The cause is to much credit to available and to cheap due to government loan grantee and or direct lending programs.
O'Realy? So it's all "cheap loans" and not:
* States slashing higher education funding so tuition is raised to make up the difference - see California for a recent example.
* Student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy - even privately issued student loans. Meaning for-profit colleges hand out loans to everyone with a pulse because those loans must be paid back.
And see there are a whole lot of people in this story going on about "supply and demand" - without mentioning another market force: competition. There are thousands and thousands of colleges and universities in this country, both public and private, so why isn't competition a downward force on tuition costs?
Furthermore, how do you explain how health care costs have exploded at similar rates to tuition, yet there is no flood of low-interest loans for health care?
Finally, it's very interesting that the "solution" is to end student loans all together, as opposed to capping the amount of tuition universities can charge to get their hands on those loans. Or restoring bankruptcy protection to students while forcing schools to absorb some of the risk as well, returning the asset acquisition office back into the office of admissions.
When you inject easy money into a market for anything, the price of that thing will go up.
Another question you free-market types will probably avoid: what about the counteracting force of competition? There are thousands of public and private universities in the United States - if your market forces are the be-all and end-all at work here, then why isn't competition between schools forcing costs down?
We should end bankruptcy protection for student loans.
You should have an idea of what you're talking about before posting. Bankruptcy protection was ended for public student loans a loooooong time ago. And they were recently ended for private loans as well, which is pretty much nonsense as they're equivalent to credit cards.
And the ones who take three internships and work their asses off to maintain a 4.0 GPA - but still can't find a job after graduation? How do they fit into your holier-than-thou narrative?
But I can't seem to find any enumerated power in the Constitution that gives the Feds any legitimate role.
Because you don't want to.
General Welfare - it's in the Constitution. Twice. And before you go into the "strictly enumerated powers" spheel, remember that Common Defense is in the same sentence as General Welfare in Article I, Section 8.
Which of course means that if the DOE is unconstitutional (and SS, and Medicare, etc), then so is the Air Force, CIA, NORAD, etc etc. Because the Constitution "only" gives Congress the authority to fund an Army and a Navy.
The Republicans have a bill that lowers the rate but Reid won't let it come up for a vote. So the headline should be Democrats Block Vote on Lowering Interest rates.
Because Republicans want to cut health care spending in return for a vote on student loans.
In other words, a poison pill the Republicans put in because they knew the Democrats would never vote for it. But that fact would have interfered with your storyline, so it was left out.
I have zero sympathy for someone with such bad decision making skills.
Because you're an asshole with selective standards. Not one "throw grads in debt to the wolves" conservative is demanding that business bankruptcy be eliminated to match the lifetime risk that students face.
Why the transparent shell game? Having the best university isn't remotely close to saying you have the best level of education for your population, but of course you knew that already. This is the same moving the goalpost crap as responding responding to the fact that 50 million Americans don't have health insurance by calling Mayo the best hospital on the planet.
As can be seen in most of the highly-moderated comments around here, the American voter tends to dislike government spending in any way, shape or form (with the possible exception of the military).
Couldn't be farther from the truth. Even the baggiest of the teabaggers loves them domestic spending - as long as it benefits them. See all the teabaggers holding signs saying "keep your government hands off my Medicare".
It's that the non-moranic rest of the population is willing to spend money on things that don't personally benefit them.
I remember when this started...in 1994, when the Republicans gained the majority in both houses. From the get go the Democrats were out there calling people mean spirited, etc. Then they fought tooth and nail against everything.
Your memory is laughable. Do I need to go find the long list of demonizing adjectives for Democrats that Gingrich passed out to Republican politicians? Did you forget about the obsessive need to find a Clinton scandal, any scandal at all in order to obstruct him? Whitewater, Travelgate, saying the Clinton's had Vince Foster killed.....
You are a Republican hack. Sure, the GOP offered to vote for student loan rates - in return for cuts in health care. It's not a real offer or honest negotiation when you throw in a poison pill on a totally unrelated issue.
Why did the price of housing go up and up? Sub prime loans. you can blame wall street for making it worse but the prices were ticking up for years before wall street got involved. The prices started going up with the cheap government loans.
Slight problem with it: the vast majority of subprime loans had nothing to do with Freddie Maye or Freddie Mac. They came from companies like Countrywide lowering their underwriting standards down into the gutter after financial markets were deregulated and the industry-written bankruptcy bill passed under Bush made it harder for consumers to declare bankruptcy. Then the mortgages were split up and sold as unregulated AAA securities.
The more you increase the loans the more the tuition goes up. The only way to bring tuition prices down is to reduce the amount of money that can be spent on education.
So pass a law capping tuition at $3,000 a semester for a school to receive student loan money. Would actually force a reduction in costs without throwing students under the bus.
You know, it never hit me what a big deal this idea of "forgiving" loans is, maybe because I paid mine off and assumed others would do the same.
