An Attack on the Legitimacy of the State, Democracy, and the Law

(updated below)

Ok, so many of us either joke or cry about the Tea Party and the Great Republican Death Spiral. I've often personally speculated that eventually, this will shift us to two new parties - the Libertarians/Blue Dogs and the Progressives. But a couple of things have made me wonder whether the danger is greater than we imagined.

A landmark day for ... education finance reform?

The big story today is, of course, the historic health care reform that passed late last night.  That said, a major but little reported aspect of the reconciliation legislation just passed by the House is not about health care at all, but about education in the form of SAFRA, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

The CBO reports:

On the education side, the reconciliation proposal would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, which authorizes most federal postsecondary education programs. In particular, the proposal would eliminate the federal program that provides guarantees for student loans and replace those loans with direct loans made by the Department of Education. It would also increase direct spending for the Pell Grant program and other education grant programs. 

So what does it all mean?