President Bush responds on student loans: Our work--and more importantly the rising frustration of younger voters---is getting noticed in Washington.

The new Democratic speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, made a 50% cut in student loan interest rates one of her highest legislative priorities. Her bill passed the House of Representatives overwhelmingly, with the highest bipartisan support for any element of the new Democratic legislative agenda.

The Senate is now taking it up, with, for example, Senator Kennedy introducing a far-reaching legislative agenda to open the doors of college opportunity as wide as possible.

Now, we're pleased to see the President responding, calling in his new budget for raising the maximum Pell Grant award by nearly 14 percent, or $550. Its a great sign that young voters are increasingly a political force in DC.

We hope the President's proposed Pell increase---as well as congressional inititiaves---won't take money from other college areas but will actually increase the amount of federal assistance to higher education. Or, as PIRG higher education project director Luke Swarthout told the Washington Post, we're not about "robbing peter to pay Pell."