National service was a cornerstone of Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Yet the program he outlined in New Orleans last Friday is a shadow of last year’s sweeping rhetoric. As a candidate, Clinton promoted a plan to make full-ride college loans available to students willing to work or repay the money through payroll deductions. But the price tag-$30 billion over the first three years-made the idea a nonstarter. The trimmed-down version ($3 billion for 150,000 national-service workers by 1997) would make up to $10,000 in college awards available to anyone over 17 who works one year full-time or two years part-time in a minimum-wage educational, environmental or health job.
Clinton also proposed revamping the federal student-loan STAR program, bypassing banks and establishing a system of direct federal loans. Students uninterested in service could repay the money as a small portion of their annual income rather than a monthly check to a bank. The plan might encourage more young people to take low-paying jobs that address social needs.
Clinton advisers think the universal-loan idea is a political winner. But some of his more tough-minded aides have little use for national service. One of Clinton’s consultants regards it as an “Every candidate has one of these things,” he said. “You humor him and you move on.” But Communications Director George Stephanopoulos, among others, championed the program, calling it “the soul of what we ran on.”
Opponents have been pecking away at the proposal for months. Veterans groups forced the White House to lower the maximum grant from $13,000 to $10,000, just below the amount available through the GI Bill. Banks are unhappy at the prospect of losing the lucrative $54 billion student-loan market. While the bill should clear the House, the Senate will be tougher. The program’s complicated managerial structure–a network of state commissions overseen by a national board-will be denounced by the GOP as an example of Democratic big government. Even Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana, chairman of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council, which Clinton helped found, says the measure won’t pass this year. Lawmakers will soon be in undated with a massive healthcare reform package. In the Clinton pantheon, job creation, deficit reduction and campaign-finance reform are more urgent priorities. He may have to wait before he can put his signature on an idea close to his heart.
