Want a Real Economic Stimulus and Jobs Plan?
Forgive Student Loan Debt!
By Robert Applebaum
(Contact)
To be delivered to: The United States House of
Representatives, The United States Senate and President Barack
Obama
Forgiving the student loan debt of all Americans will have an
immediate stimulative effect on our economy. With the stroke of
the President's pen, millions of Americans would suddenly have
hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of extra dollars in their
pockets each and every month with which to spend on ailing
sectors of the economy. As consumer spending increases,
businesses will begin to hire, jobs will be created and a new era
of innovation, entrepreneurship and prosperity will be ushered in
for all. A rising tide does, in fact, lift all boats - forgiving
student loan debt, rather than tax cuts for corporations,
millionaires and billionaires, has a MUCH greater chance of
helping to rise that tide in a MUCH shorter time-frame. The
future economic success of this country is wholly dependent upon
a well-educated, prosperous middle class. Instead of saddling
entire generations with debt from which there is no escape, let's
empower the American people to grow this economy on their own!
~~~
The Student Loan
Debacle is so outrageous it’s beyond words but I will try to
conjure up a few to relieve the pressure that has built up in my
brain over the lack of common sense concerning these loans. First
of all, using the tool called 'common sense' (which Republicans
seem to lack) to illustrate: When an economy makes education very
expensive and out of reach for most of its citizens 'the powers
that be' conjure up a remedy (bandaid) to allow students to take
out exorbitant loans (government backed of course) and the only
collateral needed is a promise of a career upon graduation for
payback, which… MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL! These loans in
essence tell the borrower that PIE IN THE SKY awaits them and it
doesn’t matter how large a loan they make because an
affluent job $$$$ will be their reward at the end and they will
be able to pay the loan back in no time at all. Say what? Of
course the loan industry doesn’t seem to worry that they are
pushing a preposterously optimistic goal because if the student
finds he cannot pay the loan back the government will pay it for
them. (Of course they will still owe on the loan WITH INTEREST
ACCUMULATION FOREVER!) Who the hell thought this flimflam up? It
leaves we-the-people holding the bag either way. How gloomy for a
young man or woman to complete all the hard work it takes to get
a college degree only to find out they’ve been hoodwinked
and the careers promised are not there. What Is there... is this
enormous personal debt which will plague them for the rest of
their lives; like I said DISGUSTING BEYOND WORDS.
If bankruptcy does not become a tool for this debacle, our
educated... the doctors, lawyers and all those schooled to help a
Nation prosper will slip into poverty; and our government will,
without a doubt, become A Plutocracy (the rule or power of wealth
or of the wealthy.) (a government or state in which the wealthy
class rules.) (a class or group ruling, or exercising power or
influence, by virtue of its wealth.) (These descriptions sound
like we are ALREADY THERE, to me!!!) EDUCATION SHOULD BE
AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WHO DESIRES ONE AND WORKS HARD TO GET ONE,
FREE OF CHARGE!!!
Please
read the interesting article (somewhat related to the Student
Loan fiasco) below which outlines where the OWS is now headed,
AND consider signing the petition to FORGIVE STUDENT LOAN DEBT.
Thanks, thinkingblue
After tent cities fade, Occupy turns to specifics
After tent cities fade, Occupy turns to specifics
APBy AMY WESTFELDT | AP – 31 mins ago
NEW YORK (AP) — For more than two months, they were
open-air communes where people came to rebuild society and
start a nationwide discussion on how to close the wide gap
between the rich and the poor. But as Occupy Wall Street tent
cities fade away, a growing number of protesters are pushing
to put a clear message ahead of the movement.
Alan Collinge has his list ready — return bankruptcy
protection to student loans. Bring back regulations that were
removed from the Glass-Steagall Act. End corporate
personhood.
"They should come up with a short term list of no
brainer agenda items," said Collinge, wearing a huge
sign in the rain at New York's Zuccotti Park calling for
student loan reforms.
