Warren writes: "We should not go along with any plan that demands that our students continue to produce huge profits for our government. Making billions and billions in profits off the backs of students is obscene."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill about the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. (photo: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg)
The Whole System Stinks
23 July 13
've spent years fighting back against credit card companies that put out zero-interest teaser rate cards, planning to jack up the price later and make all their profits in the fine print.
I also fought back against teaser rate mortgages that promised low payments in the first few years, but then shot up to rates that pushed millions of families into foreclosure.
So it's shocking to me that the United States Senate would offer its own teaser rate for our student loan system - a system that is scheduled to make more than $184 billion in profits over the next ten years. That's not the business the United States government should be in.
We had a majority in the Senate to keep student interest rates low, but because of Republican filibusters, the interest rate on federally subsidized student loans jumped from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1st. Instead of restoring that 3.4% rate, a new so-called "compromise" plan on the table raises the interest rate on those loans this year to 3.86% for undergraduate students, and 5.41% for graduate students in 2013.
And then it gets worse. The plan is set up to collect higher interest rates in future years. After just 24 months, the rate jumps above 6.8% for graduate students. Within a few years, rates for all loans will be higher than if Congress does nothing - and some could climb as high as 10.5%. Even worse, with the federal government already making billions in profits off these programs, the "compromise" plan is set up to actually increase those profits by hundreds of millions of dollars more.
I can't support a proposal that squeezes even more profits out of our kids, while millionaires and billionaires still don't pay their fair share. This is a bad deal.
Senator Jack Reed has offered an amendment that is a true compromise: let rates move with the market, but set a cap on student loan interest rates at their current rates. I am proud to cosponsor that amendment. It's the only way to ensure that students don't end up paying more than they would if Congress does nothing.
In the end, this is a simple math problem.
If Republicans insist that we continue to make the same $184 billion in profit off of the student loan program, that just means that students in future years will have to pay higher rates to make up the difference.
I don't believe in pitting our kids against each other. In fact, I think this whole system stinks.
We should not go along with any plan that demands that our students continue to produce huge profits for our government. Making billions and billions in profits off the backs of students is obscene.
Senator Jack Reed's amendment is the only plan on the table right now that guarantees student loan interest rates won't skyrocket above their current levels. We need to pass this amendment for our kids and grandkids.
I appreciate the hard work that my colleagues have done to try to defeat the Republican filibuster so that we can keep student loan rates low.
But our students are drowning under a trillion dollars in student loan debt. We need to start now with one basic principle: cut government profits on student loans. I can't support a deal that actually increases those profits.
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I didn't vote for Hillary before and I may not again. I like her well enough; I just don't trust her. And at the end of the day, you need to be able to at least TRUST the person you are voting for.
Elizabeth Warren in 2016. Think about it :-)
Every compromise with the Tea Party GOP emboldens those sociopaths, damages Main Street America, and move us further to the right.
The 99% will continue being screwed unless it has the guts to act in unison in its own behalf. A strategy may include rolling general strikes.
You tell it like it is Rich. An old Union Rep once told me you never want to get in a pissing match with a skunk. The skunks on the right need to driven out of town. Only then will the average voter be able to talk about Congress without holding our nose
What banks "pay" is a lot better than "nutin"; the banks buy $100 bills from the US Treasury for 9.7 cents each. Now isn't that better than "nutin!"
College graduates earn significantly higher incomes than those without a college degree. They then pay taxes on that income. Thus the gov't gets back their "investment" and then some. Higher education should be free as it is in virtually every other advanced capitalist nation. Even the bill proposed by Warren and Reed is a compromise since it is does not promote free higher education which is what we need in this country. Investing in our kids/young people is one of the best "investments" any country can make in its future (not to mention it is the moral and right thing to do). If you're worried about "loans" being paid back how back the trillions we are "loaning" to the banks at virtually 0% percent interest much of it which they then used to buy gov't debt (i.e., US Treasuries) which then pays them an even higher rate of return. Time to go after those who aren't the giant corporations that aren't paying taxes and stop going after students and others at the bottom that are just trying to get by and stay afloat.
The interesting thing about student loans is that approximately 90% of the defaulted amounts owed are recovered. This is because they NEVER go away. You can't discharge them as part of declaring bankruptcy. Your wages are garnished, federal and state income tax refunds (and any other federal/state monies) are withheld. Professional licenses (e.g., cosmetology, real estate, medical) can also be withheld. And it is a huge black mark on your credit rating.
Other than that, defaulting on student loans is no big deal.
The two most frequent reasons for defaulting on student loans are not being able to find a job or having a job that doesn’t pay enough to cover the monthly loan payments…it is not because the majority of students don’t take repayment seriously. Raising interest rates is not the answer!
Free education for all and student debt pardoned!
Hint: it ain't 'The System'.
It's The Operators!!
That's a simple question to answer. It's a simple mathematical question. Let's assign the letter 'n' to represent the number of artists in the world. The answer to your question as to how many artists do I know who are NOT elitists or wanna-be elitists who look down on laborers is n.
An artist is an artist because they have to be an artist in order to live a meaningful life. An elitist is an elitist because they don't have the talent or the guts to be an artist.
No artist becomes an artist in order to make a living; they become an artist in order to make a life worth living.
Correct (?) link to the article about student loans that MAY have informed Elizabeth Warren
http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/256-justice/9233-instead-of-signing-pledges-to-refuse-to-pay-student-loans-join-a-class-action-f-law-suit-to-demand-all-university-college-etctuition-back-with-interest
Who is driving ? Seriously ? Can we all spell:
G-l-o-b-a-l B-a-n-k-s and
G-l-o-b-a-l C-o-r-p-o-r-a-t -i-o-n-s ?
Thank you, Class.
that´s why we don´t want "small" talk
we want you and Bernie on the ticket
for 2016.
Dear Mr./Ms. da gaf,
I see that your caps lock release key is still broken. Can we help you out by taking up a donation ?
All the best .....
The blatant thievery and pillaging does not profit our country, but opens new wounds ~ from which we are to be bled.
God love Elizabeth Warren and anyone who speaks plainly through the din of the thieves babbling froth and double talk.
Yep. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans care one whit about the students, or for the national integrity.
They waste decades haggling over how to chisel whom and for how much.
Then they give upwards of 90% of the US Government's income to the world's worst corporate criminals.
It's a simple math problem.
We keep putting in those math-challenged politicians from the Democratic & Republican parties; they keep stealing from us all and our grandchildren.
What happened, and how did they do it?
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