monovillage
Diamond Member
- Jul 3, 2008
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From this I don't get that we should feel too sorry for the kid, although it is a great sign that we should sharply reduce or eliminate any federal support for for profit colleges. They are a scam.
Furthermore, the idea that student debt can never be discharged in bankruptcy is totally ridiculous, yet another horrible feature of that 2005 bankruptcy bill. This shows how screwed up our student loan system is.
There's no question we should stop the funding of these bogus for-profit schools. That's obvious step #1.
Being able to completely discharge student loans seems odd when it's the government giving the loans at competitive rates to begin with. There are less extreme measures we can try first. Lower interests rates, maybe to almost 0%. For a lot of these extreme cases it seems more useful to have an exemption until you net a certain amount of income. If you're working as a waiter, your monthly payment shouldn't be above a certain amount. But I wouldn't support a complete discharge. These people borrowed from the US taxpayer.
And as a result, we have the left calling for an end to for-profit colleges, forgiveness of student loan debt (aka responsible taxpayers pay for the morons to party for a decade), and free college. Woo hoo! The answer to a government-caused problem is, as always, more government - and of course the abolition of government's private sector competition.So if one's aspirations are no more than to be a waiter their entire life, there's absolutely no reason not to go to school for as long as one possibly can, party and booze it up with the best of them, and pay a few dollars a month forever? Sounds like a good way to subsidize an extension of childhood.
If a system can be gamed, it will be gamed.
So if one's aspirations are no more than to be a waiter their entire life, there's absolutely no reason not to go to school for as long as one possibly can, party and booze it up with the best of them, and pay a few dollars a month forever? Sounds like a good way to subsidize an extension of childhood.
If a system can be gamed, it will be gamed.
If all you wanted to be is a waiter, why would you waste time going to school in the first place? Nobody would do that.
They can't because of this bill in 2005: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_Abuse_Prevention_and_Consumer_Protection_Act
To me, this is a terrible idea. Yes, the kid made a mistake, but I see no benefit in having people who make such mistakes saddled with debts that they cannot repay for the rest of their lives. This is exactly the sort of thing that bankruptcy was created for, to give people who screw up another opportunity to be productive.
Why WOULDN'T you do that if it were available for free?
Well, once doctors and engineers are all government employees and compensated "fairly" (i.e. at the same rate as everyone else), it won't cause further social stratification.werepossum, don't forget quotas on majors. We'll only allow a certain number of people to receive an education, because we want to make sure we never have unused degrees. That will never cause further social stratification!
As you said, the answer to government problems is always, inconceivably, more government.
To make matters worse, he voluntarily took out a variable rate student loan that now stands at 19% interest!
Agree.
That student loan debt would rise signficatnly as a result of the debt becomeing non discharagebale should not have been a surprise.
Let kids discharge the debt if needed and I bet student loans come down as well as tuition prices.
Are you looking for something more insightful than sex and booze?
Why WOULDN'T you do that if it were available for free? Let's see, go right to work in some crappy job, or go party for a few years and let the government pick up the tab...
:hmm:
This.It would certainly force the banks to incorporate that risk into their lending practices.
It would certainly force the banks to incorporate that risk into their lending practices.
This.
It's worth noting that Canada
This is a very good way of looking at it. Clearly student debt is not the same as other debt in that there is reduced incentive to pay it back after you have the degree, but creating lifelong debt slaves is so obviously not the answer that it simply baffles me.