College Debt Forgiveness

[checkbookdoc]

There should not be blanket student loan forgiveness. It sets up a bad precedent and makes no economic sense.

What I would 100% support is reforming student loans so that there are subsidies to encourage things that benefit the country, such as: 1) Zero interest loans if you graduate with a STEM degree and work in a related field. 2) Student loan forgiveness or zero interest rate if working in public service (should help government higher better workers at a lower cost). 3) Loan forgiveness programs for under-privileged children (low income, foster care, etc.).

Also, lots of people if placed in the same position would take student loans again because it was worth the cost, they just wish the cost was lower. These are the types of loans that should not be forgiven (e.g., medical students, PhD's, Law school, etc.).

 

[AlaskanAssassin]

Yeah a self help book will for sure solve this problem

Lol. That was good.

As for how to pay for free public college, rolling back the Trump tax cuts would surely be a good place to start.

Everyone needs to stop pretending like the Trump tax cuts had a material impact on federal tax revenue. This is a go-to argument by many Liberals and has zero substance. Look at the federal tax receipts by year on the link below. There is no noticeable impact on the tax cuts to federal receipts. Rolling these back is not going to generate federal revenue to pay for anything.

https://www.thebalance.com/current-u-s-federal-government-tax-revenue-3305762

 

[Zombie]

Lol. That was good.


Everyone needs to stop pretending like the Trump tax cuts had a material impact on federal tax revenue. This is a go-to argument by many Liberals and has zero substance. Look at the federal tax receipts by year on the link below. There is no noticeable impact on the tax cuts to federal receipts. Rolling these back is not going to generate federal revenue to pay for anything.

https://www.thebalance.com/current-u-s-federal-government-tax-revenue-3305762

That doesn't include what tax receipts would have been without the tax cuts, but does include this paragraph:
Revenues would be much higher without the Trump tax plan. It was also lowered by the extension of the Bush tax cuts and the Obama tax cuts. They were meant to fight the 2001 recession and the 2008 recession. They were supposed to spur the consumer spending that drives almost 70% of economic growth.

 

[AlaskanAssassin]

That doesn't include what tax receipts would have been without the tax cuts, but does include this paragraph:
Revenues would be much higher without the Trump tax plan. It was also lowered by the extension of the Bush tax cuts and the Obama tax cuts. They were meant to fight the 2001 recession and the 2008 recession. They were supposed to spur the consumer spending that drives almost 70% of economic growth.

I'm not arguing in favor of the Trump tax cuts. The article speculates that revenues would have been higher without the cuts, which is possible, but I don't think that's something anyone can say with confidence. If federal receipts would have been higher, I can't imagine that they would have been so significantly higher to potentially fund a large program such as free college for all. Also, if the difference was substantial and we could collect significantly more by rolling back tax cuts, would we want to provide more services to the American people, or would we use that additional revenue to cut into the $1.1 trillion dollar ANNUAL deficit?

If a politician proposes a free college program, along with cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and Military Spending, then I will take it as a serious proposal.

 

[Zombie]

I'm not arguing in favor of the Trump tax cuts. The article speculates that revenues would have been higher without the cuts, which is possible, but I don't think that's something anyone can say with confidence. If federal receipts would have been higher, I can't imagine that they would have been so significantly higher to potentially fund a large program such as free college for all. Also, if the difference was substantial and we could collect significantly more by rolling back tax cuts, would we want to provide more services to the American people, or would we use that additional revenue to cut into the $1.1 trillion dollar ANNUAL deficit?

If a politician proposes a free college program, along with cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and Military Spending, then I will take it as a serious proposal.

From the CBO:
What Are the Act’s Projected Budgetary Effects?
To construct its baseline budget projections, CBO incorporated the effects of the tax act, taking into account economic feedback—that is, the ways in which the act is likely to affect the economy and in turn affect the budget. Doing so raised the 11-year projection of the cumulative primary deficit (that is, the deficit excluding the costs of servicing the debt) by $1.3 trillion and raised projected debt-service costs by roughly $600 billion. The act therefore increases the total projected deficit over the 2018–2028 period by about $1.9 trillion.

That's a pretty significant chunk of change. Quite a bit more than the estimates for a tuition free public school program over the same time period.

 

[One Brow]

Part of the problem is people choosing degrees that dont have good job paths. People need to do an ounce of research and figure that out.

Most such degrees instead offer general skills that can be applied to a variety of career paths.

Also many people think they can just get a degree then they deserve a job in their career. You still need to be responsible, show you can work hard, be respectful of employers, dress up, and act like an adult at an interview. A bunch of people I have personally seen complaining about not getting jobs in their field after college have never really worked, arent reliable, dont dress up for interviews properly, and generally expect to get hired no matter how they act or looks. Then they complain about it.

They probably are playing on your lawn too much, also. You should shoo them off.

 

[Zombie]

Fwiw those arguing that kids shouldn't pursue careers in law or medicine or other professions that require post graduate education if they can't afford the tuition that comes with it are essentially arguing for a permanent underclass of citizenry. Obviously not every person is capable of such a career, but personal economics shouldn't be a factor in that decision.

 

[One Brow]

We have several problems.

