A big thank you to President Biden and a big raspberry to Sen. Romney and other GOP skinflints

I received the following email from President Biden or someone on his staff and signed by Joe. It was in response to a thank you email I wrote to him following my student loan being forgiven through a program initiated by his administration. Here's Biden's letter:

September 6, 2023

Dear Mr. Shay,

Thank you for your support for our shared values, particularly on the issue of student loan debt relief. 

We are facing an inflection point in history, and the decisions we make today are going to decide the course of this Nation for decades to come.  We still have a lot of work to do, but I know there is nothing we can’t do if we do it together.  

I have never been more optimistic about America’s future than I am today.  Keep the faith!

Sincerely,

Joe Biden

I blogged about the loan forgiveness here. I admire the fact that President Biden is optimistic about America's future. I shall try to follow in his example although Republicans make that a challenge.

This came from a recent post from the office of U.S. Senator and multimillionaire Mitt Romney of Utah:

The Administration’s new student loan rule would worsen inflation and add to our $32 trillion national debt. Proud to join my colleagues on this resolution to overturn this irresponsible and unfair student loan scheme.

Reminder to Romney: Much of that national debt can be traced back to the tax cut for millionaires and billionaires pushed through Congress by the GOP under Rich Guy President Donald Trump. But Mitt would rather make life difficult for the 4,000-some Utahans (according to the Deseret News) who could qualify for loan forgiveness under Biden's new plan. We aren't as numerous in Wyoming. yet there are plenty of student-loan debtors working low-paying full-time jobs or two even lower-paying part-time jobs. Give them a break. Give us all a break.

Personal reflections on the student loan forgiveness policy

I got some very good news last week. An email was tagged: “Your student loans have been forgiven.” First I thought it was fake and then I checked it out and yessiree, no more student loan payments. I have been paying off $20,000 in grad school loans since 1993. Successfully, at first, and then as our financial situation experienced some serious ups and downs, I worked with my student loan provider, one of the businesses that the government contracts to provide this service. I would get them down to a payment I could afford and then they would suddenly, as if some invisible switch was pulled, jack it up to a higher level I couldn’t pay. I then would request a forbearance for six months or a year and that would expire, the company added in all of the unpaid interest, and my payments would be higher than ever. Or I would sign on to a payment plan and suddenly my company shuffled me over to another and I had to start all over again. When my wife's coffee shop/art gallery business failed (she was ahead of her time) 20 years ago, we declared bankruptcy which I thought would include my student loans. I neglected to read the fine print.

I consolidated my loans in 2012 when they reached the $102,000 mark and worked out payments with Nelnet and the amount with accrued interest and fees reached $165,000. Interesting to note that the federal government paid off the student loan servicer and it, conceivably, was very happy to have the money and scratch me off their to-do list. Not such a great deal for the feds and my fellow taxpayers. But, as a taxpayer, I was also supporting the government to contract with this servicer which didn’t seem to give a damn about me and millions of others in debt for attending college. One of the worst servicers is FedLoan Servicing, an arm of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, a company co-owned by Betsy DeVos, Trump’s “secretary of education.” The PHEAA was, for a short while, my loan servicer. DeVos made millions while arguing forcefully against student loan forgiveness. She now is back under the rock she came out from under. A very fancy rock to be sure.

But, in good faith, I was paying off my debt. All I asked is that the servicer find me a level I can afford and I will pay it until its paid off or Doomsday arrives, whichever comes first. We all got a reprieve when Covid hit and payments were suspended. According to Mohela, a new loan servicer that picked up my account under President Biden’s watch, when my future payments resumed, I would be billed $1,963 a month. My Social Security deposit (I am 72 and retired) each month is $1,940, slightly above the average Social Security check of $1,701. My wife, who volunteered to go on this journey with me, gets $1,240 a month, below the national average because her working years were spent with childbearing and childcaring and household management, none of which enhanced her Social Security benefits. I am disabled and my wife in a Type 1 diabetic and breast cancer survivor. It’s ludicrous to think that a retiree should remit his Social Security check to the government which deposits it into his credit union account every month. But there you have it. Then again, we have GOPers who believe that Americans should not be allowed to retire at 65 or should never retire and, if they do, don’t deserve the funds that came from their paychecks for 40 years.

The Supreme Court aided by GOPers such as Wyoming's entire Congressional delegation and Governor Gordon, stymied Biden’s forgiveness plan so he found new and interesting ways to relieve the burden of millions, many of whom are senior citizens. Because I made a certain number of payments and loans older than 20-25 years were considered time enough to pay, I was forgiven. My loans were 30 years old. I also worked in public service so I was credited with monthly payments I made which go toward forgiveness. All of Biden’s positive ideas to solve this crippling debt were fought by Republicans because CRUELTY is their middle name. Also, they despite higher education, education of any kind – witness the New College fiasco and GOP-mandated public education requirements in Florida. GOPers, even Harvard-educated ones such as DeSantis, have used the loan forgiveness issue as another cudgel for the MAGA crowd to use against the so-called elites.