More than a dozen other protesters interviewed by The
Associated Press also came up with a wish list of specifics
to address what they say is corporate greed and economic
inequality. The list of demands ranged from the simple —
get corporate money out of politics — to the ethereal
(make sure Washington politicians act with a moral
conscience).
Asking Occupy protesters what, exactly, they would do to
reform government and the financial system is a loaded
question and a source of internal conflict. Collinge, 41, of
Tacoma, Wash., said he has unsuccessfully lobbied Occupy's
general assembly meetings in New York to develop a strong
platform, but has been rebuffed.
"A lot of people, they think that this should be sort of
a catchall" for every issue, he said, the goal being to
expose the economic problems in the country, not solve them.
Other cities' movements have held meetings of committees with
titles like "cohesive messaging" to discuss
strategy, but haven't agreed on listing specifics as a
movement. The greater purpose isn't to influence the
government or the financial system through classic demands,
but to foster broad cultural changes that will gradually
empower people to stop depending on big corporations and Wall
Street money.
"All the energy has gone into an outcry over economic
conditions, with the hope that others will join us and pick
up issues they care about," says Bill Dobbs, press
liaison for Occupy Wall Street in New York. "Our best
hope is inspiring other people to take action to bring
economic justice."
Some observers and experts predict that Occupy groups may
spend the next few months focusing on smaller actions while
waiting for the summer when the Republican and Democratic
conventions would give Occupiers a world-wide audience.
But ask around, and protesters who spent weeks living in
encampments and talking about the country's woes have a clear
idea of what they want.
A number have called for limiting campaign donations and
getting big money out of politics. Some Occupy members want
to limit the amount of money a person is allowed to give a
politician. Others want to ban corporate donations
specifically, or the number of campaign ads.
"How did Abraham Lincoln ever become president without a
television set?" asked Ryan Peterson, an entertainment
company worker from Chicago who lived for weeks in Zuccotti
Park. Paul Lemaire, a 20-year-old visual arts student from
Brooklyn, wants the two-party system eliminated.
The influence of money in politics is one of the greatest
factors behind the gap between the superrich and the poor,
said James Parrott, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy
Institute in New York, which published a report last year on
economic disparity. It shows "that they're very focused
in understanding the root causes" of the country's
economic issues, he said.
The call for tighter regulation of campaign contributions
won't gain traction anytime soon. The Supreme Court, in its
landmark Citizens United decision in January 2010, cleared
the way for corporations to spend unlimited funds to
influence elections, often using money from anonymous donors.
The court struck down most of the so-called McCain-Feingold
law that had set tight restrictions on such donations,
arguing that government did not have the right to regulate
political speech.
Campaign regulation, stopping wars that strain resources,
halting corporate personhood — the spending power given
to corporations in the 2010 Supreme Court ruling — and
addressing higher education costs have emerged as key goals
of the Occupy movement in Los Angeles. Organizers say they
are now focusing on sharpening their objectives, as police
moved in to shut down the two-month-old encampment this week.
MORE HERE
PLEASE
SIGN PETITION HERE:
Want a Real Economic Stimulus and Jobs Plan?
Forgive Student Loan Debt!
By Robert Applebaum (Contact)
To be delivered to: The United States House of
Representatives, The United States Senate and President
Barack Obama
Forgiving the student loan debt of all Americans will have an
immediate stimulative effect on our economy. With the stroke
of the President's pen, millions of Americans would suddenly
have hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of extra dollars
in their pockets each and every month with which to spend on
ailing sectors of the economy. As consumer spending
increases, businesses will begin to hire, jobs will be
created and a new era of innovation, entrepreneurship and
prosperity will be ushered in for all. A rising tide does, in
fact, lift all boats - forgiving student loan debt, rather
than tax cuts for corporations, millionaires and
billionaires, has a MUCH greater chance of helping to rise
that tide in a MUCH shorter time-frame. The future economic
success of this country is wholly dependent upon a
well-educated, prosperous middle class. Instead of saddling
entire generations with debt from which there is no escape,
let's empower the American people to grow this economy on
their own!
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THETHINKINGBLUE.COM