Student Loans

Should the US Government be profiting from student loans? Is the government’s job to “make a profit”?

One of the reasons the economy is not in great shape is because students are so in debt trying to pay back student loans. (Let’s leave the discussion about why college costs so much for later). If money is being spent paying back loans, it’s not getting spent on homes, cars, appliances, and goods that help the economy as a whole.

A recent bill would have reduced the student loan percentages to a reasonable amount (but still, ironically, higher than when the government lends money to GM and the banks). It was shot down by Republicans (duh). Why? What possible reason would they be against this? How does this bill do anything but help all students, liberal and conservative alike, from blue states to red states?

Oh, right. It was being paid for by increasing taxes on millionaire and billionaires, and we can’t have that, because they’re the “job creators” who will stimulate the economy. (Remember that? When the Bush tax cuts first went into effect, they were supposed to do that? Remember when that happened? Ha ha! Aren’t we a bunch of chumps!)

So once more the government took the side of the 1%, ignoring 99% of the people they are supposed to be representing.

One of the reasons it failed as well is because of all the lies being spread all over the internet about it. More than once I tried to explain to people who falsely claimed that this was “an Obama loan forgiveness program” that would let students get off without paying anything. “I paid my loans, how can these freeloaders get away with it?” Facts never matter to these people, and of course, only a few would admit that the law did no such thing, but you can guess which news station was promoting that meme, can’t you?

There’s this silly meme going around now, comparing the cuts being given to the military for education with programs helping illegal immigrant children get an education.

The reason he is giving her that expression is because the statement she makes is absolutely wrong (and stupid: “only” way? No one else gets aid? Give me a break.)

This is a false comparison. The federal government funds the military and thanks to the sequester, money is being cut from the military budget. Blame the Republicans for forcing the sequester through (it was their idea) and then trying to convince all of us it’s Obama’s fault.

The other example is from states like Colorado, and has nothing to do with federal funding. In Colorado, children who were brought here illegally by their parents and thus had no choice in the matter and who graduated from Colorado high school, were never arrested, were applying for citizenship, and who kept good grades were allowed to go to Colorado public colleges at the same rate as a Colorado citizen. Not greater than, exactly the same as. No tuition given to them, just the same discount as all the kids they went to High School with.

Isn’t that what we want? Good kids with good grades becoming good citizens, paying taxes, and then staying in the US to help our economy? Don’t we want to encourage that?