Posted on 06/16/2015 7:22:58 AM PDT by Kaslin
"You'd have to be made of stone not to feel for these students," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said as he announced an Obama administration decision to forgive as many as 350,000 loans taken out by students of the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges. "Some of these schools have brought the ethics of payday lending into higher education."
I do feel for any adults who took out loans to pay for college courses that they expected to help land them jobs -- but didn't. If the government forgives their debts, then they still never will get back their time or restore their hopes.
But also, I feel for taxpayers, for whom the Corinthian forgiveness tab could reach as high as $3.5 billion. David A. Bergeron of the Center for American Progress told The New York Times he expects the tab to be less than $1 billion, but I wonder whether it could grow, given the administration's decision to expand the new debt forgiveness terms to debtors from other schools. Question: If Washington can forgive loans for bad schools, why leave out students who went to good schools?
Supporters note that the federal student loan program does turn a profit -- enough to absorb the cost of forgiving Corinthian debt. Federal law affords students a shot at debt relief if their school shutters. Last week, the Obama administration expanded forgiveness eligibility to former Corinthian students who took certain programs from 2010 to 2014 and can show that their former schools defrauded them under state law. There is a fast track for those who attended a Heald College in California.
Heald graduates who have outstanding loans aren't people who went to Cal State and weren't "super-thrilled about their education. These are people who were lied to," said Ben Miller, also of the Center for American Progress. Forgiving these loans is the government's responsibility as an act of "cleanup for 15 years of inattention" that shoveled $3.5 billion into Corinthian's maw. And: "Students should have been protected and were not."
But taxpayers deserve protection, too. As Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told The New York Times, "if your car is a lemon, you don't sue the bank that made the auto loan; you sue the car company." (Here, Miller would point out that there is no money left to squeeze from Corinthian Colleges Inc.)
Richard Vedder of Ohio University's Center for College Affordability believes federal loans have created an incentive for students to borrow more money than is prudent -- a bad incentive that is compounded when "the consequences of making a mistake are less than they otherwise would be." Federal aid also entices students into college when it may not be their best course. Ask any underemployed college graduate.
Vedder sees this loan forgiveness as "the first step toward moving toward free college for all." It follows other administration actions to cap student-loan payments as a percentage of income and forgive unpaid balances after 20 years or less. Tell students they may not have to pay back the full freight and they may feel free to borrow more. All hail "affordable" higher education.
Outstanding student debt stands at $1.2 trillion -- so spare me the lecture on the ethics of payday lending.
..who voted for job-killing Obama not once, but twice.
Some?
This is leading up to a sinecure for ‘professors’ to spout whatever liberal indoctrination the government wants, so they can get guaranteed high salaries, and the government finances it through the students and the students loans.
it is not a direct tax payment to the professor, it is not even a direct payment to the schools. It is yet another layer removed.
Let students go at any cost, the government pays their debt. The student pays the school, the school pays the professors.
We make unsecured credit card loans dischargable in bankruptcy, we have to do the same thing with student loans. Otherwise, another economic time bomb is going to off and send us back into another “great recession.”
But hey what about me? Seems to be a rallying cry in America now! So, what about me? Who is going to pay off all my debt, what about my mortgage? Why should I be responsible for my own actions when so many others refuse to be? How could I have been so foolish as to follow my parents example and live up to my obligations and my given word.
The Democrats are going to buy the 2016 election with student loan forgiveness and you know it.
This is simple economics people would understand if they were studying anything real in modern education establishments.
The money was spent, the cost was incurred, SOMEONE has to actually experience the loss,
and they’re saying that if it’s spread over the whole taxpayer base,
it’s not actually “felt”.
True.
And ABCNNBCBS is “flaming” black racial hatred to promote the black vote for Hillary for the same reason.
Thy signed up for the loans, then they should pay them back.
Welcome to the world of being an adult.
The second the government took over the student loan program, the writting was on the wall. All student loan debt is going to be forgiven, just watch.
I feel like such a sucker when I hear those ads on the radio about tax debt forgiveness (even on Rush’s show). 90% forgiveness! Must be nice. Paying my full load every year is getting harder and harder and yet, as a sucker, I keep going. They turn around every time and just load more into the cart.
I disagree, somewhat.
Since these kids will have the tab for their stupidity picked up by the taxpayer, they owe a debt to the taxpayer.
So have the government bail them out in return for a substantial amount of public service. Measured in years. They can enlist in the military. They can go plant trees for the NPS and NFS. They can clean litter off the highways, or tutor inner city kids, or build/fix houses in appalachia.
All of which would provide them with tangible skills and life lessons about responsibility and helping the less fortunate.
Agreed.
The socialist appeal has always been:
"Vote or me and I will get you someone else's money." - Tom
Not only that, but the next step, “free college” is, no doubt, being planned.
Just the liberals buying deadbeat’s votes with worker’s tax dollars.
True, but you CAN give long jail sentences to those in charge.
I've always paid my bills, honored any debt I owed, and never was late on purpose. Sure, over 25 years of having debt of some kind or other, an occasional payment has been missed or late, but rarely.
It sickens me to see this crap. At the same time, I've about given up on society accepting responsibility for their actions, and am tired of paying higher rates to cover their asses. Why should I pull their cart while they ride?
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