Canceling $10k of student loan debt is stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you are basically saying "I borrowed, I told you that I'd pay back, but now I don't want to pay." I mean, are you okay with saying that? Does that not bother you?

That's basically what people and corporations declaring bankruptcy say. Yet that is legal.

THe US Government forgave $782 billion of loans to businesses (many of them owned by wealthy celebrities like Kanye West, Tom Brady and the President's son-iin-law JaredKushner). I didn't see much outrage over that.

Voluntarily taking out a student loan to major in gender theory and then unsurprisingly failing to pay your debts is not quite the same as trying to save the economy after being hit by a once a century plague, is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why Biden’s choice is politically smart:
It’s not as much as cancelling all student debt
It could potentially quiet the calls for it, the discontent for a decade. Any comebacks after this $10k forgiveness will be met with “See? It’s never enough! [Points to action taken in Aug 2022]”. It puts an end to this period of light bullying of Biden.
The threshold was a great choice too. It comes under — refer to some NYT or such article calling anyone under 300k or 400k low-income— it comes under that with $250k taxable income max for couples.

Me again. Ooh. I meant to add:
$10k in loan forgiveness is so much better than $10k cash.
Give the same to borrowers (or to people at large), and it doesn’t necessarily assist their lives. It helps the economy (debatable). But give people $10k directly to their loan balance, you’ve forced them to spend it ‘responsibly.’ What borrower is for sure going to get $10k cash and use it fully, 100%, toward their loans?

+1 This. Lots of European countries fund undergraduate education fully or have colleges that are so much lower in cost than the USA. This is a good policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still think people often miss the other view point. Colleges shouldn't be allowed to charge whatever they want. Most of the universities are so top heavy that they continue to raise fees in addition of having Billions of $s in endowment. Add the high overhead they charge on all the research funding and it doesn't look like a non-profit business anymore.

This. Million dollar football stadiums, gilded facilities for faculty, and all that administrative bloat.

It's madness. Even though we've been saving for college like crazy for our two young kids, we are dread the day when a college.loan officer looks at our family finances so they can fleece us for everything we got. It's robbery.

No one is forcing anyone to pay the tuition at a school with million dollar stadiums. I hate that behavior as much as the next guy but it's still their decision to make. Schools should have the freedom to make investments how they see fit, even if I don't agree with those investments.

No, schools only have that "freedom" because of subsidized government loans and their ability to fleece families for everything they got. And the word "investment" does not exactly come to mind when a school wastes precious tuition dollars on gilded luxury dorms and massage parlors for football players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just SUCH a slap in the face to those of us who already paid off our loans.

Do they plan to do this annually? What about the kids who haven’t gone to college yet?

Every 3-4 years now a new crop of graduates will demand a similar bail-out. And colleges will just keep jacking up tuition knowing that the gov will eventually have to forgive that debt. It's actually making the problem of college affordability wore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I paid my loans back like a responsible adult. Everyone else can do the same.

So much ahole entitlement mentality these days. This country is going down the toilet.

First it is $10k. Then they'll demand $20k. Then it's $40k. When does it end? What does forgiveness actually do to control costs of college? 5 years from now when you have another generation of whiny ass borrowers, what's going to stop them from demanding another round of forgiveness?

It never ends. Why don't you forgive my mortgage while you are at it? People who didn't take out loans or who paid their back also deserve something.

You can sell your house to pay off your mortgage. The people most crippled by student debt are those who had to drop out for whatever reason. Maybe college shouldn't require decades of debt?

I worked my way through college. Took me 6 years, but no dept.

It is totally entitlement for these younger kids. Don’t take out loans if you can’t afford them. I don’t like that my tax dollars are going to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I paid my loans back like a responsible adult. Everyone else can do the same.

So much ahole entitlement mentality these days. This country is going down the toilet.

First it is $10k. Then they'll demand $20k. Then it's $40k. When does it end? What does forgiveness actually do to control costs of college? 5 years from now when you have another generation of whiny ass borrowers, what's going to stop them from demanding another round of forgiveness?

It never ends. Why don't you forgive my mortgage while you are at it? People who didn't take out loans or who paid their back also deserve something.

You can sell your house to pay off your mortgage. The people most crippled by student debt are those who had to drop out for whatever reason. Maybe college shouldn't require decades of debt?

I worked my way through college. Took me 6 years, but no dept.

