Bachmann: Obama College Loan Move Abused Power

ST. PAUL  (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is ripping a move by President Barack Obama to ease student loan debt as an "abuse of power" that will give people incentive to dodge debt.

Bachmann reacted Thursday to a decision Obama announced a day earlier to cap payments for some college loan borrowers and forgive payments for others after 20 years. He used executive authority to accelerate a law that wasn't supposed to go into effect until 2014.

The Minnesota congresswoman made her remarks during an education forum put on by The College Board and News Corp.

Appearing by satellite from Minneapolis, Bachmann told the gathering that the loan breaks could push costs onto other taxpayers.

She called it a "moral hazard" because it relieves people of responsibility for debt they've accumulated.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)