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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama To Use Executive Actions To Address Student Loans
http://a3.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/c_fill,fl_keep_iptc,g_faces,h_365,w_652/zhi7xzpqas0916rrogat.jpgWASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama is prepping new executive steps to help Americans struggling to pay off their student debt, and throwing his support behind Senate Democratic legislation with a similar goal but potentially a much more profound impact.
Obama on Monday will announce he's expanding his "Pay As You Earn" program that lets borrowers pay no more than 10 percent of their monthly income in loan payments, the White House said. Currently, the program is only available to those who started borrowing after October 2007 and kept borrowing after October 2011. Obama plans to start allowing those who borrowed earlier to participate, potentially extending the benefit to millions more borrowers.
"At a time when college has never been more important, it's also never been more expensive," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address released Saturday.
Obama also plans to announce he's directing the government to renegotiate contracts with federal student loan servicers to encourage them to make it easier for borrowers to avoid defaulting on their loans. And he will ask the Treasury and Education departments to work with major tax preparers, including H&R Block and the makers of TurboTax, to increase awareness about tuition tax credits and flexible repayment options available to borrowers.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/obama-student-loans-executive-action
TheMightyFavog
(13,770 posts)If we can do it for third world countries, why not do it for people in their 20s?
DCBob
(24,689 posts)Stargazer99
(2,585 posts)chartible contributions, etc when I who am part of the working poor cannot use a schedule A to deduct any of these that I pay full-bore with no deductions?
It must be because you have more wealth than I do, I'd call that discrimination
what is fair about that situation? Maybe you need to think a little more deeply about your "fairness".
DCBob
(24,689 posts)Not a good argument.
enki23
(7,788 posts)Why do peace activists have to help pay for wars? Why do people being gouged by the energy industry have to pay subsidies to oil companies? Why should we let the stakeholders in businesses be personally protected from that business' bankruptcy? Why should all of us pay for their failure?
Why the fuck do you imagine that you get to pick one exception, which would help people who actually need help, to moralize over?
Talk about "not a good argument." Yours goes well, far and beyond into the realm of "fucking absurd," unless you're going to go full radical libertarian. This is a democracy, of sorts. We all pay for shit we don't like, because we all are part of that compromise.
You said exactly what I wanted to say.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)DCBob
(24,689 posts)Fearless
(18,421 posts)Please note that you cannot void student loans in bankruptcy.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)You're exactly right--just because some people were fortunate enough to avoid being screwed in the first place, there's no reason at all not to keep on screwing everyone.
If it'll make you feel better, I'd be perfectly happy with a one-time amnesty for student loans, forgiving (say) $20K worth of federally subsidized student loans for every borrower. And for borrowers who paid off their federally subsidized loans after (say) 2005, let them claim a $5000 tax credit per year for four years.
Might not solve the problem entirely, but I don't know too many people who are in a position to reject an offer of $20K, so it would be a big help.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)I don't think we should be subsidizing successful doctors and lawyers.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)I knew a guy (boyfriend of a good friend) years ago who lamented his student loans totalling somewhere around $174K. He was a plastic surgeon and was looking to net upwards of $250K per year.
In other words, he could pay off his entire student loan debt in one year and still pocket more than $75K. Absolutely no reason at all to subsidize people at that level.
But for someone caught up in the lie that a college education is the best route to success, only to find that their degree is worthless? It seems simply unfair to punish them with a lifetime of inescapable, crippling debt simply because they didn't have the foresight to predict the domestic job market and global economic conditions ten years beforehand.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)let's reverse the de fact privatization for profit of our higher education system, starting with 7 digit incomes for college administrator and athletic coaches and put the money back into tenure tracks for professors instead of creating a low wage army of adjuncts. We might do well to stop investing far more money in infrastructure than student aid. We could also end the tuition rackets that drive the whole system by returning to state and federal based grant programs rather than the current system of debt penury.
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)this country moved forward - rather than being chained to the mistakes of the past? We've been paying on our mortgage for 25 years now. Believe it or not, I'd have lauded the PTB if they had bailed out the banks by giving the trillions of dollars we gave the banks - to the borrowers! I mean... if we tax-payers are gonna pay either way.... And those beleaguered home-buyers could have PAID OFF their ridiculous loans - the banks would've been made solvent - and the housing market would've been better off without the many foreclosed homes dragging down values and throwing out middle-class Americans.
