Obama Tackles College Loan Relief

[hadespussercats]

Also:

Seth: This would induce students to work hard and do well so that they can eventually justify the public investment in their education, and would be a worthy expenditure of public money.

Incidentally, my husband and I both do work hard and do well. I don't know why you're so sure we haven't.

Besides, who decides what "worthy" means? You?

[Seth]

Coito, I've been paying my loans back for over a decade, and my husband has been paying his for six. We're slugging it out, as you said. We're hardly slackers.

But a debt cap would make our lives easier. I don't see how it's different from a belated Pell grant. Or are you against those, too?

It's different because you're now asking to reneg on your signed agreement with the taxpayers, and it's not in our best interests to allow you to do so. If you can get a PRIVATE post-degree grant to pay off your loans, fine by me because PRIVATE grants are charity from people who value education and they come out of their own pockets, not those of the taxpayers.

...
This would induce students to work hard and do well so that they can eventually justify the public investment in their education, and would be a worthy expenditure of public money.

Seth, we're both taxpayers-- plenty of people who went to college are taxpayers. This proposal would affect a wide swath of the populace-- not just us. We wouldn't be special cases. We'd still be paying taxes if the proposal were to pass. And I'm not asking to reneg on anything. Obama is proposing a governmental action-- none of the people affected would have reneged on anything.

And the public already does invest in education-- why is this seen as a special case?

If you take advantage of his reneging on your contract you are committing an ethical and moral wrong. You owe the debt, and an ethical and moral person would pay the debt regardless of the changes in government policy that will not likely survive Congressional scrutiny in the first place. When you sign a contract, you should fulfill the terms of the contract if you expect to be viewed as an honorable and honest person. Those who take advantage of others, and you WOULD be taking advantage of the taxpayers based on the politically-motivated policies of a president seeking reelection votes, are not worthy or respectable people, and cannot be trusted.

Oh, and if your debt is forgiven you'll owe income taxes on that loan. And you might owe the whole tax debt in the year the debt was forgiven. Unintended consequences.

[Seth]

Also:

Seth: This would induce students to work hard and do well so that they can eventually justify the public investment in their education, and would be a worthy expenditure of public money.

Incidentally, my husband and I both do work hard and do well. I don't know why you're so sure we haven't.

I never said or even suggested that you don't.

Besides, who decides what "worthy" means? You?

I think forgiveness of a public debt should be by public vote. In this case, I think that rewarding someone for an exemplary exercise of the publicly-funded education should be a matter for the public in the community where he received his education to decide. That's pretty democratic don't you think?

[Tyrannical]

Easy access to low interest government backed student loans is the primary inflationary force that makes college so expensive.

[Gawd]

Seth is right, pay back your debts. You took the money and spent it, now you have to pay it back. Why should any of these loans be forgotten? These are all voluntary loans and the loans are not for anything that is necessary. You chose to go to school, no one forced you.

There is no benefit to forgetting these loans. Someone else put up the money to finance the loan and they should get their money back.

We need a war on students.

[Schneibster]

So, Gawd, how much are you paying for your education?

Just askin'.

[Gawd]

So, Gawd, how much are you paying for your education?

Just askin'.

None, I PAID cash and scholarships.

[MrJonno]

Don't businesses go bankrupt all the time and get their debts forgiven, its even easier to do this in the US than in other countries.

I know some students used to do it in the UK, go bankrupt straight out of university and the main disadvantage if they can't get a mortgage for 10 years or so something given the housing market they had zero chances of doing anyway

[MattShizzle]

Problem is it ends up costing less for those with money to get an education than those without - that's why I'd suggest at least getting rid of the for-profit college loan business and having the government give out the loans with NO interest.

[Tigger]

I'm actually fine with a post-graduation forgiveness of certain student loans for those students who don't need it because they have made proper use of both the education they were given and their opportunity to enhance both their own economic status and the economy of the nation by being consistently and fruitfully employed in productive jobs commensurate with their degree where they EXCEL in those jobs beyond the mere minimum requirements.

