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GOP Blocks Senate Debate On Dem Student Loan Bill
TheGift73 writes with this quote from an AP report:
"Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill Tuesday to preserve low interest rates for millions of college students' loans, as the two parties engaged in election-year choreography aimed at showing each is the better protector of families in today's rugged economy. The 52-45 vote to begin debating the legislation fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to proceed and stalled work on an effort both parties expect will ultimately produce a compromise, probably soon. For now, each side is happy to use the stalemate to snipe at the other with campaign-ready talking points while they are gridlocked over how to cover the $6 billion cost."
It is funny how many bills he tries to bluff through Congress. This and the millionaires tax are something the republicans are going to torpedo, but in the process, they make republicans look like they hate the small guy. Both parties are against the small guy, but public portrayal of Democrats helping the poor is the old school image that could help them in today's economy too.
God spoke to me
The Repubs look like the losers for putting it to the little guys. The Dems look like losers for continuing to support increased spending.
And of course we are the losers because were' stuck with both of them.
If either side really wanted to offer better protection for families, they'd kill student loans altogether. This would make education prohibitively expensive at going rates, and immediately pop the education cost bubble.
You can get better education, free or nearly free, in most of Europe, and yet the US youth just sits there, saddling itself with gazillions in student loan debt -- all of which it cannot default on, because it belongs to uncle Sam himself. Shudder...
Good idea. People with poor parents shouldn't be getting an education anyway, the worthless peasants. Anybody who isn't rich should be grateful for a job mopping floors, not going around trying to improve their life.
Republicans seem to vote against anything that Democrats propose. I'm 50 and I've never seen this in my entire life. Republicans either get every single thing they want or they hold their breath until they get their way. Without compromise there is no government only gridlock. If compromise is dead how are we different from every other banana republic out there? We used to rule from the middle but now we get our choice of extremes. Either the extreme right wing get their way or they threaten to bring the country to it's knees. They only amount to at the most a third of the citizens so since when do a third of the people call themselves a majority and demand we all obey them???? I don't like the Democrats but the right wing Republicans scare the hell out of me. The right wing and rich stole half the country during Bush 42's rule and now they are demanding the rest. If the rich get their way you better get used to a system that resembles feudal England. We'll all end up working for our rich masters. Don't believe me then in 50 years I dare you to tell me I'm wrong. In the last 10 years the rich got a LOT richer and the rest of us are struggling. The Republicans call it trickle down economics but I call it pissing down my neck and calling it rain!
Many moons ago, someone posted something like this here on Slashdot:
Dems - want a European type of capitalist/socialist type of economy with plenty of entitlement programs with the taxation to go with it.
Reps - want to turn the US into a Third World Shithole where you have 99% poor slobs with a 1% super wealthy fat cats with all the power.
It's pretty obvious who's winning contrary to what the Talk Radio and Fox News people say.
Does it have to be one or the other? I don't know. But if it does, I'll take the European model any day because I just don't have the connections to become a 1%'er.
And if one is naive enough to believe that all they need to do is work hard and they'll be a 1%'er; well, good luck with that.
You'd be surprised how many people quickly turn from Dem to Rep once they're out of college and into the real world and have to pay taxes for all of the idealistic things they supported while in college.
That's what you get for losing perspective on what is politically extreme and what isn't in the US.
A bunch of right wing extremists, who are spectacularly successful, because they've succeeded in making themselves look far more moderate and acceptable than they really are.
The U.S is deeply divided into two opposing camps, and the media encourage this by playing the two parties off like football teams.
Your party is not always right. The other party is not always wrong. Politics should not be a "my team's better than yours" shouting match.
5) idiots in HR demand degrees to apply for the job even though a Degree has no use for the position.
That right there is where the problem stems from. Morons that have a degree that are in charge of hiring that have the snooty opinion that they only want to hire degree holding employees. yet refuse to pay what a degree holding employee should be paid.
The flicking receptionist does not need a Bachelors degree.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
the loan forgiveness only applies to federal student loans.
- and this story only applies to the Senate and federally backed loans.
Second, the bank-supplied loans in particular are notorious for being cruel to those who took out the money.
- that's a nonsense statement, it has nothing to do with how banks operate. They operate within the limits created by the system, and the system allows them to give out loans with free money the banks get from the Fed and the system 'insures' these loans. There should be no surprise that banks use this to the maximum logical conclusion, it's not free market that operates here.
Interest rates are free to change at a moment's notice and some people have seen double-digit interest rate increases in single years.
- ah, but the US government and the Federal reserve cannot at this point allow the interest rates to go up, it will be politically difficult as the US economy would implode. So the artificial interest rates will be kept low in US dollars by the Fed printing all the money to buy all of the debt (and that is what is happening right now, the Fed is buying all new Treasury debt).
The REAL interest rates are already very high, that is exactly why nobody can actually get access to real investment capital through banks, the real interest rates that come out of real savings are extremely high, high double digits, maybe higher than triple digits, that's because there are no real savings and investments available with all this fake stuff going on.
Yes, I would. And I would wager that in reality, you would as well
- that's because you don't understand economics.
Providing loans to US students is exactly the same as providing loans to US housing market or buying US bonds or buying stocks in most US companies or buying State bonds or buying US municipal bonds, etc.
Why is that you ask? It's because all US debt now is the same, everything is on the US Treasury and Federal reserve, there is NO difference in buying US Treasury debt or US housing debt or US education debt, it all is the same stuff.
Who in their right mind wants to buy long term US debt? You think you can buy US bonds and save for your retirement decades from now? You think with the real negative rates of return and the Fed creating all this inflation you will be making money holding long term US debt?
See, dumb_register, that's why we are different - I can add.
You can't handle the truth.
Of course not everyone's upbringing is net subsidized. Accounting for how much paid in versus paid out is a zero sum game. But here's an interesting little bit: taxes pay for civilization. Civilization advances the entire social group. In other words, taxes provide more long-term benefits than you can get from not paying taxes. Yes, someone will receive less than they pay in. Congratulations, you discovered the cost of living in a society, where burdens are shared, and some pay more than others.
Really? Is this concept so fucking hard to understand? What the hell did you do in social studies, civics class or even history
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.