Total spent on pointless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan = 8 trillion.
If that doesn’t upset you I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe instead of fighting wars for Israel we could have done something productive with that money for actual US citizens…
The federal government has no earthly business being in the lending business. As with most things it tries to do, it isn’t good at it.
The student loan program is a massive overall failure. It has wildly inflated the cost of higher education; it has harmed far more borrowers than it has helped; and significantly burdened American taxpayers. By any measure, it is a failure. Few have benefitted, many have been hurt.
Lending should be done by banks and institutions which are, you know, in the money lending business. Underwriting takes into account risk. Lenders who make too many bad loans get fired. But none of those things exist in the federal student loan program. They’ll loan money to any feebleminded idiot with no regard for whether that feebleminded idiot might ever repay the money, or even possibly be able to repay the money.
This purported collection effort will end up being far more bark than bite. Blood cannot be gotten from turnips. At worst, it’ll force the deadbeats to be maybe 2.5% more clever in order to continue to avoid the repayment obligation they voluntarily undertook.
The taxpayers financing this mess deserve symapthy, not the deadbeats.
These defaulted borrowers are a fantastic political target. The MAGA base will have contempt for them for both seeking an education and not paying their bills as agreed. The base will love it. That said, people who have defaulted on student loans are turnips as to blood. Even if the Feds take 15% of their income, it won’t be much. But the optics will be great politically. MAGA is going to come out way ahead on this.
The deadbeats and giveaways piss me off, and I’m nothing close to MAGA. I paid my undergrad loans and law school loans, on time and according to the terms upon which I borrowed the money. Guess I’m just a schmuck.
I cannot fathom how anyone with even a shred of integrity can possibly be on the side of loan forgiveness. It is, very plainly, the endoresement of stealing.
I cannot fathom how anyone with even a shred of integrity can possibly be on the side of [a constitutionally protected right to bankruptcy]. It is, very plainly, the endoresement [sic] of stealing.
it is possible to both oppose student loan forgiveness and the deadbeats therefrom and also be dramatically in favor of BK relief therefrom, same as other debts.
They are. The elephant in the room is that minorities are disproportionately affected and it’s not just minor victims but minority victims. A double injustice by the white patriarchy.
Nah, I blame the fed for setting up the grift and the schools for bilking it exponentially beyond what it should have been.
Banks, issuing loans that are guaranteed is the same as a billionaire that has a lower effective tax rate than his secretary. THIS is the fault of the federal govt.
Period.
@12:56
These “children” you speak of, weren’t they old enough to vote, enter a contract to rent real property, buy on credit? They accepted the student loan knowing it was a LOAN.
Dont get me started on the PPP loan forgiveness. I’m not saying student loans should be forgiven, but dang, the student loan mess and the PPP loan mess makes me sick.
Did you or your employer take out any PPP loans? That upsets me far more than student loan forgiveness would. To be clear, both are likely bad from an inflation standpoint, but PPP loans for non-service industry businesses were largely just fraud. All the big firms in town collected millions.
If the argument against student loan frogiveness is that it excuses a free choice gone wrong at the taxpayers’ expense, why stop at student loans? Taxpayers send FEMA money to South Florida year after year after Hurricane season, when those people all knew the risk of living in Florida. Same for farmers in the midwest after tornado season, western residents during fire season, etc. And unlike forgiveness, turning our backs on victims of natural disasters doesn’t require any ugly collections actions, etc. All we have to do is turn our backs on these people and do nothing.
Guest
Anonymous
May 14, 2025 12:57 pm
Here’s a one-time get-out-of-jail-free proposed solution to the student loan crisis that makes some sense: Open a one-time one-year window where anyone with defaulted federal student loan debt can, if they otherwise qualify, discharge the debt in bankruptcy. The federal sudent loan debt would be treated as a consumer debt like any other. The proviso would be that, as a condition of the bankruptcy, the debtor would be forever banned from borrowing money from the federal government for education or any other purpose.
Oh, are we doing crazy student debt ideas? Good, here is mine. Free to any lawmaker who wants it:
1) Cancel interest on all federally backed student loans now and forever. This should happen no matter what.
2) Give every adult American a one-time $50,000 credit that can be taken either as an immediate reduction in student loan principal -OR- as a reduction in owed federal income tax -OR- as a pre-payment of federal income taxes.
That dog story is so upsetting. It probably reflects some deep disturbance mentally. Dogs are a true Blessing to us humans. Partners in life.
Who stabs a puppy?
Be like the Secretary of Homeland Security and just shoot it
I like Zach but the literal elevator pitch is too much.
So cringe.
I thought it was cheesy and earnest in a good way. I genuinely like Zach and he already had my vote.
Anyone in student loan default, beware.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2025/05/14/department-of-education-prepares-to-seize-15-of-student-loan-borrowers-pay/
Maybe the FDIC should take them over, circa 2008. With this default rate, they should be prohibited from lending a dime forever.
Total US Student debt = 1.7 Trillion.
Total spent on pointless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan = 8 trillion.
If that doesn’t upset you I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe instead of fighting wars for Israel we could have done something productive with that money for actual US citizens…
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
No lies detected.
Except, for my part, how about a big fat ass tax refund?
What does one have to do with the other?
The federal government has no earthly business being in the lending business. As with most things it tries to do, it isn’t good at it.