Such a record of work would prove that the investment the public might make by forgiving a student loan is worthwhile to society because the debtor has gone above and beyond in exercising the knowledge and skill that would be granted to them retroactively gratis by the People.

Thus, someone like, for example, Steve Jobs, who formally attended college for only one semester, demonstrates the kind of motivation and work ethic I mean. If Jobs had gone to college using student loans, I would be very happy to forgive his debt retroactively, in a lump-sum payment with interest, say 20 years after graduation, for having usefully applied the education to substantially enhance society. Of course Jobs is actually an example of how useless many college degrees actually are, but the point remains. If you can prove, over time, that the value you provide for society far outweighs the cost of educating you, you should be rewarded for this effort by having your college paid for after the fact.

This would induce students to work hard and do well so that they can eventually justify the public investment in their education, and would be a worthy expenditure of public money.

So becoming rich and successful in itself simply isn't enough to encourage people to work hard and become rich and successful, and you want to give those that do, MORE money to reward them for doing so?

It's about encouraging everyone else who uses public money to get a degree to view those who excel as an example in their lives, so they too will excel and reap the additional reward of having the costs of their education paid by the public by being of extra-ordinary value to society.

You are actually insane!

Personal attack noted and reported.

Also, it's the dependent-class entitlement-mentality proletarian drones who are insane in thinking that they are deserving of the investment of the public in an advanced education that they do not make use of. Use it or lose it.

Seth, there are no reports on that post.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I just had $97,000+ in college loans written off.

[MattShizzle]

I already paid mine off just over 3 and a half years ago.

[hadespussercats]

Don't businesses go bankrupt all the time and get their debts forgiven, its even easier to do this in the US than in other countries.

I know some students used to do it in the UK, go bankrupt straight out of university and the main disadvantage if they can't get a mortgage for 10 years or so something given the housing market they had zero chances of doing anyway

Going bankrupt in the US doesn't affect student loan debt. You want out w/o paying you basically have to fake your own death.

[Seth]

I'm actually fine with a post-graduation forgiveness of certain student loans for those students who don't need it because they have made proper use of both the education they were given and their opportunity to enhance both their own economic status and the economy of the nation by being consistently and fruitfully employed in productive jobs commensurate with their degree where they EXCEL in those jobs beyond the mere minimum requirements.

Such a record of work would prove that the investment the public might make by forgiving a student loan is worthwhile to society because the debtor has gone above and beyond in exercising the knowledge and skill that would be granted to them retroactively gratis by the People.

Thus, someone like, for example, Steve Jobs, who formally attended college for only one semester, demonstrates the kind of motivation and work ethic I mean. If Jobs had gone to college using student loans, I would be very happy to forgive his debt retroactively, in a lump-sum payment with interest, say 20 years after graduation, for having usefully applied the education to substantially enhance society. Of course Jobs is actually an example of how useless many college degrees actually are, but the point remains. If you can prove, over time, that the value you provide for society far outweighs the cost of educating you, you should be rewarded for this effort by having your college paid for after the fact.

This would induce students to work hard and do well so that they can eventually justify the public investment in their education, and would be a worthy expenditure of public money.

So becoming rich and successful in itself simply isn't enough to encourage people to work hard and become rich and successful, and you want to give those that do, MORE money to reward them for doing so?

It's about encouraging everyone else who uses public money to get a degree to view those who excel as an example in their lives, so they too will excel and reap the additional reward of having the costs of their education paid by the public by being of extra-ordinary value to society.

You are actually insane!

Personal attack noted and reported.

Also, it's the dependent-class entitlement-mentality proletarian drones who are insane in thinking that they are deserving of the investment of the public in an advanced education that they do not make use of. Use it or lose it.

Seth, there are no reports on that post.

Whoops, forgot to report. Oh well, never mind.

[MrJonno]

Do you think people should get the vote on farmers who have sucked the taxpayer dry on subsidies on whether they have used this money wisely if not they could get it back