Petition to cancel all student debt

[AngryDem001]

http://cancelallstudentdebt.com/?code=DFA

Since I don't have any social media contacts, I thought I would share this petition with you guys!

[still_one]

1. Why? I could see a petition to lower the interest rates to something reasonable, but why should a

student debt be cancelled?

When folks get a loan, they realize it is a contract and obligation to pay it back

[Brother Buzz]

2. I vote for zero interest rate as long as the debt is being hornored and kept current

Fall in default and all bets are off.

That's just the way I swing.

[still_one]

4. That seems workable

[HereSince1628]

10. I'd say payment required to be current be capped at 8% of after tax income

[Travis_0004]

40. Its already capped at 15% of discretionary income on IBR.

15% of discretionary income is lower than 8% after tax income for a lot of lower income people

[Matariki]

55. And also consider a reasonable statute of limitations

so that people living in poverty aren't also living with permanent, life-long debt. Debt that eventually amerces their Social Security.

[Yo_Mama]

42. Agree with Travis - your proposal would raise loan repayments for many

"Discretionary income" is AGI less the poverty line.

Further, the income-based repayment new rules cap payments at 10% instead of 15%, and provide forgiveness after 20 years. So very many borrowers won't be repaying their loans.

Here's the new calculator:
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/ibr10.phtml

If you use that calculator, you'll see that many will not repay their loans already, nor are the payments onerous.

[HereSince1628]

43. Whatever, it should be low enough to allow debtors to live

I'm not stuck on a number.

[Yo_Mama]

46. Go to the link and use the calculator - it most certainly is low enough!!

You are not making a coherent argument. A person earning 30K would be on the hook for $110 a month.

A person earning $25,000 would have a payment of $70 a month.

Using the initial loan value of $60,000, the person earning $25,000 would have a payment of around $70 monthly and a total interest plus balance write-off of almost $140,000 after 20 years, after which that person would owe nothing!

The people who really are arguing for student loan writeoffs are the people earning a lot, who will have to repay their loans. A person earning 40K would have to pay about $200 a month, but would still get a large write off after 20 years. The only people actually paying down their principal balances under this program are those who are earning well above average salaries, for whom one would assume the education really did pay off.

What's really going to happen is that future students are not going to get the loans, because this is slowly draining the funds from the student loan pool.

The only people making sense in this thread are those who are pointing out that a total forgiveness is funding the relatively well off at the expense of the less fortunate.

[HereSince1628]

47. I said I am not set on a number, whatever it is, and it could go to zero, it should

allow the person with the debt to live.

I don't get the hostility.

[Yo_Mama]

48. If a person's income is not above the poverty threshold, it is ZERO.

Do you think payments of $70 a month are too much for a person with a $25,000 yearly income??

[Logical]

23. I disagree. nt

[pbmus]

3. That is what the bankers said to the politician ...

and what was there bailout ...

[still_one]

6. You do realize the banks are obligated to pay back the bail out don't you?

$614B has gone out the door—invested, loaned, or paid out—while $390B has been returned.

The Treasury has been earning a return on most of the money invested or loaned. So far, it has earned $278B. When those revenues are taken into account, the government has realized a $53.2B profit as of Mar. 12, 2015.

[pbmus]

14. Money for nothing and your MTV ...

[geek tragedy]

5. I can think of far better uses for that kind of gigantic wealth transfer.

For one, improving schools, infrastructure, and also opportunities for people who don't go to college.

Much of such a benefit would flow to very affluent people such as doctors, lawyers, and Wall Street types who take out loans to finance medical, juris doctor, and MBA degrees.

[Shrike47]

7. Sorry, I don't see canceling all student debt as a good thing. The cost has to be paid by someone.

I have encountered a great many people who are going to Community College with no goal and no hope of going further. They are living off their student loans. They go to school for the student loans. I admit that I am talking about a small group of people who took out student loans after the State took their children away from them.

I do not think these people should be excused from their debts.

[gollygee]

8. It bothers me to see the specifc debt that people want to forgive

be a debt that so largely affects middle class white people more than anyone else. Why not medical debt, that affects everyone? Why make this the one debt that would be forgiven?

[demwing]

13. Because it affects the poor most, and the rich least

Last edited Sat Mar 14, 2015, 07:39 PM - Edit history (2)

Wealthy folk don't take out Stafford Loans...

