Open Thread: Are Student Loans Just Another Scheme for Obama Votes?
In the grand scheme of things, student loans from the government are at least well intentioned. Perhaps they even encourage students who would not otherwise attend college to do so. However, with President Obama's latest expansion of the student loan program, we are again reminded whether he is unable to learn from history or is completely indifferent to the government waste incurred by student loan programs.
Obama announced last week a plan to ease the burden of student loans by only requiring graduates to pay a maximum of 10% of their income toward their monthly federal loan payments. However, as Rep. John Kline explained, "We simply can’t keep providing money from the federal government in the form of subsidized or actual loans and Pell Grants when we don’t have the money." Do you think easing student loan payments is just another way for Obama to ensure he still has the youth vote to back him in 2012? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
As David Limbaugh explained the loan program at Human Events:
...[T]he Obama administration initiated the process to transition toward the new student loan program some six months before the bill passed. Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent letters pressuring colleges and universities to prepare for the transition, even though many were reluctant and had chosen private lenders over the government option for a reason.
Fast-forward to the present and Obama, by executive fiat, is finessing a regulatory end run around Congress to allow student debtors to refinance and consolidate loans on more favorable terms, capping student loan repayment rates at 10 percent of the portion of a debtor's income that goes above the poverty line, and limiting the life of a loan to 20 years.
You don't need to be a math wizard to understand that this is just a slick way of forcing taxpayers to take a bigger hit by increasing the number of loans that will never be fully repaid, yet another redistribution of wealth from our Marxist in chief. Nor do you need to be a clinical psychologist to grasp that our government is teaching young adults how to be financially irresponsible with impunity.
Never worried about long-term consequences, Obama is either oblivious to (highly unlikely) or unconcerned with the likelihood that his actions will contribute to the expansion of a growing college debt bubble that economists warn could be analogous to the financial collapse-inducing housing bubble. Just as with the housing bubble, these unrealistically priced loans artificially increase the amount of money being spent on education, which will result in universities raising their prices. Research by Richard Vedder shows there is a direct correlation between increasing student "aid" and increased college tuition costs.
What do you think of the new student loan plan? Will it win Obama any 2012 votes?
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Comments
How can we have a discussion
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:05am.
How can we have a discussion on a rhetorical question?
Indeed
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:14am.
The best way to describe this is throwing a fishing line into a barrel full of hungry fish. It won't take long to get a hook.
-Jon
OF COURSE!
Submitted by c5then on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:07am.
This is a bone to the liberal student population. A way of showing them that he is still "their guy". The conservative student population is unaffected because they will pay off their loans regardless of any executive order.
Every decision that the Obama administration makes (and I'm not sure that Obama is the one who makes the decisions) is politically motivated.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Must be a real cheap date these kids
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:13am.
9 dollars a month buys their loyalty. Nice.
Too easy
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:16am.
It's too easy to see how much kids of today value things. Don't get me wrong, there are some good ones, but you don't hear too much about them.
But right now, it's safe to say that the value of a lot of things have done down a lot in the last few years. Including history or we wouldn't be where we are today.
-Jon
Most of the good kids have paid off their loans,
Submitted by UpNorth on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:29am.
or are in the military, so they can pay their own way when they get out.
The likes of the kids admired by the libs are at Zuccotti Park, or downtown LA or Oakland, throwing rocks, bottles and other things at the police.
Is Tebow really that bad?
Submitted by shawn. on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:15am.
The guy had one bad game and people are calling him one of the worst quarterbacks and his coach will not commit to him next week
I did not watch the game and only the highlights, , but I figure it's only one game. Give the kid a chance
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post/_/id/34680/time-for-elway-to-think-...
Morning Shawn...in Blonde's
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:10am.
Morning Shawn...in Blonde's absence, I will stand up for Tim..
. It's amazing how short the memories are, isn't it? How quickly they forget last weekend when Tebow rallied his team to come back from -15 in the last 3 minutes, and then to the win in overtime!!
I guess like Hollywood and one's last movie, in the NFL you're only as good as your last game.
On the contrary, they haven't forgotten at all
Submitted by ckc1227 on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 1:42am.
