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Forgive us our student loan debt (Is forgiving debt a moral issue?)
Washington Post ^ | 04/28/2012 | By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

Posted on 04/28/2012 6:42:37 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

We need to start taking student loan debt seriously, both as a troubling moral issue and as a ticking economic time bomb. By some reports, student loan debt will exceed 1 trillion dollars this year, more than the credit card debt of all Americans.

A whole generation of young Americans is at risk in this excessive borrowing. They fall further and further behind in “servicing their debt” because they have no way to keep up with the payments as many of them are unemployed or underemployed. They will delay starting marriage and families; they dare not take the risk of quitting a paying job (if they have one!) and starting their own business to create jobs, and they certainly cannot save to buy a home. They are trapped.

Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) Forgiving debt is a moral issue. Forgiving some of the worst of this student debt is crucial literally to save this American generation.

President Obama has recently taken steps to ease student loan debt burdens. But the problem is too big. Some of this student debt needs actual legislation to deal with the whole system of the debt as Robert Applebaum calls for on his Web site, ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com.

Applebaum contends that executive orders can only do so much. It will take legislation that covers predatory practices as well as other changes to the way student loans are structured such as how interest is compounded. Applebaum also argues persuasively that forgiving student loan debt will stimulate the economy.

The kind of moral equality that Jesus asks us to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer can be seen in Applebaum’s argument. Jesus calls on us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: academia; cap; college; debt; debtforgiveness; education; forgiveness; leftuniverse; liberationtheology; marxistcoup; obamanomics; religiousleft; robertapplebaum; studentloandebt; studentloans; theft; thievery; thistlethwaite; tuition; wapo
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To: SeekAndFind
and the millions of us that paid ours back? i didn't go out much, drove used cars, scrimped and saved, took care of a family and paid my student loans... and now i get to pay theirs too???
41 posted on 04/28/2012 8:02:07 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: mnehring
"There is no such thing as ‘debt forgiveness’ when it comes to the government and business, someone has to pay it."

Exactly. The lending institution writes off the debt as a business expense and issues a 1099 in the amount of the debt forgiven to the student. The IRS becomes the worst nightmare of a debt collector that the student could ever imagine.

42 posted on 04/28/2012 8:04:01 PM PDT by shove_it (just undo it)
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To: Vince Ferrer

You left out the part about student loans have special interest rates and delayed payment schedules and they were subsidized by the federal government.


43 posted on 04/28/2012 8:04:24 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: SeekAndFind

” - - - - Forgiving debt is a moral issue.”

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CREATING debt is a moral issue.


44 posted on 04/28/2012 8:08:12 PM PDT by Graewoulf ((Dictator Baby-Doc Barack's obama"care" violates Sherman Anti-Trust Law, AND U.S. Constitution.))
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To: SeekAndFind
Soooo....let's get this straight. Obama goes to UNC-CH, and the student crowd goes wild when he goes into full campaign mode talking about helping them with their student debt, etc., etc., etc.

Meanwhile, the workers in the cafeteria at UNC-CH, the janitors, the grounds people, the hardworking farmers in NC, any remaining textile workers who haven't already lost their jobs in the past 3 years, and all the other laborers are paying increasing tax rates to subsidize these students, many of whom drive fancy cars, live off mom and dad, and will hope to have great jobs with high salaries--that is, if America elects a President with some real-world job creation experience.

Does that about begin to sum it up?

The reality is that their awe and joy may be over soon, when they leave the campus and move in their unemployed parents' basement, waiting to find a job that's not out there because of government spending, deficit, debt, and taxation policies which have driven employers out of business or overseas.

45 posted on 04/28/2012 8:20:01 PM PDT by loveliberty2
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To: mamelukesabre; melsec

I should also write that in the US, education is constitutionally the realm of the states. There is no constitutional duties for education at the federal level. All states have state university systems, with large campuses and land often set aside by the state constitutions, along with subsidies at the state level. Having student loans at the federal level should be unconstitutional in the first place, but in practice also gives a green light for states to get as much federal money flowing into their states as they can, using the students as intermediaries.