[gollygee]

25. It say cancelling all student debt

and if you don't think wealthy and middle class people take out student loans, you're either crazy or uninformed.

[aspirant]

26. to recieve Student Loans you must fill out FAFSA

They ask for your income or your parents income and if it is above certain limits,YOU DON"T QUALIFY.

[gollygee]

27. There are different kinds of student loans

It said all student debt, not just student debt for people who needed a certain kind of subsidized loan. People with money take out student loans too. There are student loans available for them that don't have the income requirements you're thinking of.

[tammywammy]

33. Federal unsubsidized loans are not based on financial need.

Edited to add:

Direct Unsubsidized Loans are available to undergraduate and graduate students; there is no requirement to demonstrate financial need.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized

[tammywammy]

28. Subsidized loans are based on financial need, unsubsidized are not. n/t

[demwing]

38. Yes it did

but it was a petition to the White House, correct?

Seemed logical that we were speaking about federal subsidized loans, and if not, big deal, what's with the insults? Go smoke a joint and chill the hell out, right?

[taught_me_patience]

50. Plenty of wealthy take out stafford and grad loans

Hell, my wife and I have almost 200k in loans we're paying back over the next 25 years. Most here on DU would consider us wealthy. Many doctors are paying back hundreds of thousands in loans.

[demwing]

51. Were you wealthy before your education? /nt

[davidn3600]

35. Because the "Affordable Care Act" was supposed to fix the medical debt problem

...or so we were told.

[aspirant]

9. If corporations are people,

then people should be corporations too.

Any human being should be able to file for bankruptcy as a person or a corporation, their choice

Why should a corporation be able to write off huge amounts of debt in bankruptcy and a American citizen can't?

[lynne]

11. Sorry, but no. It's a bit of a slap in the face

to all those who have worked hard to pay off their student loans. Will they get refunds?

I'm all for making repayment easier with low interest and extended payments but I don't see removing student debt as a good thing for anyone involved.

[aspirant]

12. What about all those that worked hard

to save for retirement and lost everything in the crash, DO THEY GET REFUNDS.

Is it quite alright for the Banksters to steal our senior citizens retirements?

Should we start charging tuition and fees for K-12 because educating the people isn't the Right thing to do.

[intheflow]

52. ^^ This. ^^

And some of us are doubly fucked. My retirement went away with Washington Mutual. I went to school to get a better paying job, wound up with PTSD doing it, had to stop it. Now 51, $40k+ in student debt, with NO retirement and NO social security.

[smirkymonkey]

16. Because, some of us are just getting screwed by life circumstances and

feel hopeless due to our student loan debt. I only borrowed 50k for graduate school, which is now up to 135k due to compounded interest. I have gone through periods of forbearance due to not being able to pay the minimum required payment. I offered to pay the maximum amount that I could spare but they wouldn't take it. The loan continued to grow and the payments I could afford to make barely covered the interest.

I have never been in default, but I am throwing away $700 per month just to keep from going into default and it doesn't make a dent in what I owe. I have thought of ending my life over this. I am not looking for an easy way out, I am looking for a break. I am looking for some relief from what I see as a hopeless situation. I just found out that I am losing my job at the end of May. There is very little chance I will get a job making what I am making at my current job. I really feel hopeless.

[aspirant]

24. Try getting into IBR

Income Based Repayment is based on income, not debt amount.

[lynne]

59. While I'm sorry for your situation -

- you're far from being the only person on the planet that's been screwed by life circumstances. I was laid off my job of 30 years about 4 months before my last child finished high school. My income was what was going to put her through college. Well, that didn't happen.

I discouraged her from getting a student loan - after reading and hearing nightmare stories like yours - and she didn't. She got a job instead. She's now putting herself through college. She's behind her classmates but she knows what she wants to do and is miles ahead of them in both life experience and maturity.

Everyone wants some relief and is looking for a break. If those who chose a loan to get a college education have their loans forgiven, will those who chose to pay for their own education get a comparable education allowance? Why should they have to pay for their own education and yours, too?

I sincerely wish you the best and hope you find a new job.