I send thanks to Pres. Joe Biden and his allies. 

Remember that the Loan Forgiveness Program could be reversed if the wrong people take control of governance in 2024. 

An email from President Joe Biden

Received a nice letter from President Joe Biden. It really was an e-mail in letter format with the White House logo as a header and Joe Biden's signature below. It was a fine letter, earnest and believable as is Pres. Biden. A stark contrast to the previous resident of the White House. He was neither. Then again, I never wrote to him. I thought it would be a pointless exercise and the response, if I got one, would also be a pointless exercise. I wish that T's four years in office had been a pointless exercise but it was a daily exercise in greed and cruelty, one not so easy to erase.

I can't find my email to Pres. Biden. I probably thanked him for signing the infrastructure bill. I would like to thank him for signing the Build Back Better Bill but I may never get that chance, thanks to one retro scaredy-cat DINO in West Virginia. I may have thanked the prez for his stalwart response to Covid-19. I really would like to thank him for zeroing out all student debt but that may not happen either. I do thank him for the payment moratorium until May 1. It is a lot more constructive that requesting another forbearance from NelNet or Unipac or one of the many student loan service companies that have ripped us off for decades. A forbearance allowed them to keep adding interest to a burgeoning principal which made the debt even larger but made millions for Nelnet, etc.

Here's the text of the president's email:

Dear Mr. Shay,

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me.  Hearing from passionate individuals like you inspires me every day, and I welcome the opportunity to respond to your letter.

Our country faces many challenges, and the road we will travel together will be one of the most difficult in our history.  Despite these tough times, I have never been more optimistic for the future of America.  I believe we are better positioned than any country in the world to lead in the 21st century not just by the example of our power but by the power of our example.

While we may not always agree on how to solve every issue, I pledge to be a President for all Americans.  I am confident that we can work together to find common ground to make America a more just, prosperous, and secure Nation. 

As we move forward to address the complex issues of our time, I encourage you to remain an active participant in helping write the next great chapter of the American story.  We need your courage and dedication at this critical time, and we must meet this moment together as the United States of America.  If we do that, I believe that our best days still lie ahead.

Good stuff. I plan to keep in touch, "to remain an active participant in helping to write the next great chapter of the American story." You should do that too. 

This Liberal Arts grad in Wyoming urges Florida creatives to come to a place where they are valued

Florida's Gov. Rick Scott and his hand-picked education commission want to charge creatives more college tuition than science and math majors. Students in creative fields at the big Florida universities, such as UF (my alma mater) and FSU (the enemy campus in Tallahassee), will pay more than students pursuing high-demand fields, such as ag and engineering and medicine. Read all about in the Huffington Post.

I have only one response: Go West, young creatives. In the Big Square States, we value your contributions. Thus far, Colorado and Wyoming and New Mexico and Utah are not talking about charging higher tuition for budding painters than they are for budding lawyers. Sure, tuition is rising, but the Colorado governor (himself a creative sort and an arts supporter) and legislature have said nothing about charging a higher rate for a poet than for a pediatrician. This is a good thing, as I would like to see more writers and musicians attending Colorado State University in Fort Collins than fewer. Sure, I want the pre-med people too, and the computer tech and agronomy majors. We need creativity in all economic sectors. But to charge more? Absurd.

I earned my master of fine arts degree in creative writing from CSU in 1992. I parlayed that into a career in arts administration. Along the way, I've published my own work and continue to do so.

I'm also talking about the University of Wyoming in Laramie. For the first time, according to the UW President's special assistant Mike Massie. campus enrollment has crept above 14,000. 14,000? That's the number of business majors at UF. And, a few years ago, UW embarked on an amazing building boom. Know what the coolest new buildings are on campus? Visual arts and the expanded library. Anthropology, too, and business. The performing arts building will soon get a multimillion dollar overhaul. And so will one of the oldest buildings on campus, the one that houses the English Department and humanities. The English Department! That includes the fine creative writing program, too, a place that boasts fine writers such as Alyson Hagy and Brad Watson and Jeff Lockwood, who's a bug scientist (entomologist,, for those non-English majors) and a fine writer. There's also a slate of visiting writers that will knock your socks off: Salman Rushdie, Francine Prose, John D'Agata, Rebecca Solnit, Don DeLillo, etc. 

Come West, young creatives. We won't stigmatize you or your passions. It will still remain difficult to find jobs, English majors. No guarantees! You still will have student loans to repay and you still must eat (unofficial Wyoming state motto: "You can't eat the scenery"). But a blue ribbon state commission will not tell you that your dreams are worth less than others.