46 posted on 04/28/2012 8:23:38 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: SeekAndFind

The first moral factor is to not borrow more than you can repay. Yes, forgiveness is a moral factor, but we must realize that when debts are between private parties, it is the lender who bears the burden alone. The financial costs are isolated and contained. However, what is being advocated here is the forgiveness of a debt that government insured, so the costs will be socialized.

The net result will be the same as if government printed the same amount of money— the wealth that money represents will be taken from all holders of the money by proportionate dilution. There is no free lunch, no matter how many socialist college students may occupy otherwise.


47 posted on 04/28/2012 8:27:13 PM PDT by theBuckwheat
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To: Charles Henrickson

FYI.


48 posted on 04/28/2012 8:46:15 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: SeekAndFind

Repaying your debts is a moral issue.

I repaid my student loans. They were proportionately large to me given earnings back then.


49 posted on 04/28/2012 9:15:13 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I think that’s what I’ll tell the IRS next year. See how that works out.

Maybe that’s how Obama plans to deal with our national debt. Just force the rest of the world to just forgive our debt to them. See how that pans out.


50 posted on 04/28/2012 9:16:38 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: SeekAndFind

If the debt is forgiven, will that fact show up on a credit report? If so, I will make a point to NEVER hire anyone who had their debt forgiven.


51 posted on 04/28/2012 9:17:34 PM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Taxpayers should forgive student loans when the IRS is willing to forgive us for not paying our taxes.


52 posted on 04/28/2012 9:18:13 PM PDT by dagogo redux (A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)
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To: goodnesswins

All three of my sons are college graduates. They all worked to pay for their education. I don’t see where it did them any harm. One of them even paid his way thru Medical School and is now a Board Certified Surgeon.


53 posted on 04/28/2012 9:23:26 PM PDT by anoldafvet
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To: P-Marlowe
Of course my proposal would put hundreds of thousands of left wing college professors into the unemployment line.

What could be better?

LOLOL!

54 posted on 04/28/2012 9:34:50 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: SeekAndFind

“The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again..” Psalm 37:21


55 posted on 04/28/2012 9:49:09 PM PDT by abishai
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To: SeekAndFind

Soooo will the schools be giving some of their tuition earnings back too?


56 posted on 04/28/2012 9:55:14 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (The longer you hold tiger by the tail, the hungrier he gets.)
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To: anoldafvet

I worked my way thru college also...and I believe people who do that appreciate life more, and are able to face challenges better. Those who do not are, in my opinion, usually spoiled brats.


57 posted on 04/28/2012 10:10:12 PM PDT by goodnesswins (2012..."We mutually pledge our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor")
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To: SeekAndFind

Under IRS rules if the debt were forgiven it would be considered taxable income and, to use an example, a $100,000 student loan would become $100,000 in taxable income –taxes due immediately, with penalties and interest if not paid.


58 posted on 04/28/2012 10:35:38 PM PDT by verklaring (Pyrite is not gold))
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To: SeekAndFind
Hey Thistlewaite...Go pound your pleas on the doors of the I.R.S. building in DC.
Get back to me with your results.

59 posted on 04/28/2012 11:22:33 PM PDT by Tainan (Cogito, ergo conservatus sum)
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To: Vince Ferrer

Thanks Vince for your reply - it gives me some understanding of the workings of your system. Seems to me that students would have to be really wise about what courses they took and from which University under your system as a private University could package up any old crap and call it something like ....’Women’s Studies’ and charge through the nose for it.

Still at least a more free market education sector allows for more choice!

Cheers

Mel


60 posted on 04/29/2012 1:06:35 AM PDT by melsec (Once a Jolly Swagman camped by a Billabong....)
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