You missed the biggest problem: as we increasingly transfer from a manufacturing base to a technological base for our economy, we need college degrees from an increasingly higher percentage of our population. We need to educate not only the best students, but also the good and even mediocre students. This has raised the cost it takes to educate students in our society.

My youngest (one of my kids with a developmental disability) was regularly pushed by his counselor at school this year regarding college preparation. He will probably go to college, but he will require more resources than I needed to do well. any "solutions" we come up with that don't address this issue will fail, because the miss the big picture.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Most such degrees instead offer general skills that can be applied to a variety of career paths.

They can be, but many dont want to go that route. They want to stick to what their degree is in.

They probably are playing on your lawn too much, also. You should shoo them off.

I would shoo them off my lawn. I dont like people in my yard uninvited. Truth is I party just as much as anyone and have a great time. I also enjoy doing my own thing and not having to cater to someone else. But at the end of the day if you want to get hired you have to appeal to people who are hiring. You can think all the progressive things you want and hope that others will as well but you still have to jump through hoops to get hired. Part of that is showing up clean cut, dressed well, having a decent resume, being able to have a conversation and sound somewhat responsible and professional. You also cant act entitled to something, that does not bode well for most people hiring.

 

[RandyForRubio]

Fwiw those arguing that kids shouldn't pursue careers in law or medicine or other professions that require post graduate education if they can't afford the tuition that comes with it are essentially arguing for a permanent underclass of citizenry. Obviously not every person is capable of such a career, but personal economics shouldn't be a factor in that decision.

Who argued that?

 

[Zombie]

Who argued that?

I've seen arguments online to that effect. There's a reason I didn't quote anyone here for that comment.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Only insanely rich people should get free money.

/s

 

[RandyForRubio]

Only insanely rich people should get free money.

/s

Free money doesn't exist.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

In-state/out-of-state tuition has always seemed a bit ridiculous to me.

It's so people stay in state and those schools make money.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

The biggest issue is that we put huge financial decisions in the hands of 18 year olds that don't have the knowledge of themselves enough to know what they want.

And yeaeh, you can say people should have done better or the kid should have studied his options closer or the parents should have known better, but the fact is that college is a huge societal pressure for most.

So to me the whole system feels a bit manipulative and predatory.

 

[Keefe]

The biggest issue is that we put huge financial decisions in the hands of 18 year olds that don't have the knowledge of themselves enough to know what they want.

And yeaeh, you can say people should have done better or the kid should have studied his options closer or the parents should have known better, but the fact is that college is a huge societal pressure for most.

So to me the whole system feels a bit manipulative and predatory.

So maybe the parents should do their job, ya know, as parents.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

So maybe the parents should do their job, ya know, as parents.

OK. Because parents are perfect and always make rational decisions when it comes to their children.

Also, kids always listen to their parents.

 

[Keefe]

OK. Because parents are perfect and always make rational decisions when it comes to their children.

Also, kids always listen to their parents.

That’s your argument? Lmfao. Some parents aren’t perfect so hey, let’s give them a do over. We should do the same for the idiots who lease a Benz and then can’t pay for it. It was just a bad decision. We shouldn’t crucify them by responsibly expecting them to pay for that lease, should we?

So let me get this straight. The kids want a loan to go to college, get their degree, and then don’t want to pay back that loan. Smfh.

It’s flat out ****ing ludicrous. If you want to talk to me about the ridiculous rate at which the cost of college has risen and become disgustingly like big business over the last 10-20 years, sure, I’ll listen. I’ll even agree with you. But this is a bunch of cry babies who were too ****ing dumb, got bad advise or chose a stupid *** major like art history and now can’t find a job because no one gives a **** about art history.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

That’s your argument? Lmfao. Some parents aren’t perfect so hey, let’s give them a do over. We should do the same for the idiots who lease a Benz and then can’t pay for it. It was just a bad decision. We shouldn’t crucify them by responsibly expecting them to pay for that lease, should we?

So let me get this straight. The kids want a loan to go to college, get their degree, and then don’t want to pay back that loan. Smfh.

It’s flat out ****ing ludicrous. If you want to talk to me about the ridiculous rate at which the cost of college has risen and become disgustingly like big business over the last 10-20 years, sure, I’ll listen. I’ll even agree with you. But this is a bunch of cry babies who were too ****ing dumb, got bad advise or chose a stupid *** major like art history and now can’t find a job because no one gives a **** about art history.

I don't really have an emotional decision either way for it. I think it would be a higher benefit to the economy than trumps tax cuts though.

 

[Douchebag K]

They can be, but many dont want to go that route. They want to stick to what their degree is in.





I would shoo them off my lawn. I dont like people in my yard uninvited. Truth is I party just as much as anyone and have a great time. I also enjoy doing my own thing and not having to cater to someone else. But at the end of the day if you want to get hired you have to appeal to people who are hiring. You can think all the progressive things you want and hope that others will as well but you still have to jump through hoops to get hired. Part of that is showing up clean cut, dressed well, having a decent resume, being able to have a conversation and sound somewhat responsible and professional. You also cant act entitled to something, that does not bode well for most people hiring.

but Ron ... the world owes me a living .... and i need my gap year and my fancy car when i'm 23 Oh and a house ... thnx