Smoother than a Snake Skin Suit, your president is at it again. He’s slithering all over the media gibing and fibbing about his Executive Order that’s supposed to provide relief to people who have student loan obligations. But if you look closely at the proposal, it swiftly sheds its skin and morphs into the worm that it is.
According to the Atlantic Monthly, 82% of outstanding student loan debt was accrued by students over the past 10 years. That means a college education has become extremely costly and more and more people are chasing that pricey degree. And why? Because for decades our young people have been told they can’t succeed in life without getting that ever necessary college degree. Do you think they’ve been warned about the fact that depending on the degree, they very likely won’t be able to find a job in their field? Or have they been warned about the income expectations in relation to the debt they will amass getting that wall ornament? And I wonder if they’re now being educated that there are no jobs available for them?
There are three main provisions of Obama's Executive Order. One, he will limit the amount of student loan payments to 10% of a borrower's income. It is currently 15%. Two, he will allow debt still outstanding after 20 years to go bye bye, in other words, be forgiven. Currently student loan debt is forgiven after 25 years. Third, he will allow consolidation of loan balances, combining all of an individual’s student loans into one big loan.
Now Obama is touting this as a big deal for people with student loan obligations. But the reality is that the “consolidation” of loans will save the borrower a teeny, tiny hiss of an amount. The average savings per student loan borrower would be between $4 and $8 PER MONTH. This is clearly not a stunning amount of money.
But Mr. O. is trying to make parents, students and taxpayers believe that his action is going to save the economy and create jobs, and oh, my gosh, it’s going to Help The Students. After all, it’s part of his “We Can’t Wait” stimulus effort. That’s his “unilateral” action that completely circumvents Congress – again.
So let’s discuss the payment limit of 10% of income. He’s trying to sell this as a God Send to borrowers. But the truth is that any borrower who graduated in 2011 OR EARLIER will NOT be eligible. It will be available only to those graduating in 2012 or in the future. Doesn’t that just give you warm fuzzies, those of you, parents and students and existing borrowers, who are currently paying on student loans or will be once your grace period expires? You get to pay all of your own loans, plus you get to subsidize the loans of all who come after you. Woo Hoo!
And then there’s the “whatever-you-don’t-pay-back-in-20-years-will-go-away” forgiveness provision. It will be at least another 10 years before borrowers have hit the 20-year mark in their loan payments so this executive order provision won’t save you anything currently. Don’t be fooled by his hyperbole. It’s not what he wants you to think it is.
But I would ask why does any borrower get excused after 20 years or ever? If borrowers know what they don’t pay back in a 20 year period will be excused, why would they make any effort to pay anything back? How many borrowers will sit tight and wait for it all to go away? There is NO incentive to pay it back. Oh, by the way, the taxpayer picks up the student loan debt for any borrower who decides not to bother paying it back.
But wait, that’s not all. I wonder if an Obama Executive Order can really do this? Shouldn’t Congress have a say in this type of policy change? Oops, I forgot, right after taking office Obama has already slapped Congress up ‘side the head when he ordered the federal government to take the Student Loan Program away from the banks.
The result of Obama’s changes to the Student Loan Program? Nothing, except it’s going to cost the taxpayer potentially billions of dollars. It’s estimated there is over a trillion dollars in student loan debt currently owed by borrowers. Who do you think is going to pay when they don’t?
Well, yippee, skippee, I have one question. Mr. O, you old Snake Oil Salesman, why are student loans more important than home mortgages? Explain that one if you can.
What, you can’t explain your own Double Talk? Well, let me guess. The student loan giveaway is nothing more than a campaign carrot because the Occupy Wall Streeters have demanded it, and yeah, that’s right, you support the OWS crowd, as you’ve publicly stated. How many jobs will your revolutionary action create for the OWS revolutionaries? Zip, Zilch, Zero, Nada.
This is nothing more than another redistribution of wealth giveaway. Thank you again, for nothing but more debt.
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