SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK STUDENT LOAN BILL, AND IT’S A GOOD THING:  The Democrats are screaming that the sky will now fall, since student loan interest rates will rise from current 3.4 % to about 7 percent. Price tag was a whopping $6 billion, funded  by hiking  Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on some folks labeled as “rich.”  But why should students be insulated from paying a market rate on their loans? Is there some reason why these particular loans should have artificially lowered rates?  Oh yeah, I forgot: It’s an election year, and the Dems need to energize the student part of their patchwork base. God forbid students should begin to feel the real effects of the Obama economy before November.  And for the record:  I’m still paying my loans back from law school, they’ve all been refinanced/consolidated, and this won’t affect me or anyone else who has had the brains to consolidate.