It is totally entitlement for these younger kids. Don’t take out loans if you can’t afford them. I don’t like that my tax dollars are going to this.

I do like that my tax dollars are going to this, even if my kids are too young to benefit. It's good for our country, and good for the well-being of young people building their futures. See how democracy works? Taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why Biden’s choice is politically smart:
It’s not as much as cancelling all student debt
It could potentially quiet the calls for it, the discontent for a decade. Any comebacks after this $10k forgiveness will be met with “See? It’s never enough! [Points to action taken in Aug 2022]”. It puts an end to this period of light bullying of Biden.
The threshold was a great choice too. It comes under — refer to some NYT or such article calling anyone under 300k or 400k low-income— it comes under that with $250k taxable income max for couples.

Me again. Ooh. I meant to add:
$10k in loan forgiveness is so much better than $10k cash.
Give the same to borrowers (or to people at large), and it doesn’t necessarily assist their lives. It helps the economy (debatable). But give people $10k directly to their loan balance, you’ve forced them to spend it ‘responsibly.’ What borrower is for sure going to get $10k cash and use it fully, 100%, toward their loans?

+1 This. Lots of European countries fund undergraduate education fully or have colleges that are so much lower in cost than the USA. This is a good policy.

K. But the Europeans are not dumb enough to think that “college is for everyone.” As a result they can develop highly skilled tradesmen and educate their relatively small number of academically superior students for free. You’re right, this is a very effective model. But it requires a separate vocational tract for most high school students and national entrance exams. You still cool with this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you are basically saying "I borrowed, I told you that I'd pay back, but now I don't want to pay." I mean, are you okay with saying that? Does that not bother you?

That's basically what people and corporations declaring bankruptcy say. Yet that is legal.

THe US Government forgave $782 billion of loans to businesses (many of them owned by wealthy celebrities like Kanye West, Tom Brady and the President's son-iin-law JaredKushner). I didn't see much outrage over that.

Voluntarily taking out a student loan to major in gender theory and then unsurprisingly failing to pay your debts is not quite the same as trying to save the economy after being hit by a once a century plague, is it?

How were they saving the economy by giving corporate welfare to the rich and connected? Evaluations of the PPP program show that the vast majority of funds went to the business owners and shareholder rather than the workers. At least this student loan program is going to lower income young people with debt. That's fine with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is just SUCH a slap in the face to those of us who already paid off our loans.

Do they plan to do this annually? What about the kids who haven’t gone to college yet?

This. So if you budget and dutifully pay off your loans, you're screwed. I paid mine off a few years ago becuase I was super aggressive about it. If only I'd Paid just the minimum payment and left $10K on the table, I could've put that money in my pocket. What absolute BS.

Is this a joke?

I still have loans and don't even qualify for forgiveness (consolidated way back when so they are no longer held by the federal government). But I'd MUCH rather have had the money to pay them off faster than get the 10k now (again, I don't even get the 10k so I'm not even defending this program).

I can't imagine being debt free and then getting upset about other people also getting rid of their debt. I'm happy for you that your loans are paid off. I just made an extra principal payment on my loans to hopefully get them down further. I'm happy for the people getting the 10k forgiven. Student debt sucks. It weighs me down and makes life harder. Why on earth would you be bitter about this?

Because you got a break and they didn’t. It sucks. I should have taken out a loan instead of working my ass off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I paid my loans back like a responsible adult. Everyone else can do the same.

So much ahole entitlement mentality these days. This country is going down the toilet.

First it is $10k. Then they'll demand $20k. Then it's $40k. When does it end? What does forgiveness actually do to control costs of college? 5 years from now when you have another generation of whiny ass borrowers, what's going to stop them from demanding another round of forgiveness?

It never ends. Why don't you forgive my mortgage while you are at it? People who didn't take out loans or who paid their back also deserve something.

You can sell your house to pay off your mortgage. The people most crippled by student debt are those who had to drop out for whatever reason. Maybe college shouldn't require decades of debt?

Preaching to the choir.

Allow borrowers to discharge student loans in bankruptcy? Fine. I totally agree with allow it, because imposes risk on borrowers and lenders.

No forgiveness though. You made a choice. Be an adult instead of crybaby. Who held a gun to your head forcing you to take out a loan.

Using your logic, maybe taxpayers should forgive credit card debt for restaurant bills. Consumers cannot give back food they ate and racked up debt for.

