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As I sit at my computer keyboard, Americans are left to ponder yet another needless problem created by our government. Our President has decided to reward irresponsibility. Millions of young people, thought by universities to be intelligent enough to attain a degree, have proven them wrong. Outstanding student loans currently total around $1.7 trillion. This mountain of debt would not have occurred if the loan program had continued to be administered by the private sector. In 2010, as part of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, President Obama replaced private lenders with the government. As non socialist adults know, the government isn’t capable of doing anything as efficiently, or as cost effective, as the private sector. Obama declared: “That is 2 victories in 1 week that will improve the lives of our people for generations to come.” Just 12 years later his V.P., Joe Biden, now President, described the pain and suffering that young people were enduring under a horrible mass of debt. He explained that young people were being forced to live with mama. They couldn’t afford to marry, start a family, or buy a home, because of their stifling student loans. Government’s answer is to reward those who made bad decisions.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, most people understood that decisions have consequences. Each college bound high school grad has a series of very important questions to answer. Where do I want to go to college? How much will it cost? How will I pay for it? Will I need to consider a community college due to budgetary constraints? Will the major I am interested in pursuing offer the financial potential to repay the debt I incur? These and other questions should have been discussed, and resolved, by students and their parents before the student decided where to matriculate. To not research these issues begs the question if the student is intelligent enough to succeed at the collegiate level. Indeed, we are now discovering that many did no preparatory research. College students/grads seem shocked that their $200,000 degree in Egyptology at Brown University, or a similar cost for their Bagpiping major at Carnegie Mellon, has very little commercial value in the real world. Sorry kids. It is a bit late to be doing your homework.

I could be convinced to take a hard look at helping some kids with their debt if there were some logical qualifiers. First let me say that there should be zero money for grads who have made no attempt to repay their loans. I could be persuaded to consider assistance if a person had shown a continuing attempt at repaying their loans. If they exhibit a history of making 9 or 10 payments a year, for 3 consecutive years for instance, it would show they are making an effort. If a grad with a teaching degree agreed to teach for 10 years in an underperforming school district I might be able to support a reduction of their debt. I might consider providing debt relief for those that go into law enforcement, nursing, or other essential segments of our economy. The interest rate charged for student loans should be at the lowest rate possible. Given the additional risk inherent because of the delinquency rate of college loans, the rates charged have to be higher than those charged of responsible borrowers.

This entire issue is a perfect example of how our government operates. It provided loans for anyone who requested them, which allowed colleges to raise prices at an unconscionable rate. The cost of a college education has risen around 3-4 times the rate of inflation over the last 50 years. Then government concocts a hair brained remedy that doesn’t address the root cause. (A blog that will discuss how to reduce the cost of a college degree will be written in the very near future). It rewards “our future leaders” for their poor decisions, and punishes those who keep the wheels of commerce turning.

The President’s Student Debt Relief plan is a pathetic attempt to buy votes in the upcoming midterm. It will work for that 10-15% of the population that is woke. The wokesters were already voting for Dems. That portion of the population who are awake should be mad as hell. The plan’s unfairness is odious at best. There are Americans who paid for their education by working while attending college. Someone I love very much worked 3 jobs, for a decade after graduation, to pay off her loans. We all know parents who skipped expensive vacations, drove used cars, and took out 2nd mortgages, to help their children graduate with minimal debt. There are people who surrendered their 401(k)s, maxed out credit cards, and borrowed money from relatives, to start a small business. All of these people are made to feel like chumps for doing the right and responsible thing. I hope all of the above, and many others, are irate that they are now being asked to pay for the debt of those who made bad decisions.

Let’s face it, no other entity can screw things up like government. What is really galling is that, after screwing us, the leaders of our government have the temerity to think they can double down. They are betting that we are too stupid to understand what they are doing. There is a long list of travesties perpetrated on the American people by our government over the last 18 months. Too many to list in this blog. I hope this November we will finally say enough, and vote out the Dems. who are responsible for the policies that are putting our great nation in jeopardy. If you insist on reelecting the socialists would you please request they at least provide us with a lubricant.

I hope you found this post interesting and informative. If you did I am asking you to tell your friends, or forward it to them. Thank you, Bob