And you did this when - the 90's? Education has gotten several times more expensive than it used to be just 15 years ago. It's like wondering what all the fuss is over gasoline prices because your memory is of paying 83 cents per gallon in 1998.
They do it because they can. When there's six unemployed people for every open position, they can afford to be choosy. When there are 5,000 janitors in the U.S. with PhD's, they feel quite comfortable in demanding a masters degree for a position that could really be filled with a high school diploma and a couple weeks of training.
May I suggest the problem is trying to have massive programs done on the federal level for the entire country.
You certainly could, but that's not the problem. Federal highways are a better and cheaper option than a patchwork of state highways. Universal health care provides better care for less money than private insurance - as well as larger bargaining power when buying for a market of over 300 million as opposed to 30 million. Or 700,000.
Let other states figure their own way.
Mississippi would already be a third world country without federal spending. Thanks but no thanks on letting the disadvantaged sink or swim because they were born in such a state.
You shouldn't expect to find a bunch of agreement between those diverse areas.
Except you do, of course. See: teabaggers marching around in their cognitive dissonance bubble carrying signs saying "Keep your government hands off our Medicare".
Try to minimize what needs to be nationalized as much as possible.
As sensible a position as maximizing government for the sake of maximizing government.
The cost of college education in the US has skyrocketed ever since the government started messing around with supply and demand by keeping student load rates artificially low.
Tautology not supported by facts. The U.S. government hasn't "messed around with supply and demand" for health care, but that hasn't stopped medical costs from exploding as fast as higher education. You could try to cook up some kooky argument involving SCHIP or Medicare, but even that wouldn't explain why costs have exploded for everybody else.
Whenever our government gets their hands on something for the sake of making it "affordable" they always end up increasing the cost of it.
Conservative dogma debunked by.....pretty much the rest of the industrialized world. Universal health care provides better care for less money. Students getting a free education in Canada or France can start their own business without having to worry about paying off $50k in student loan debt and attract employees without having to provide them health insurance.
Curious to know what well funded entities are paying money to people to have them make up stuff that would encourage people to want "Big Government".
As another replier noted, the obvious well funded entities are the governments themselves and the entities that cash public fund checks. The US Federal government for example spends well over three trillion dollars a year. One doesn't need a near mystical understanding of human nature to know that spending on that level creates a vast conflict of interest.
You don't have to have a doctorate in observation to see that's a lot of hand waving without being able to point to a single there there.
As opposed to the massive amounts of cash the oil industry throws at Congress, the subsidies given to the oil industry by members of both parties, opening up new areas for drilling by presidents of both parties, or that hugely profitable companies like Exxon and BP have been let off with slaps on the wrist for some of the wost environmental disasters in history. All of which are known, quantifiable, and indisputable....as to the crazy Soros-Gore conspiracy the Randians pretend is out there....
The Unions got to avoid any cuts whatsoever with GM being bought by the feds.
Other than the massive concessions in pay and benefits they were forced to make in return for the bailouts? Concessions none of the bailed-out banks or bankers had to make....
And of course, the auto bailout was a few hundred billion. The bank bailouts...over $16 trillion.
Slashdot Mirror
O'Realy? So it's all "cheap loans" and not:
And see there are a whole lot of people in this story going on about "supply and demand" - without mentioning another market force: competition. There are thousands and thousands of colleges and universities in this country, both public and private, so why isn't competition a downward force on tuition costs?
Furthermore, how do you explain how health care costs have exploded at similar rates to tuition, yet there is no flood of low-interest loans for health care?
Finally, it's very interesting that the "solution" is to end student loans all together, as opposed to capping the amount of tuition universities can charge to get their hands on those loans. Or restoring bankruptcy protection to students while forcing schools to absorb some of the risk as well, returning the asset acquisition office back into the office of admissions.
Or questions you want to avoid answering.
Another question you free-market types will probably avoid: what about the counteracting force of competition? There are thousands of public and private universities in the United States - if your market forces are the be-all and end-all at work here, then why isn't competition between schools forcing costs down?
You should have an idea of what you're talking about before posting. Bankruptcy protection was ended for public student loans a loooooong time ago. And they were recently ended for private loans as well, which is pretty much nonsense as they're equivalent to credit cards.
No, I didn't bring up random crap that you just pulled out of your ass, why do you ask?
Who's fucking filibustering the bill, Slick?
We don't have to. You made it perfectly clear what you're doing when you framed loans that have to be paid back as "payola".
And the ones who take three internships and work their asses off to maintain a 4.0 GPA - but still can't find a job after graduation? How do they fit into your holier-than-thou narrative?
Because you don't want to.
General Welfare - it's in the Constitution. Twice. And before you go into the "strictly enumerated powers" spheel, remember that Common Defense is in the same sentence as General Welfare in Article I, Section 8.
Which of course means that if the DOE is unconstitutional (and SS, and Medicare, etc), then so is the Air Force, CIA, NORAD, etc etc. Because the Constitution "only" gives Congress the authority to fund an Army and a Navy.
