Apply for student loan debt forgiveness • Hacker News Board

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#61

Post by qbasic_forever » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:28 AM UTC

sigzero wrote: post #53

haswell wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the thing that gets me. We collectively invest in a large number of things that may not directly benefit us. My tax dollars fund programs that primarily benefit people that need the money due to choices I personally never would have made. But that’s the point of a social system. The moment that collective investment is about education or healthcare, people seem to apply an entirely different ruleset.

That isn't what this is though is it? This is people voluntarily taking loans to fund their education and now getting that paid off with other peoples money. With that logic, when are they paying my mortgage or credit card bills off which are also voluntary debt? I an all for investing in education. This is not that.

If we want to argue about tax dollars being stolen then the massive bank bailouts and decade of QE by the fed are massively, _massively_ more of a problem and cost. Stop bailing out bad business decisions with my money and then we can talk about not spending it on stuff like paying off education loans.

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#62

Post by YeBanKo » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:29 AM UTC

arthurcolle wrote: post #13

YeBanKo wrote: post #5

One of the worst decisions by the current administration. This a ridiculous debt transfer.

I am probably going to get 10K forgiven. Unshackling people from debt is awesome. Hopefully they figure out how to do this regularly. Sucks if you don't like it! Hopefully I can redirect the money to more fruitful enterprises... like anything else. The massive increase in college tuition is totally out of proportion based on wage growth and honestly it's not healthy for the middle class to be forced into an infinite…

I actually think that education should be free, but with strings attached. The US college cost is growing, administrative overhead is growing, admission process is often not transparent. Once it is fixed and controlled higher ed should be free with a certain level of commitment. For things like medical school, which are ones of the most expensive ones, working for a few years at public hospitals can be a requirement for getting such education for free.

But this was done in the opposite direction, some people made really bad financial decisions. Some people opted not to pursue college degree, precisely because of cost. Why the latter should be paying for the former?

Also, let me ask you this: when you got your degree, did you go to a community college first to pick up some credits and transferred to save some costs?

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#63

Post by arthurcolle » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:29 AM UTC

Fellshard wrote: post #29

arthurcolle wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am probably going to get 10K forgiven. Unshackling people from debt is awesome. Hopefully they figure out how to do this regularly. Sucks if you don't like it! Hopefully I can redirect the money to more fruitful enterprises... like anything else. The massive increase in college tuition is totally out of proportion based on wage growth and honestly it's not healthy for the middle class to be forced into an infinite…

All you've done is put the shackles on someone else.

Somehow I feel OK about that given the fact that the three generations before me didn't give that much thought. Sorry! See how that sucks? It does suck! But I am luckily 1.3k USD away from being income excluded so maybe for once not aggressively pursuing salary will get me an extra 10k! Magic!!

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#64

Post by rayiner » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:29 AM UTC

webmobdev wrote: post #39

OrangeMonkey wrote: post #3

There is no such thing as forgiveness for loans - its always paid by someone. This is, in essence, transferring the debt from people who graduated college to people who - on average - did not go to college. The most regressive invisible tax hike we have ever had but sure. . . yay.

> This is, in essence, transferring the debt from people who graduated college to people who - on average - did not go to college. There's an easy solution to fix this - tax the rich or super-rich more.

Yes-but the catch is you gotta define “rich” the way Europeans do: about 1.5x the median income. So around $110,000 in the US.

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#65

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:31 AM UTC

haswell wrote: post #23

qbasic_forever wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heaven forbid a country invest in the education of its people. What a terrible no good idea, we should definitely be putting that money into pumping business or other interests.

This is the thing that gets me. We collectively invest in a large number of things that may not directly benefit us. My tax dollars fund programs that primarily benefit people that need the money due to choices I personally never would have made. But that’s the point of a social system. The moment that collective investment is about education or healthcare, people seem to apply an entirely different ruleset.

[deleted]

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#66

Post by smegsicle » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:31 AM UTC

qbasic_forever wrote: post #7

OrangeMonkey wrote: post #3

There is no such thing as forgiveness for loans - its always paid by someone. This is, in essence, transferring the debt from people who graduated college to people who - on average - did not go to college. The most regressive invisible tax hike we have ever had but sure. . . yay.

Heaven forbid a country invest in the education of its people. What a terrible no good idea, we should definitely be putting that money into pumping business or other interests.

it's called Pell Grants and it doesn't involve subsidizing universities for providing useless degrees at ridiculously inflated prices

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#67

Post by robbiet480 » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:32 AM UTC

throwawaywu wrote: post #59

robbiet480 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet we forgave PPP loans which was $742 billion forgiven vs $400 billion for student loan forgiveness. This is, in essence, transferring the debt from people who own businesses to people who - on average - do not own businesses. The _actual_ most regressive invisible tax hike we have ever had but sure. . . yay.

I got 87k in PPP loans. It was forgiven, but it all went to my employees. That's a good thing.

That’s awesome to hear and is absolutely a good thing!

Sadly we’ve also heard a lot of stories of complete misuse and outright fraudulent use of PPP loans. I’m paying for those unless the government gets that money back (after spending hundreds of thousands in legal fees). Whereas as far as I know student loans can’t be misused, at least not to the extent that many PPP loans were.

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#68

Post by semicolon_storm » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:33 AM UTC

rcoveson wrote: post #35

sergiomattei wrote: post #9

As someone whose partner is bogged by student debt — unable to find a job in their industry due to the recession — this is such a relief. Those arguing this is a debt transfer, have some sympathy. Things are difficult out there, especially for new grads in this economic environment.

My wife’s siblings all avoided college to avoid taking on debt that they didn’t think they could pay off. They worked low wage jobs during the years their peers attended university on borrowed money. This blatantly unfair debt forgiveness is nothing but a transparent bid to make friends of a subset of the population perceived as more valuable than the subset of which it will make enemies. Why would you expect other’s…

With that logic, nobody can ever be helped because it’s unfair to those who aren’t being helped at the moment.

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#69

Post by bern4444 » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:33 AM UTC

zapdrive wrote: post #17

maxfurman wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this so different from the PPP loans that were forgiven?

Are you comparing loans given to businesses to stay afloat during a government mandated shutdown of an unprecedented scale where those businesses were forbidden by the government to do business, to the free will of students taking a loan understanding very well the consequences of their decision?

Much of the PPP loans taken were fraudulent, wasteful, unnecessary and inflationary. Businesses who had no need for them took them and had their best quarters and year. The market sloshed around and shot up with all this 'free' money.

We're willing to spend all this money unnecessarily on businesses but when it comes to supporting students all of a sudden - its too much and we have to draw the line!

I'd much rather see individuals paid directly than go through businesses and hope they are benevolent enough to use it on their employees.

Re: Apply for student loan debt forgiveness

#70

Post by WalterBright » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 2:34 AM UTC

qbasic_forever wrote: post #7

OrangeMonkey wrote: post #3

There is no such thing as forgiveness for loans - its always paid by someone. This is, in essence, transferring the debt from people who graduated college to people who - on average - did not go to college. The most regressive invisible tax hike we have ever had but sure. . . yay.

Heaven forbid a country invest in the education of its people. What a terrible no good idea, we should definitely be putting that money into pumping business or other interests.

The investment was loaning the money to them in the first place. If they can't pay it back, it was a bad investment.