No - we should cling to the robbery of the past in deference to those who suffered from it. Yeah - THAT'S progressive.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)When the mortgage bailout occurred, I said much the same thing. Bailing out the mortgages by bolstering the borrowers would have accomplished the alleged goal of saving the lenders and would also have saved the borrowers. Instead, the lenders get bailed out and still get paid by the borrowers, in effect reaping twice the benefit. Who wouldn't pursue such a business model?
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)the next bubble to burst and plunge the nation into a new fiscal black hole will be student loan debt, and you'll end up paying much more to fix that than you would have otherwise.
justhanginon
(3,290 posts)in hindsight committees not foresight committees. This grouping of dumbasses cares not about the future unless it relates to their getting more graft and the American people be damned.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)DCBob
(24,689 posts)CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)Why must every single fucking idea to help someone be weighed against the interests of those who DO NOT NEED HELP? That kind of stupid ass selfish thinking is why this country is so fucked.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Governments involve themselves in education, and spend taxpayer money on education, because doing that is hugely preferable to living in a nation of morons.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I went back to college in late in life.....just in time for George Bush to destroy the economy....
Michigander_Life
(549 posts)Maybe they could tie it to public service, like joining the military forgives student loan debt.
Oh, wait...
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Bail out the people indentured to a corrupt system, not the banks.
And FIX the damned system.
Public education now. And corporate money out of elections/government.
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)A 10% cap just means that young educated adults are going to still pay higher taxes. It might be less than what college students are paying now. Lord, I remember when I was paying half my income on Stafford loans at friggen 7-8% interest. I just finished paying for my degree two years ago, and Mrs. 'Droid is still paying her masters degree. We are fricken' 50 years old!
Public financing of college needs to start now!
The Democrats should make it a part of their platform, a key issue upon which to hang their economic policy to improve the opportunity for all Americans willing to study, practice new skills, and apply them to grow our economy. Combined with the ACA, more educated people will build more successful businesses and innovations than ever before in the history of our country.
This one issue exposes the hypocrisy of our Democratic leaders when they say they support the middle class and improving the economy.
I am completely underwhelmed.
ancianita
(36,055 posts)ctsnowman
(1,903 posts)expect us to start acting like a developed country now.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)For life through taxes. I was glad when I finally paid mine off. It was an accomplishment.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)of education is a good idea, you'll love it when they come for your water.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Sounds like some inportant first steps.
PassingFair
(22,434 posts)Last edited Sun Jun 8, 2014, 11:09 AM - Edit history (1)
If these measures will apply to the even MORE onerous "Parent-Plus" loans?
pipoman
(16,038 posts)A bill making the maximum average four year tuition no more than the average tenured faculty's annual salary for taxpayer supported colleges and universities. Also giving US citizens priority over foreign students in the admissions process.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)Stop outsourcing middle class US jobs. Enact countervailing tariffs or tax penalties for businesses that offshore. Do something to encourage jobs to remain in the US. Do something to create an environment where jobs are more secure with good pay, retirement benefits, etc. Until that happens all of this is just inadequate baloney that does nothing to lower the cost of getting a higher education.
Students don't need more affordable loans. They need more affordable education and access to steady jobs. Ten percent of nothing is nothing and that's what happens when one is between jobs or out of work. Then interest builds and they are caught in a perpetual debt cycle.
We award our best and brightest with financial aide in the form of loans then push them out into an insecure job market where wages have stagnated, retirement plans are fee heavy 401ks invested in an unreformed stock market, and businesses are still focused on lowering labor costs in anyway possible.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)"This bill doesn't make college more affordable, reduce the amount of money students will have to borrow, or do anything about the lack of jobs grads face in the Obama economy."
He's correct of course, and now that he has become a supporter of lower tuition and job creation, expect a bill forthwith from the Republicans to that effect.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)Just shows that he fully understands the problem and refuses to do anything about it. Republicans aren't stupid. They are evil.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)interests that cause the problems so as to make more money. It's like having a for profit fire department run by arsonists.
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)tied to 1 year treasuries. 6.9% fixed is a shitty rate for a full recourse loan.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)which makes repayment impractical, even at 10 percent. Ten percent is impossible for most incomes.