud the revenue source as mutually beneficial for the environment and government. The renewed carbon tax debate is also bringing to light other environmentally-oriented programs such as cap-and-