Student Loan Overhaul Taking Filibuster-Proof Route To Overcome Corporate Opposition

As Dan Froomkin explains on Huffington Post, the reconciliation bill that congressional Democrats intend to use to pass health care reform may also include an overhaul of the student loan program, in order to overcome the influence of lobbying by private lenders who earn billions of dollars from the existing program:

Having finally decided to use the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process to push health-care reform over the finish line, Democratic leaders have tentatively agreed to attach a long-sought overhaul of college financial aid to the measure.

That's because health care and federal financial aid have something very significant in common: Hugely powerful corporate interests devoted to preserving the status quo -- and willing to spend vast amounts of money on campaign donations, lobbying and PR to fight change