The student loan program is a massive overall failure. It has wildly inflated the cost of higher education; it has harmed far more borrowers than it has helped; and significantly burdened American taxpayers. By any measure, it is a failure. Few have benefitted, many have been hurt.
Lending should be done by banks and institutions which are, you know, in the money lending business. Underwriting takes into account risk. Lenders who make too many bad loans get fired. But none of those things exist in the federal student loan program. They’ll loan money to any feebleminded idiot with no regard for whether that feebleminded idiot might ever repay the money, or even possibly be able to repay the money.
This purported collection effort will end up being far more bark than bite. Blood cannot be gotten from turnips. At worst, it’ll force the deadbeats to be maybe 2.5% more clever in order to continue to avoid the repayment obligation they voluntarily undertook.
The taxpayers financing this mess deserve symapthy, not the deadbeats.
These defaulted borrowers are a fantastic political target. The MAGA base will have contempt for them for both seeking an education and not paying their bills as agreed. The base will love it. That said, people who have defaulted on student loans are turnips as to blood. Even if the Feds take 15% of their income, it won’t be much. But the optics will be great politically. MAGA is going to come out way ahead on this.
Soybrained take @12:30. MAGA BAD!
I never said MAGA was bad. I said they are going to love the Feds going after defaulted borrowers, which is the absolute correct take.
But is “going after defaulted borrowers” bad? Is it somehow wrong? Maybe MAGA got this one right.
Ever the victims.
“Soybrained”? I have secondhand embarrassment for you
They think ‘owning the Libs’ is their greatest genuflection and contribution to their Dear Leader
The deadbeats and giveaways piss me off, and I’m nothing close to MAGA. I paid my undergrad loans and law school loans, on time and according to the terms upon which I borrowed the money. Guess I’m just a schmuck.
It looks like this is going to score points outside of the base too. Lots of emotion out there for this to play off of.
I cannot fathom how anyone with even a shred of integrity can possibly be on the side of loan forgiveness. It is, very plainly, the endoresement of stealing.
I cannot fathom how anyone with even a shred of integrity can possibly be on the side of [a constitutionally protected right to bankruptcy]. It is, very plainly, the endoresement [sic] of stealing.
it is possible to both oppose student loan forgiveness and the deadbeats therefrom and also be dramatically in favor of BK relief therefrom, same as other debts.
Count me among them.
When the banks stole from the children too young to drink alcohol by fraudulently enticing to take loans.
Oh fuck yourself. That isn’t what happened and you know it. Are we really now calling the borrowers “victims”?
They are. The elephant in the room is that minorities are disproportionately affected and it’s not just minor victims but minority victims. A double injustice by the white patriarchy.
Predatory lending schemes aren’t a new concept.
Nah, I blame the fed for setting up the grift and the schools for bilking it exponentially beyond what it should have been.
Banks, issuing loans that are guaranteed is the same as a billionaire that has a lower effective tax rate than his secretary. THIS is the fault of the federal govt.
Period.
@12:56
These “children” you speak of, weren’t they old enough to vote, enter a contract to rent real property, buy on credit? They accepted the student loan knowing it was a LOAN.
Dont get me started on the PPP loan forgiveness. I’m not saying student loans should be forgiven, but dang, the student loan mess and the PPP loan mess makes me sick.
Apples and bowling balls.
As an actual taxpayer. I considered the PPP loans a long overdue tax refund and lost not a second of sleep.
LOL.
@12:51
They sole from us first.
Tread carefully. Comments like that are a shoe-in for thwacking.
Don’t get in a knot, it was tongue in cheek
Sure it wasn’t foot in mouth?
Did you or your employer take out any PPP loans? That upsets me far more than student loan forgiveness would. To be clear, both are likely bad from an inflation standpoint, but PPP loans for non-service industry businesses were largely just fraud. All the big firms in town collected millions.
If the argument against student loan frogiveness is that it excuses a free choice gone wrong at the taxpayers’ expense, why stop at student loans? Taxpayers send FEMA money to South Florida year after year after Hurricane season, when those people all knew the risk of living in Florida. Same for farmers in the midwest after tornado season, western residents during fire season, etc. And unlike forgiveness, turning our backs on victims of natural disasters doesn’t require any ugly collections actions, etc. All we have to do is turn our backs on these people and do nothing.
Here’s a one-time get-out-of-jail-free proposed solution to the student loan crisis that makes some sense: Open a one-time one-year window where anyone with defaulted federal student loan debt can, if they otherwise qualify, discharge the debt in bankruptcy. The federal sudent loan debt would be treated as a consumer debt like any other. The proviso would be that, as a condition of the bankruptcy, the debtor would be forever banned from borrowing money from the federal government for education or any other purpose.
Oh, are we doing crazy student debt ideas? Good, here is mine. Free to any lawmaker who wants it:
1) Cancel interest on all federally backed student loans now and forever. This should happen no matter what.
2) Give every adult American a one-time $50,000 credit that can be taken either as an immediate reduction in student loan principal -OR- as a reduction in owed federal income tax -OR- as a pre-payment of federal income taxes.
Let’s just start with no tax on SS and tips.
SS yes, tips no.
There is an exemption for gifts already. How is this different?
Bro what is with the new “Ad Placeholder” blocks all over the screen? Is this new?
I had to turn on the ad blocker on this site to get rid of it.
Well this is fun.