A word about campus censorship. And this is especially important for visual artists. You may have heard about the removal of Chris Drury's environmental sculpture, "Carbon Sink." It truly was a cowardly act, removing a sculpture just because it offended the state's coal industry. We are a conservative state with some heinous attitudes. We have our own birthers and fundies and "Don't Tread on Me" loonies. But what the heck -- you now live in Florida with the likes of Rick Scott and Marco Rubio. The Florida Panhandle is about as redneck as it gets. And you don't have to read Carl Hiaasen's Miami Herald columns or his funky novels to understand the lamebrain nature of the Florida legislature. If you're going to be embroiled in an arts controversy, you may as well come West where the air is clean and you can escape to nearby mountains for solitude and inspiration.

The Front Range is also known (by some) as the Silicon Valley of Craft Breweries. While I shy away from encouraging indulgence in spiritous substances, I also know that  where there are microbrews, there are artrepreneurs and mountain bike shops and nifty bistros and high-tech start-ups. Scientists have yet to prove the axiom: "Which comes first, the microbew or the creative economy." I do know that they go together. When it comes to overindulgence, it's a fact that the craft beer community polices its own. So, if you want to get drunk and cut the fool, you can go back to Florida, get your Parrothead on and drink Jimmy Buffett's crappy beer. Sorry, Jimmy, I love your music but dislike your books and beer. Can't do everything well, even if you do have a mighty platform to operate from.

In my next post, I'm going to share helpful links that can illustrate to you creatives what "Out West" has to offer.

BTW: Go Gators! Beat the Dawgs!

Pres. Obama tackles student loan crisis during Denver speech

Pres. Obama seems to like Denver. He returned to the Mile High City today to talk about plans for relieving the student loan crisis. Great news for all of us still paying off loans -- and for our children and grandchildren. Details at http://www.barackobama.com/news/student-loan-reform-cant-wait

CSU's 100 Views of Climate Change looks at the subject from all angles

Until John Calderazzo showed me his web site, I didn't know that there were 100 views of climate change.

That's the name of his site, 100 Views of Climate Change. It's an official Colorado State University site, one among hundreds at this place that started its life as Colorado A&M -- the big white Aggie "A" still lurks on the mountain above town.

John teaches in the CSU creative writing program which is part of the English Department. He is a writer of creative nonfiction which, put simply, means that he uses fiction writing techniques in his published books and articles and essays about volcanoes, rain forests, watersheds, etc. He takes his facts as seriously as he takes his technique. His book on volcanoes is fascinating. He once taught in China and had written extensively about Asia. Recently, he climbed his first big mountain, a 19,000-footer in Mexico. Pretty good for a guy who won't see 60 again.

I had a chance to visit with John when he was in Cheyenne for the Literary Connection put on by LCCC. He served as my first adviser when I went to CSU in 1988 as a thirty-something corporate dropout. We had a lot in common, including Florida roots, and he was only a few years older than me. We worked on several free-lance writing projects together. It's always good to see an old friend.

As is true with many Boomers in their sixties, John is not sitting in his office counting paper clips and marking off the days until retirement on a wall calendar. Well, he may be doing that but he's also bringing the climate change debate to CSU, Fort Collins, Colorado's Front Range and the Rocky Mountain West. He and his wife, Sue Ellen Campbell, are doing this together. Sue Ellen is also a published writer, professor and environmentalist. The duo has seen first-hand the depredations of climate change. They have written extensively on the subject.

When it was time to do something about it, they thought that they might as well start close to home. So many scientists at this university. Climatologists, soil biologists, ecologists, bioethicists, agronomists, water hydrologists and so on. And sometimes, to translate the work of these scientists, in come the artists, writers and performers.

No reputable scientist disputes the fact that global climate change is a real thing. However, the topic of "global climate change" sparks as many storms as a spring Rocky Mountain low pressure system. Policies that address climate change would affect almost all the ways that we've done business in the West for 100 years. They would affect coal mining, oil and gas drilling, coal-fired plants, transportation, infrastructure, home construction, and almost any other topic you could think of. Just the term "climate change" sends Wyoming Republicans into a tizzy. It's likely they work in the energy industry. It's certain that much of their election war chests come from EnCana and Peabody, etc. Many of their constituents work in the energy industry and make better money doing that than they would in almost any other endeavor. Local business groups and chambers of commerce welcome energy companies and energy jobs. The mayor of Gillette was just in Washington, D.C., telling a congressional committee to send more energy jobs his way.

So, it's not surprising that any hint of doing something about climate change causes berserkity to break out all over.

