Obama Touts Plan to Change Student Loan System
Obama proposes a good first step in the failed student loan system--get the banks out it! Like credit card debt, banks have been saddling students with debts many cannot and will no repay. Unlike most European countries, where public college tuition is free (publicly funded), American students now primarily rely on student loans to cover the rising costs of college tuition and other expenses (food, housing, etc.) It's another financial crisis about to explode.
Obama wants to eliminate government subsidies to private banks, which profit from student loans while the government "guarantees" the loans (profit without financial risks for banks), and make all student loans directly from the Dept. of Education.
This is a good first step, but doesn't go far enough. Public education should not stop with high school, it should continue through college. There should be NO student loans, and no student loan debts. All current student loan debts should be forgiven.
This is also another way to "stimulate" the economy. Instead of struggling to pay down loans, college graduates could be buying homes, cars, etc., i.e., stimulating demand and economic growth.
Of course, the right-wing conservatives are already crying "socialism" just for Obama's meager proposal.
Education, like healthcare, should be a RIGHT, not a privilege for the wealthy, or a commodity for banks to profit off the backs of struggling students.
If the U.S. government can "bail out" rich Wall Street bankers and financiers, why can't it bail out students??
WHITE HOUSE: Student Loans--Cutting Out the Middle Man
Forgiving Student Loan Debt Would Stimulate the Economy
See Student Loan Justice
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3 comments:
Right on Jim!!:), as a student and a Confucian I stress the importance of education to any society. It is a right for ALL people to be able learn and gain knowledge with out hinderance. There should be no loans a student must take out to achieve a higher education. Education is and should be FREE. It is wrong to place a price on education.
When I graduate next year I will be about 50,000 in debt due to student loans. But of course I did choose to go to a private school (only because it had a program my first choice did not have.) so I knew this was coming, but nonetheless it is unfair that we students must take out loans to achieve a higher education. I would love if the government would forgive all student debts including mine and make all public universities either for free or very cheap like in Europe.
Students going to a private school should of course recieve aid from the government if that university has a certain program that is not at their local public university. That is the main reason why I chose to go to a private univerisity. But I am with the Socialist Party USA that the government should not give money to private univeristies, only to the students.
I also like the Green Party's proposal for student loans. They stated that until universities and colleges become free, the interest rate on all student loans, instead of being fixed, should be proportional to students income. That way the interest rate will not be too high for someone making too little to pay for it.
Amen. Why aren't more people clamoring for this.
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