Because Republicans want to cut health care spending in return for a vote on student loans.
In other words, a poison pill the Republicans put in because they knew the Democrats would never vote for it. But that fact would have interfered with your storyline, so it was left out.
Oh, is that why even Republicans favor higher taxes on the rich instead of cutting services.
Sure it's free. It's as free as your nearest public library or public sidewalk.
Free means "free to use", not "free lunch".
Because you're an asshole with selective standards. Not one "throw grads in debt to the wolves" conservative is demanding that business bankruptcy be eliminated to match the lifetime risk that students face.
Why the transparent shell game? Having the best university isn't remotely close to saying you have the best level of education for your population, but of course you knew that already. This is the same moving the goalpost crap as responding responding to the fact that 50 million Americans don't have health insurance by calling Mayo the best hospital on the planet.
Total non sequitor, totally dishonest.
Couldn't be farther from the truth. Even the baggiest of the teabaggers loves them domestic spending - as long as it benefits them. See all the teabaggers holding signs saying "keep your government hands off my Medicare".
It's that the non-moranic rest of the population is willing to spend money on things that don't personally benefit them.
Your memory is laughable. Do I need to go find the long list of demonizing adjectives for Democrats that Gingrich passed out to Republican politicians? Did you forget about the obsessive need to find a Clinton scandal, any scandal at all in order to obstruct him? Whitewater, Travelgate, saying the Clinton's had Vince Foster killed.....
You are a Republican hack. Sure, the GOP offered to vote for student loan rates - in return for cuts in health care. It's not a real offer or honest negotiation when you throw in a poison pill on a totally unrelated issue.
Slight problem with it: the vast majority of subprime loans had nothing to do with Freddie Maye or Freddie Mac. They came from companies like Countrywide lowering their underwriting standards down into the gutter after financial markets were deregulated and the industry-written bankruptcy bill passed under Bush made it harder for consumers to declare bankruptcy. Then the mortgages were split up and sold as unregulated AAA securities.
So pass a law capping tuition at $3,000 a semester for a school to receive student loan money. Would actually force a reduction in costs without throwing students under the bus.
Ooo! Ooo! Can I play "trite witticisms" for 100, Alex?
The trouble with capitalism is that eventually, the rich take all the economy's money.
And you did this when - the 90's? Education has gotten several times more expensive than it used to be just 15 years ago. It's like wondering what all the fuss is over gasoline prices because your memory is of paying 83 cents per gallon in 1998.
They do it because they can. When there's six unemployed people for every open position, they can afford to be choosy. When there are 5,000 janitors in the U.S. with PhD's, they feel quite comfortable in demanding a masters degree for a position that could really be filled with a high school diploma and a couple weeks of training.
You certainly could, but that's not the problem. Federal highways are a better and cheaper option than a patchwork of state highways. Universal health care provides better care for less money than private insurance - as well as larger bargaining power when buying for a market of over 300 million as opposed to 30 million. Or 700,000.
Mississippi would already be a third world country without federal spending. Thanks but no thanks on letting the disadvantaged sink or swim because they were born in such a state.
Except you do, of course. See: teabaggers marching around in their cognitive dissonance bubble carrying signs saying "Keep your government hands off our Medicare".
As sensible a position as maximizing government for the sake of maximizing government.
Businesses go under and declare Chapter 11 all the time. Students cannot discharge debt in bankruptcy baring the most extreme of conditions.
So you're in favor of ending bankruptcy for businesses, right? They signed on the loan, they pay the price. And all that.
FTFY.
FTFY.
Conservative lies are what's killing America. Everyone pays taxes, but you knew that already.
Tautology not supported by facts. The U.S. government hasn't "messed around with supply and demand" for health care, but that hasn't stopped medical costs from exploding as fast as higher education. You could try to cook up some kooky argument involving SCHIP or Medicare, but even that wouldn't explain why costs have exploded for everybody else.
Conservative dogma debunked by.....pretty much the rest of the industrialized world. Universal health care provides better care for less money. Students getting a free education in Canada or France can start their own business without having to worry about paying off $50k in student loan debt and attract employees without having to provide them health insurance.
Voting against the bill allows him to bring it back in some funky parliamentary move that someone else can probably explain better than I can.
Big tautology.
You don't have to have a doctorate in observation to see that's a lot of hand waving without being able to point to a single there there.
As opposed to the massive amounts of cash the oil industry throws at Congress, the subsidies given to the oil industry by members of both parties, opening up new areas for drilling by presidents of both parties, or that hugely profitable companies like Exxon and BP have been let off with slaps on the wrist for some of the wost environmental disasters in history. All of which are known, quantifiable, and indisputable....as to the crazy Soros-Gore conspiracy the Randians pretend is out there....
Other than the massive concessions in pay and benefits they were forced to make in return for the bailouts? Concessions none of the bailed-out banks or bankers had to make....
And of course, the auto bailout was a few hundred billion. The bank bailouts...over $16 trillion.