"President Bush showed good sense on Wednesday when he signed legislation to ensure an uninterrupted flow of federal student loans during the credit crunch. Now comes the test of leadership," according to The New York Times. "[T]he student loan crunch has shown that the private lending program is costlier and less reliable than it should be. Fixing it will mean standing up to lenders that have long reaped immense profits from the status quo and would no doubt prefer to revert to the old ways as soon as credit conditions permit. It is up to lawmakers and Mr. Bush to prevent that. Ideally, all student lending could be handled directly. And rather than simply provide generous subsides for lenders to make federally guaranteed student loans, lenders should have to bid for that profitable opportunity."