[Logical]

19. +1000, proposing crap like this makes liberals look like idiots. nt

[Octafish]

15. Why not? Geithner had the homeowners 'foam the runway' so banks could make a soft landing.

Richest times in human history and we wouldn't know it by walking around Detroit or a lot of places where people live.

[MrMickeysMom]

17. K&R - Please sign this, everyone!

I can't stand it that people who try to get ahead, at the risk of credit or other debt instruments that are marketed to them as students have become debt slaves as they work to "get ahead".

How can you get anywhere in a country where only the well financed can be learned. Meanwhile, while that debt collectively is paid, we also pay off $700 Billion dollars to bail out this group in Wall Street.

Financial terrorism is no way to be prodded through life. All people want is a fair chance to succeed. Education, Vocational/Technical Training and Higher Education should be a right of every citizen.

[Logical]

18. I don't agree we should cancel it. Maybe lower interest. If we cancel it then someone needs.....

to pay back my brother the debt he just paid off over 10 years.

[Scootaloo]

31. Do you demand stores pay the difference when they have a sale on something you bought a month ago?

[Drunken Irishman]

20. Then you may want to cancel out all other debt.

And what about those who paid their student loans (and debt) off before this? Would they be reimbursed?

[tammywammy]

21. As someone with student loans, I don't agree with this.

Allowing people to refinance loans to lower interest rates would be beneficial to many.

[Logical]

22. +1000 nt

[davidn3600]

37. Can't refinance without income and good credit.

The whole damn thing is a catch-22.

[MrMickeysMom]

54. As opposed to borrowing with zero interests rates?

That's what our international banking system does that operates right out of Wall Street.

[brooklynite]

32. On what legal basis would this occur?

[LuvNewcastle]

36. Signed.

I believe in free education. I think that we need to start over with our education system. It's a mess. Our collective lack of knowledge is keeping us from advancing as a species.

[Beearewhyain]

39. I am a bit on the fence about this but...

an educated populace has a value for me and a substantial one at that. I see many in this thread make issue with student loan forgiveness and make a "moral hazard" or "fairness for those who paid" argument. For me, those are not satisfying arguments and moral hazard has been the SOP for the banks with next to zero social benefit. I have no children but gladly pay taxes for public schools. Why you may ask?...because I like an educated and skilled populous and the social benefits are many. Or another way to say it...

[snot]

49. +1000

I did not have student debt.

But humans need more education if they don't understand why education should be free.

That this is not a given on DU shows how far we've fallen.

[quadrature]

41. first things first... stop the loans....nt

[Yo_Mama]

45. Well, this WOULD stop the loans.

This is all federal government money now, and if no one repays, there's no new pool of money for current students.

The current programs are going to cost the taxpayers quite a bit, because many loans will be partially written off under the IBR.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/06/obama-administration-pay-you-earn-expansion-will-cost-9-billion

But you can't get blood from a stone, so these loans will be written off to some extent.

[Omaha Steve]

44. Signed & shared

K&R!

[PoliticAverse]

53. 1% wallstreeters who spent tons of $$$ on their MBAs looking for another bailout? n/t

[Donald Ian Rankin]

56. Why single out those people as recipients of largesse?

There are lots of people out there in need of money.

Singling out those with student debt strikes me as an irrational and unfair way of allocating relief.

[karadax]

57. Community college debt ? Sure. Uni ? Nah.

N/t

[Orrex]

58. Leave the student loan debt intact

Cancel all fees, charges and penalties incurred on that debt. Let people repay what they've borrowed, rather than 2 or 3 times that amount due to usurious punishments applied during the life of the loan.

[smirkymonkey]

62. I would be happy paying back what I borrowed.

I borrowed 50,000. It is now up to 135,000 due to compounded interest. $85,000 is interest! That just makes me sick, all because I have gone through periods of no income or not enough income to pay back the required amount and have had to go into forbearance. They would not allow me to pay what I could and forced me into going into forbearance. I will never be able to pay that off and now I am losing I job I have had for 10 years and don't know how long it will take me to find a new one.

[Ruby the Liberal]

60. Not on board with this at all

Tuition and books, yeah - we can talk, but I saw how much people took out in private loans so they could live off campus and party every weekend as opposed to living on site and working a job. I don't see the need to subsidize bad decisions like that.

[BlueJazz]

61. What Ruby said.