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U.S. forgives 40k student loans

reuters.com

201–210 of 483 posts

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#201
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Plug the hole first (or concurrently), and then worry about bailing water. Additionally, as others have mentioned, it needs to be done in such a way that we aren't punishing those who have been responsible and made sacrifices to pay off their loans. I'm not opposed to student loan forgiveness, but I don't think it's nearly as popular as many progressives would like to believe as a standalone proposal. Come u…

I am starting to think this is a sign of a big weakness in the American system. These half baked actions are evident in health care, security, and all other categories. I think it has to do with the fact that there are so many parties acting in bad faith that it is hard to get comprehensive legislation that addresses the problem as a whole vs just piecemeal bits and pieces because that is all that can be pushed throu…

Of course a spoon makes a crappy can opener if you try and use it for that job.

Institutions get designed around their mandate. If you're trying to run a school system you wouldn't invent a court. If you were trying to deal with violations of law you wouldn't create a school board.

The federal government's mandate was to manage issues that arise between states and each other, between states and other countries and to a lesser extent, to prevent the states from violating the rights of their inhabitants and its architecture reflects that mandate. Over the years the federal government has expanded in scope far beyond the types of issues it was designed with the intent of managing. Expecting that system to provide decisive action on issues that are outside of what the system was designed for is unrealistic.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#202
post #12

It's crazy to cancel student loans and still keep issuing the exact same loans. If we believe the loans are unjust then the government should stop handing them out as the very first step.

If the entire point of this public policy is to create votes for whoever is implementing it, this is exactly the dynamic you'd expect to see.

To a politican about the only thing better than a vote buying scheme is perpetual vote buying scheme.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#203
post #12

It's crazy to cancel student loans and still keep issuing the exact same loans. If we believe the loans are unjust then the government should stop handing them out as the very first step.

And also reimburse the people who sacrificed to pay theirs off or avoid them in the first place. I’d donate my reimbursement if they did, but of course they won’t.

Well what about us that didn't have loans and cash-flowed it? I have saved enough cash for my kids education by not buying new cars, no vacations, etc.. Seems I am punished for being frugal. I should blown it all and let the tax payer foot the bill.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#204
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free community college was in build back better, 49 republicans and Joe Manchin killed it.

If democrats wanted that, they would write a bill to do so. Not everything has to be bundled up in a multi trillion dollar bill that involves a ton of other unrelated things. The reason they haven't done that is because they don't really want to.

Exactly. If them democrats actually wanted any of the programs they talk about, they would deploy them in states they control.

Obama's big policy success of 8 years was Romneycare. Who can explain with a straight face why California still doesn't have universal heathcare?

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#205
post #12

It's crazy to cancel student loans and still keep issuing the exact same loans. If we believe the loans are unjust then the government should stop handing them out as the very first step.

School should just be free in the US, as it is in other civilized countries.

And make the already mostly worthless degrees even more worthless?

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people who either have made bad decisions, had less fortunate circumstances than others, or a combination of both deserve to live under a mountain of debt for the rest of their life? - No Why does this logic only apply to people who made bad decisions and had less fortunate circumstances or a combination of both only apply to people who did so in the context of taking out student loans? If making bad decisions and…

Because our public school system is a propaganda machine for getting students to go to college. They tell high school students...people who are legally still children that the most important thing is to go to college. They tell them if they can't afford it, they can just get loans. And now people are surprised and blame the kids when they do as their teachers told them and rack up 5 or sometimes even 6 figures of stu…

I don't think it's as malicious as you're implying. Educators went to school at a time when people who went to college earned dramatically more than those who didn't and they were pretty much guaranteed job placements. That's still true today in aggregate, although probably to a lesser extent. They also didn't anticipate that universities would become predatory with respect to ballooning costs and stagnating or declining educational quality. Moreover, they didn't realize that the kids they were referring to college were part of a flood of students who would saturate the job market with degree-holders (lowering the value of a degree with respect to job placement). Further still, they didn't know that the subprime mortgage bubble existed much less that it would burst in '07-'08.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#207
post #6

How about giving back money to people who paid back their loans, possibly going through even greater difficulties to do that.

I ended up working 60 hour weeks to not take out student loans. People talk about having a good time at college but all I remember is getting up at 4am to go to my first job, doing class all day and working my second job until 10pm. No spring breaks and no summers or holidays because I could work those hours to stay out of debt. It is hard to have much sympathy for people asking for student loan forgiveness. On the p…

Don't fall prey to these tales to yourself.

I worked full time thru college for bad pay and still needed 30k in student loans to make it out with my degree. I went to a state school, nothing fancy.

I hardly ever had fun in college, it was awful. The working world is waaaaaaay better for me.

Not everyone who has loan debt just partied away on borrowed cash.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people who either have made bad decisions, had less fortunate circumstances than others, or a combination of both deserve to live under a mountain of debt for the rest of their life? - No Why does this logic only apply to people who made bad decisions and had less fortunate circumstances or a combination of both only apply to people who did so in the context of taking out student loans? If making bad decisions and…

Student loans should be discharged on personal bankruptcy. All of the other examples you give can be written off like that. Student loans, however, are rarely discharged by judges on those processes.

It's pretty hard to repo an education.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#210
post #171
post #6

How about giving back money to people who paid back their loans, possibly going through even greater difficulties to do that.

And we're definitely in a spot right now where folks that can pay off their loan are holding off in case the US forgives all loans or something. A perverse incentive that is going to boost the number of student loans that are not paid off.

Not just that, but with interest rates at zero and inflation at 8.5% per year (and growing!) it is incredibly stupid to pay even a single penny of federal loan debt early, unless you have a really good need to polish your credit score.

Federal student loan debts are getting cheaper by the minute, why pay more now?

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