His terrible play for 57 minutes against a horrible 0-5 team(0-6 now) was why they had to rally from 15 back in the first place. And his terrible play continued this week. Unfortunately, the Lions are a little better than Miami. It's going to take more than 5 minutes of decent play to get by them.
12 sacks?
Submitted by SouthJersey1953 on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:53am.
A quarterback that is sacked 12 times says a lot more about a poor offensive line than it say about the quality of the quarterback. Denver is hurting in all areas. Tim can't do it all, especially when he gets NO help from the other 10 players on offense.
(my 2 cents worth) - too soon to judge Mr Tebow.
Concur
Submitted by Unsane on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 6:41pm.
Last I checked, Tebow does not play defense. The defense in Denver is horrendous. Granted, Tebow did throw that one touchdown pass to the Lions, but the defense simply did not show up yesterday.
That is not the fault of Tebow.
I agree. Run him out there a season or two. Hell, Denver gave more opportunities to Jake Plummer!
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Not necessarily
Submitted by ckc1227 on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 1:33am.
That is not the fault of Tebow.
Tebow's 2 turnovers that resulted in touchdowns were more than enough to win the game. The rest was just gravy. If anything, I'd blame his offensive line.
Said it after he was drafted, and I'll say it again....Tebow will never be a great, or even a very good NFL quarterback. Great guy, great role model and a great attitude? Absolutely. NFL caliber quarterback? Nope. And that's ok. Move him over to running back, or tight end, and turn him loose. Otherwise, he'll be out of the league in 2 years tops.
A chicken in every pot, and a
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:42am.
A chicken in every pot, and a car in every garage. Same old slogan different day.
Happy Halloween!
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:43am.
Have a safe and fun Halloween, everyone! I plan to watch the Ghost Hunters live investigation, and that's all I want to do.
There's enough bad crap going on in the world as it is, so try to have a little fun in spite of it.
I saw on the news that despite economic troubles, people still spent a little more for Halloween. I guess that's true, I spent about 140 bucks for decorations that light up and some spooky effects to put on windows.
-Jon
Jon
Submitted by ricklail on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 2:14pm.
I live so far out in the country the stop signs say "WHOA" I have lived there for 11 years and have yet to have any trick or treaters other than our grandkids and the neighbor's little girl. I always buy candy and wind up eating it myself or giving to the grandkids when they visit. I DVRed the Bone Eater. I'll watch that before the football game comes on.
But two unsourced people say Herman Cain did................
Submitted by Tomorama on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:45am.
Funny ............................. the program that the LSM and Obysmal is applauding JUST FOR VOTES will save between 4-8 DOLLARS a month for each individual.
NOT HUNDREDS of dollars - $4 to $8 a month.
ALSO it DOES NOT INCLUDE loans that were not secured through the Gubment, as in banks, credit unions etc. etc, etc.
Must have missed those aspects of the greatest plan ever in the "speechifying" and "reporting"................ of the greatest plan ever.
Keep the populace dumbed down, welcome to Obamaville and the whores in the media.
Sadly, Jon, the schools haven't equipped the students
Submitted by UpNorth on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:51am.
to realize the fact that the big savings that Ear Leader is giving them only amount the cost of a large Starbuck's latte and a scone. What does anyone expect when the emphasis is on feel-good majors like women's studies, "international affairs" or the old fall back, liberal arts.
Then, with degree in hand, they wonder why they can't find a job in the real world.
Incrementalism
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:09am.
This is how it always starts with liberals.
They will start with this little bit, and then "find out" as usual, that it was a good idea, but didn't go nearly far enough.
Stafford loans, subsidized and unsubsidized, only come to a maximum of around $14,000 a year. And these are the only loans that the government has any control over; that's why the "savings" are so pitiful.
Most of these over-$100,000 in debt situations are because they took out other loans.
First, the Stafford loans, then the "realization" that it's not enough; they have to do something about ALL the loans.
I am inundated with
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:49am.
I am inundated with Politifact crap by these leftists who want to show how right their messiah is. Are there not any good fact check sites around?
Student Loans
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:34am.
"In the grand scheme of things, student loans from the government are at least well intentioned."
The government doesn't provide student loans, banks do. The government "guarantees" those loans, which means the government will pay the bank the full outstanding balance if the loan defaults. Obama's "plan" is to let all of the students default on their loans and then make arrangements for structured payments and, if you just wait long enough, total "forgiveness" for the money you now owe to the US Taxpayer.