It's amazing to have to point this out, but higher education benefits the entire economy and everyone in it. If college is too expensive, who do you expect to be your nurse, your child's teacher, your road engineer, your sanitation engineer? With housing and childcare being so expensive, good luck attracting qualified teachers to many areas if they have to pay $400/month for student loans on top of everything else.

Teachers, police officers, and other public servants already have pathways for loan forgiveness, duh.

Giving out loan forgiveness to all of the other white collar, professional jobs you mention is patently absurd. Boo hoo, you have student loan debt and make well above the median income. Deal with it.

Not all teachers. Only the ones working in low income schools/districts. I didn't start teaching in my low income district and school until I had paid off all of my loans so I didn't benefit from the loan forgiveness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why Biden’s choice is politically smart:
It’s not as much as cancelling all student debt
It could potentially quiet the calls for it, the discontent for a decade. Any comebacks after this $10k forgiveness will be met with “See? It’s never enough! [Points to action taken in Aug 2022]”. It puts an end to this period of light bullying of Biden.
The threshold was a great choice too. It comes under — refer to some NYT or such article calling anyone under 300k or 400k low-income— it comes under that with $250k taxable income max for couples.

Me again. Ooh. I meant to add:
$10k in loan forgiveness is so much better than $10k cash.
Give the same to borrowers (or to people at large), and it doesn’t necessarily assist their lives. It helps the economy (debatable). But give people $10k directly to their loan balance, you’ve forced them to spend it ‘responsibly.’ What borrower is for sure going to get $10k cash and use it fully, 100%, toward their loans?

+1 This. Lots of European countries fund undergraduate education fully or have colleges that are so much lower in cost than the USA. This is a good policy.

K. But the Europeans are not dumb enough to think that “college is for everyone.” As a result they can develop highly skilled tradesmen and educate their relatively small number of academically superior students for free. You’re right, this is a very effective model. But it requires a separate vocational tract for most high school students and national entrance exams. You still cool with this?

Are you under the impression that college in the USA is "for everyone"? 60% of high school grads enroll in some form of higher ed, and many of those in 2 year community colleges that are more vocationally focused. You don't need a separate vocational "tract" whatever that means, although that already exists in certain school districts for kids who have the interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you are basically saying "I borrowed, I told you that I'd pay back, but now I don't want to pay." I mean, are you okay with saying that? Does that not bother you?

That's basically what people and corporations declaring bankruptcy say. Yet that is legal.

THe US Government forgave $782 billion of loans to businesses (many of them owned by wealthy celebrities like Kanye West, Tom Brady and the President's son-iin-law JaredKushner). I didn't see much outrage over that.

Voluntarily taking out a student loan to major in gender theory and then unsurprisingly failing to pay your debts is not quite the same as trying to save the economy after being hit by a once a century plague, is it?

How were they saving the economy by giving corporate welfare to the rich and connected? Evaluations of the PPP program show that the vast majority of funds went to the business owners and shareholder rather than the workers. At least this student loan program is going to lower income young people with debt. That's fine with me.

If you’d majored in business or economics instead of theatre you’d understand who creates jobs in this country. You’d also have paid your loans off already all on your own and be all growns up.

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain what is meant by predatory loans? That term makes it sound like loan companies are making people sign for these loans. What does it actually mean?

[Anonymous]

So many bean counters here who are unhappy about other people getting a so-called break while they “did everything right”. Cry me a river. You just want to screw everyone over because you’re bitter?

Maybe they had illnesses, disadvantages, dependents, or other circumstances that got in the way of paying the loans off. Maybe their parents didn’t help them out with cars or bills. Some people may have made out like bandits and others really needed it. Is it really worth all this solipsistic hand-wringing about what you did with your own loans? Can’t you see the broader policy implications of this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many bean counters here who are unhappy about other people getting a so-called break while they “did everything right”. Cry me a river. You just want to screw everyone over because you’re bitter?

Maybe they had illnesses, disadvantages, dependents, or other circumstances that got in the way of paying the loans off. Maybe their parents didn’t help them out with cars or bills. Some people may have made out like bandits and others really needed it. Is it really worth all this solipsistic hand-wringing about what you did with your own loans? Can’t you see the broader policy implications of this?

Yes. People will expect that this gravy train will continue and take out loans they expect other people to repay for them.