"They Did Everything We Told Them To Do" Elizabeth Warren

[applegrove]

They Did Everything We Told Them To Do

February 21, 2014 | By Elizabeth Warren

http://elizabethwarren.com/blog/they-did-everything-we-told-them-to-do

"SNIP......................................



During that fight, I also heard from a lot of young people being crushed by their old student loans. They did everything we told them to do: They worked hard, got good grades, went to college and learned new skills -- and now are drowning in debt.

The numbers prove it. More than a third of borrowers under the age of 30 have been delinquent on their student loan payments for more than 90 days. Think about that.

Tying students to a lifetime of financial servitude as a condition of getting an education? That doesn't reflect our values.

In the coming weeks, I'll introduce new legislation to allow eligible borrowers with high interest student loans to refinance at new rates that are at least as low as those now being offered to new borrowers in the federal student loan program -- putting real money back into the pockets of young people who worked hard to get an education.





...................................SNIP"

[Whisp]

1. K&R Warren knows where it's at.

[msongs]

2. problem began when political prostitutes privatized the loan industry instead of it being

operated directly by the government. my student loans from the old days were less than 2% interest on great terms.

thanks democrats and republicans alike!

[Autumn]

3. Would you please cross post this in the Elizabeth Warren group?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1265

[bigwillq]

4. K and R (nt)

[reformist2]

5. It's a start. But what's really needed are lower tuitions.

[rhett o rick]

6. And very low interest student loans. nm

[polichick]

7. Young people need to get angry - they're being screwed in a hundred different ways...

Good on EW!

[Curmudgeoness]

8. Is there anything that Warren stands for

that I can find fault with??? I love the way this woman works for ordinary people, who are being so screwed.

[DeSwiss]

9. Re-finance!?!?!

- Give them a BAILOUT!!!

JP Morgan got $25 billion taxpayer in bailout money. It has no intention of using the money to lend to customers, but instead will use it to drive out competition. The bank is also the largest owner of BP - the oil spill company. During the oil spill the bank said that the oil spill is good for the economy. JP Morgan Chase also received a SECRET $391 billion dollar bailout from the Federal Reserve.

MORE

[riderinthestorm]

11. +100000. There would be such a huge benefit of a bailout.

[Nay]

13. Unfortunately, a bailout for students will go straight to the lenders,

encouraging those lenders to keep on doing the lending, and the spiral will continue upwards. Only forcing the lenders to take, say, 50 cents on the dollar will slap them into reality, and tell universities that they cannot keep raising tuition.

Of course, none of this will ever be done because it gets in the way of the rich folks ripping us off.

[DeSwiss]

17. The lenders won't lose either way.....

...since the money is guaranteed by the US government. The longer amount of time that these debts are re-financed, the more money the banks will make.

But more to the point: Just where will the jobs to make these lower re-financed payments, going to come from? The global economy is shrinking and will continue to do so. Technology advances being made daily are making employees almost superfluous window-dressing.

We can't afford to keep making the same mistakes. And if we keep electing the same people with dead-end solutions from yesteryear, then they will never be solved. Because these politicians are put in-place to maintain the status quo for TPTB.

- A paradigm shift is the only answer. But it appears that it will have to be forced upon us since we're too afraid to deliberately make the choices ourselves......

[Dustlawyer]

21. The Paradigm shift would need to be complete campaign finance reform, including publicly

funded elections. This attacks the root of the problem, the fact that our government is bought off by special, Big Money, interests! Cut off the money, cut off the influence. That would be a huge, ugly fight I believe. They are prepared for it this time.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

19. We need to de-privatized stident loans.

IF we are going to keep this ridiculous system in place.

What they really need to do is get the state portion of subsidies for higher ed back to 1970s levels - 60 to 70 percent of a student's cost at a public school was covered by state money, the taxpayers. Which would take the burden off the individual students.

We ALL benefit when from an educated population. The public k-12 and higher ed systems of the '40s through the '70s was the basis so many great advances for our society in so many areas. We've been going backward since then.

