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  • Taxpayers bear the brunt – yet again!
  • Posted By:
  • Karen W.
  • Posted On:
  • 02-May-2012
  • It is certainly not fair on our government to fund pricey education for the elite few Americans who attend only the top, best universities with tax funds from a vast majority of people who never did get a chance to get into college.

    Working families are already stressed out and it is certainly not right burdening them more so that the elite few can get their student loan interest rates reduced. If we are progressive by any measure, it is our duty to strongly oppose our President’s $6 billion student loan relief. Our country is in no situation to tolerate any ‘rob from the poor and give to the rich’ initiative.

    No one asks these questions, not even his fellow Republicans and Mitt Romney. Wisdom of the subsidy is not analysed. Only there are endless debates in the Congress on ways to keep the subsidized loans going.

    This could be because Democrats and Republicans are unable to face the ire and political power of students and families. How hard is it to figure out that the money is being generated by no one else but the beneficiaries themselves?

    What our leaders are telling us is that taxpayers are at the receiving end and have to cough up money to enable the elite Harvard Law School graduates to pay subsidized student loans even as they make millions.

    The sad part is even reputed reporters are encouraging this initiative probably still hurting from their own student loan experience. People under the age of 30 hold at least two thirds of the student loan debt. This shows that majority of people are able to pay off their student debt. It goes without saying that major federal rescue is not really needed by borrowers for a median loan of $12,800.

    The problem here is our President focuses not on median loan balance. He talks only about the average balance manipulated by big time, elite borrowers. These subsidy mechanisms offer interest rates below market rate. This in turn compels students to borrow more than they could ever afford to study in some of the most expensive educational institutions. These are incentives designed to burden students to a great extent in the form of tuition inflation.

    No doubt, Ivy League education has its own value and comes at a tremendously high cost. The question here is why not the people who choose to study at these elite institutions bear the expenses?

    $6 million a year allotted to benefit recent grads through interest relief may not seem like a big amount for many, considering our $1 trillion or more budget deficit. Our administration vociferously claims to be committed to helping people who have been affected by the devastated economy. Isn’t it then hypocritical to fund students who are wealthy enough to attend college in spite of the recession?

    To court student votes, our President has gone to the extent of borrowing money from China and help them rather than allowing them to pay off loans by themselves. This is an unfair situation that has to be set right if we want our country to move ahead in the right direction.







 

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