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You might think $45-billion would buy a lasting friendship, but gratitude isn’t high on Citigroup’s priority list. Almost as quickly as they dipped their fat fingers into the U.S. Treasury’s bailout bucket, Citi launched a campaign encouraging students to rise up against Obama’s proposed overhaul of education financing, which would cut banks out of the student loan business.

With the U.S. Treasury already subsidizing lenders and insuring all student loans, the White House has suggested students get their loans directly from the federal government. Citi’s e-mail claims that this is an assault on freedom of choice and the “increased customer satisfaction” that a multiple lending institution open market has created. What their e-mail doesn’t mention is the $15-million a day banks make from student loans. Or the fact that federal loans allow for greater repayment flexibility, something a recent National Consumer Law Center report shows that Citi and their ilk tend to lack.

Citi has encouraged students to write their congressman and sign an online petition. So far, their efforts have drawn far less support than did a Facebook page advocating student loan forgiveness.

by SCOTT SAXON