So even though the loans were guaranteed by the federal government, we were still paying banks billions of dollars to be pass-throughs for the student loan program.

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This benefit is available for pass-through entities, such as partnerships and S corps, as well as traditional C corporations. (Pass-throughs pass on their taxable income and tax credits to their individual investors' tax returns.).

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Obviously, such leverage has security implications not the least for the useful role it may play in inducing increasingly "independent" nations of its former empire to play the role of pass-throughs of Western technology and know-how.

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