But here's the thing, students have always been able to restructure their payments to fit their budget, even after the government "assumed" that debt and started collection attempts themselves. The banks, and the government, have always been willing to make arrangements with people to find a way to pay off the debt in a way that is amiable to everyone involved.
If Obama's "plan" comes to fruition, the banks will stop making those loans altogether, and the student's themselves, will suffer.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
They never expect that,
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:37am.
They never expect that, Cobra, because they are willfully ignorant of the Law of Unintended Consequences.
It could be...
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:46am.
It could be that Obama, himself, wants the government to "take over" the student loan system itself. He want's to replace the current system of private industry provided loans with a government system of taxpayer provided loans. In other words, he wants to nationalize it. He just doesn't want anyone to know his true intentions.
It's ether that or he never actually had any student loans, for if he had those loans, he would have known who was providing that loan as soon as he signed the loan agreement with the bank.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Too late, Cobra....
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:12pm.
It could be that Obama, himself, wants the government to "take over" the student loan system itself.
They already did that.
Now I'm confused
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 5:31pm.
Now I'm confused. Nealy a year after taking control of the Student Loan process in America, Obama feels it isn't working? Well, that kind of shows us all the folly of nationalizing it to begin with, correct? Why doesn't he just privatize it again? I mean, really, it worked for 200 years previous. But no, he wants to fiddle with it until it completely fails, I guess. Typical of Obama, no clue as to what he's doing, so he goes ahead and does it anyways.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
That was the plan all along.
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 5:41pm.
That was the plan all along. Since the government previously only "guaranteed" the loans and would be on the hook for repayment, they had to take it over completely in order to have the power to revise the repayment options.
At least that's how it looks to me. I could be wrong.
Of course......
Submitted by Spoker on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 1:11pm.
Of course this is just another Obama scheme to buy votes.
I am just a bit ashamed that it only takes 30 cents a day to buy a student's vote.
Good story
Submitted by ricklail on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 2:32pm.
When I first moved here there was a fenced in plane across from the Piggly Wiggly in New Bern. The city wanted to scrap it. Up steps this retired Navy guy who recognized it as the plane flown by the Marine pilot for the Blue Angels. The community went to work raising money to have it repaired and given a proper place to be seen. Yesterday she was dedicated. It sits along side US 70. If you are going from New Bern to Havelock it on the left before the Trent bridge.
Student Loans and Obama care
Submitted by boscokraft on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 4:07pm.
I have 2 kids in college. In the spring of 2010, as part of Obamacare funding, the federeal government took over the student loan industry. Noone seems to notice or care. This was supposed to help pay for Obamacare, but now hes going to forgive those loans??? That is baloney http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/03/26/dana-perino-student-loans-heal.... The kids are being taken for a ride, paying 200,000 for a worthless degree. At least if they bought a house now and went to work instead of college the house would be worth something in 10 years.
It used to be...
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 5:36pm.
It used to be that people ether paid for college themselves (or for their kids), or they received a scholarship (because they deserved it). That worked for well over 200 years, and everyone was happy. Now, the government pays for it and no one, outside the college Deans and Professors, anyways (after all, they get paid ether way), are happy. Typical government bureaucracy in action. Making things worse, for all the best reasons.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Schooling and paying for it
Submitted by Unsane on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 6:46pm.
The government paid for my degree. But then, I owed the government 4 years.
There are a myriad of ways to pay for college that don't involve student loans. They just have to be explored.
Sadly, I have friends who are lapping up this pathetic scheme by His Majesty The Shahinshah.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Carney says Obama will
Submitted by ricklail on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 6:10pm.
Carney says Obama will continue to work independently from Congress. When are some of those Republican a-holes going to stop this rule by executive fiat?
He's Got My Vote
Submitted by stratman on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 9:29pm.
The Donkey Whisperer
Age does have its privileges. Your kids out of college are one.
Submitted by drsamherman on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 9:46pm.
My sons and daughters all graduated from college and little or no student loan debt. My oldest son and youngest daughter are in graduate schools, but their education is being paid for by their employers in exchange for a long-term commitment to stay with them.
I would never want the hell of having the federal government as a creditor. No thanks!