[zeemike]

14. There you go...that is the answer.

and make student loans the same as the banks pay to borrow from the Fed.

[Demo_Chris]

23. Nope, not unless we make education free for everyone. nt

[KoKo]

10. Good For HER...Don't let anyone tell you she's Old and Out of Touch!

She Gets It....and Allies with the Young!

Because! We are all in this Together!

BRAVO, ELIZABETH. You might not Run but you are Certainly more in touch than Hillary Clinton who is the Anointed!

[Overseas]

12. K&R. It's the least we can do.

What I want a more expansive view of the Defense Budget-- free college for all/ To prepare our citizens for the challenging future we're leaving them with.

[bkanderson76]

15. Yes Maam Elizabeth....Hey, America Can Throw A few Bucks toward the federal

student loan program, or that's at least my opinion.
Educational Investment begins at kinder-garden and really should carry a person until he is finished......

[blkmusclmachine]

16. Trickle Drown, Bay-bee!

Drip, drip, drip ...

[pragmatic_dem]

18. Good grades and computers in kindergarten cannot compete

against the 24 yr old in India using a computer for the first time at $7/hr.

Offshoring tax breaks are selling the US to Asia for pennies on the dollar.

There is almost nothing left to sell. So, Wall Street is looking at TPP and Vietnam as next India.

N. Korea is also ripe for picking. Think I'm crazy? In 25 yrs we will be sewing jeans at inflation adjusted rate of $5/hr for Chinese teenagers and sending s/w jobs to N. Korea. There is just too much money concentrated in the hands of too few people to prevent it.

When Democrats and Republicans talk about the realities of globalization that's what they mean.

[ProSense]

20. Sen. Warren Joins Colleagues to Address College Affordability

Sen. Warren Joins Colleagues to Address College Affordability

Urges Congress to Refinance Student Loan Debt in Floor Speech

Video; Full Text

Washington, DC - In a floor speech this morning, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren joined Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on the floor of the Senate to address college affordability. Senator Warren spoke about her plan to introduce legislation that would allow student borrowers to refinance their old, high-interest rate loans at the lower rates that are being offered to new student loan borrowers this year under the new Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013.

A graduate who took out an unsubsidized loan before July 1 of last year is locked into an interest rate of nearly 7 percent. Older loans run 8%, 9% and higher. "Refinancing those old loans would lower interest rates to 3.86% for undergraduate loans," Senator Warren said. "This is real money back in the pockets of people who invested in their education. Real money that will help young people find a little more financial stability as they work hard to build their futures. Real money that says that America invests in those who work to get an education."

The senator discussed how the government could pay for refinancing by closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest individuals and corporations. "Right now, this country essentially taxes students - by charging high interest rates that bring money into the government - while at the same time we give away far more money through a tax code riddled with loopholes and let the wealthiest individuals and corporations avoid paying a fair share," Senator Warren said. "We can close those loopholes and put the money directly into refinancing student loans."

"We can start with the Buffett Rule-a rule that would limit tax loopholes for the wealthy and ensure that billionaires pay at least as much as their secretaries. For every new dollar we bring in by stitching up this loophole, it can go directly to lowering the cost of student loans."

Senator Warren highlighted the $1.2 trillion in total national student loan debt that is burying graduates, preventing young people from buying homes and cars, and putting a drag on economic growth. "Tying students to a lifetime of financial servitude as a condition of getting an education does not reflect our values," she said. "These students didn't go to the mall and run up charges on a credit card. They worked hard and learned new skills that will benefit this country and help us build a stronger middle class and a stronger America. They deserve our support. They don't deserve to be buried in debt."

http://www.warren.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=393

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024489205

[freshwest]

22. Thanks, I had not seen this. Why not an amnesty like they gave the offshore tax evaders?

It could be part of reforming the system. Obama increased Pell Grants in 2009. but it's been cut since 2010, IIRC.

[Wilms]

24. ^