Cancel Student Debt to Stimulate the Economy
February 11, 2009
Finally! Someone’s got it right. And that someone is New York attorney Robert Applebaum who started a Facebook group called, “Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy.” Say what you will about Huffington Post, but even they gave Applebaum’s cause a little momentum with this article. According to the article and the Facebook group, Applebaum wants the government to consider lending a hand to those of us drowning in college debt, which he says would stimulate the economy.
I wholeheartedly agree! All through our childhoods, we were told we had to go to college if we wanted to make it in this big, bad world. So we work hard, get scholarships, and dream of getting that smooth job that will enable us to pay off our school loans in no time. Except that little fantasty is shattered as we hit the real world. To pay our car insurance, we borrow from our bank account’s overdraft and to pay that we borrow on a credit card and so on and so on–until literally, we are in so much debt, we find there is no way out. Even filing for bankruptcy costs a hefty $2000! We are caught in the stranglehold of bills, shut-off notices, and face more hardship, and is the government offering us a bailout? Not really. I did hear President Obama offering tax credits of $2500 to college students…hey, what about those of us who already did the college thing?
Besides, some of my loans are federal loans and my grad school loans are through a lender that’s a kissing cousin of Fannie and Freddie Mac–if the banks and other financial institutions get a bailout because they can’t pay their bills, what about the rest of us? Why should we have to pay off our debt if the richest of the rich don’t seem to have to do the same? I want change I can believe in, too…and most people just want to scrounge together enough change to pay bills and maybe do their laundry.
I applaud Robert Applebaum for his fine Facebook group, of which I am a proud member (over 40,000 and going strong). Maybe we won’t get our debt canceled, but at least Applebaum’s got people thinking…and a ton of support from all those former college kids making monthly payments with ridiculous interest compiled upon ridiculous interest.
Amy Sondova is a writer specializing in media writing, including interviews and reviews, as well as blogging. Having interviewed over 30 of the top musicians, writers, and speakers in the Christian media, Amy has also written countless columns, reviews, and articles on various topics including mental illness, self-injury, working with teenagers, and Christianity. She lives with her best friend, Sarah, and has two dogs, a cockatiel, and a betta named General Tso.
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Mmmmmm, you chose to take the loans, you knew the interest rates when you signed on the bottom line, you maxed out your credit cards. Why do you think I, a tax payer, should forgive your debts?
Pay your loans and credit cards off and stop whining that you are over burdened with debt. Your debt load is a condition caused by you not I!
Awww, c’mon, if you’re gonna pay off everyone else’s debt to stimulate the economy…
I could say the same thing about people who took out those horrible loans for their homes and cars. Not my fault.
Or all the silly things (pork projects) that the government spends tax money on.
And actually, I don’t have any credit cards anymore, so looks like I learned my lesson. At the end of the day, everyone’s money is going to pay for something that’s not their fault. All I’m saying is that by going to college and doing the “right” thing we end up in debt.
This was meant to be a semi-light post, by the way.
If such a plan were actually put into practice, then why would anyone actually want to pay for their educations in the first place? People would evade their $40,000 tuitions and take loans that would never have to be paid back. So while the government would impact the economy only on its very margins, college institutions would become bankrupt: fiscally and morally. More specifically, they would no longer to support themselves and provide a valuable education that almost any young American wholeheartedly desires.
Good point, but it’s only a temporary bailout, Logical. I mean, why can’t the bailout money go to pay back those student loans, at least in part? Besides, have you seen the interest rates and the compounded interest rates on these babies?