Don't spin away truth

I was honored that the first rebuttal to one of my columns came from none other than the man who used to be my state senator, Joe Wilson. Wilson is the Republican representative from South Carolina's second district in the U.S. House.

I hope Rep. Wilson's letter to the editor was written by one of his staffers because it showed ignorance and a complete lack of understanding unbecoming to a member of Congress.

In his attack on my column about the reduction of Pell Grants for college students, Rep. Wilson says, "I would also like to remind students that incurring debt for a college education is likely the best investment they can make." Debt is the best investment? Right.

Why doesn't he tell that to my Republican father, who lives in Wilson's district and who is sick with worry over his own debt problems, much less mine?

Why doesn't he tell that to the thousands of other students that will be getting at least $17,000 in debt with their bachelor's degree?

Why doesn't he tell that to the millions of middle-class families around our nation that are barely making ends meet because of their debt? A college degree is a blessing. A $17,000 debt is a curse.

It's just the 21st-century version of owing your soul to the company store. You get socked with debt when you graduate college, and then comes a house, a car and healthcare costs of caring for your children.

The last thing USC students or any other college students need is some wealthy congressman telling them that being tens of thousands of dollars in debt upon graduation is "a great investment."

Rep. Wilson is also taking advantage of the numbers game by saying that Pell Grant funding will be raised to record levels.

That fact is misleading. Pell Grant funding will still be $270 million less than it should be, and 84,000 students will still lose their Pell Grants.

An article on the subject by Greg Winter in the July 18 edition of the New York Times states the facts plainly: "The first report to document the impact of the government's new formula for financial aid has found that it will reduce the nation's largest grant program by $270 million and bar 84,000 college students from receiving any award at all."

I've worked with politicians and journalists for a good while, and when there is a conflict between the two, one should usually trust the journalist.

Also, Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey of New York has introduced a bill in the House to repeal the law requiring the change of the financial aid formula.

Rep. Wilson was all too willing to lay the blame of the funding mess at the feet of people like Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. However, an Associated Press article on the subject from Sept. 3 noted that GOP representatives have been blocking Rep. Lowey's bill.

Where is Rep. Wilson in all of this? There's nothing on his Web site about him leading the way to restore Pell Grant funding. Maybe he could begin to help the situation by stopping his colleagues from stalling Rep. Lowey's bill.