Chris Drury: "Carbon Sink: What Goes
Around Comes Around"

Here's a recent case in point from Wyoming's lone four-year university. A very talented artist, Chris Drury from the U.K., designed and installed a public art work on the UW campus. It's entitled 'Carbon Sink: What Goes Around Comes Around." It's made of real Wyoming coal and real beetle-killed trees from Wyoming forests. The burning of one of these things -- coal -- undoubtedly caused the warming planet which led to the pine bark beetle surviving winters which led to the killing of the trees. All of the parts will eventually return to the earth from whence they came, which is one of the messages of the piece. A giant circle of coal and wood spinning across a university lawn on its way back to the source. This also is our fate. The fate of humankind, of course, will be determined by the way we treat the planet.

Here's how the project was described on the UW Art Museum blog:

Chris Drury's Carbon Sink: What Goes Around Comes Around places beetle-kill pine and coal -- both natural resources in Wyoming -- in a formal structure derived from a mushroom spore, twisting into a vortex to suggest the natural process of decay, decomposition, and transformation.  Typical of the artist's work, who routinely connects natural phenomena from the macrocosmic to the microcosmic, the whirling deep, dark, and beautiful reflective properties of the coal play off the raw wood that has been charred so the materials merge at the center.

Some Wyomingites were not amused (snippets from stories about the installation from both the New York Times and The Guardian via Inhabitat): 

The coal industry immediately took offense: “They get millions of dollars in royalties from oil, gas and coal to run the university, and then they put up a monument attacking me, demonizing the industry,” stated Marion Loomis, the director of the Wyoming Mining Association.  

Two legislators also jumped into the fray -- Republican Representative Tom Lubnau and Gregg Blikre from Cambell County, site of the massive Powder River Basin coal mine. 

“While I would never tinker with the University of Wyoming budget – I’m a great supporter of the University of Wyoming – every now and then you have to use these opportunities to educate some of the folks at the University of Wyoming about where their paychecks come from,” stated Lubnau.

Read more here: Chris Drury’s “Carbon Sink” Art Installation Strikes Nerve of Wyoming Coal Industry Carbon Sink by Chris Drury – Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World 

As it turns out, it was a tempest in a teapot. No coal-crazed Republican legislators attacked the UW Art Museum budget. But we'll have many more of these. Some will be a lot more serious.

Chris Drury is obviously a thoughtful man in search of meaningful discussion of a big subject.

Maybe UW needs a dose of 100 Views of Climate Change. CSU is right down the road...

Those darn 20-somethings!

The most-read New York Times article this week is “What Is It About 20-somethings?”

Kids these days! Damn their hides!

One of the paragraphs in the story caught my eye. I’m a 59-something rapidly closing on 60-something. But the story’s description of these 20-somethings (my son is 25) sounded a lot like a description of me when I was 20-something in the 1970s:

The 20s are a black box, and there is a lot of churning in there. One-third of people in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch. Two-thirds spend at least some time living with a romantic partner without being married. And marriage occurs later than ever. The median age at first marriage in the early 1970s, when the baby boomers were young, was 21 for women and 23 for men; by 2009 it had climbed to 26 for women and 28 for men, five years in a little more than a generation.

When I was 20-29, 1970-1979, I moved 13 times among four different states. And jobs, I had a few – 10, to be exact. I lived with two romantic partners before I was married to the latter of those when I was 31 and she was 26. We’ve been married now for 28 years and spawned two kids, one of whom is an annoying 20-something and another is an annoying teen-something in her last year of high school.

My son Kevin is on the lifetime college plan down in Tucson. Good news is he’s paying for it by working and grants and student loans. He sometimes calls for money but I don’t answer. He’s moved a bunch of times, so many I think he has me beat. He’s lived with several romantic partners and maybe more – some questions I don’t ask. When parents with more linear children asked me about Kevin, I tell them he’s in school in Tucson. They imagine him in some advanced degree program at U of A, party school to thousands. Let them think what they want. I’m pleased that he is talking “lifelong learning” seriously. I am especially pleased because he wasn’t the best student in high school. In fact, he dropped out and later got his G.E.D. Learn away, buddy.

Most middle-class parents anticipate kids spending the usual 4-5 years in college and then out to make a living. They are alarmed when it doesn’t work out this way.

No telling about my daughter when she’s a 20-something. We’re having enough excitement with her at 17. There is time enough for alarm in three years when she enters that NYT “black box.” Just enough time will lapse by then for another article about those slacker 20-somethings of the next decade.

Mcjoan explains new student loan bill

Mcjoan (Joan McCarter), Idaho native and one of the Big Kahuna Kossacks at Daily Kos, can take a complicated subject and make it sensible. Saturday on Kos, mcjoan explained the new student loan legislation. For all of it, go to http://mcjoan.dailykos.com.

What will the new student loan bill do for you?

If you're already paying student loans, probably not a lot. But if you're either soon needing to get loans, or to send your kids to college, it's good news. The government takeover of the federal student loan program is brilliant in it's simplicity. Thus far loan programs have been both direct loans, and federally-guaranteed loans from private lenders. The federally-guaranteed program means that the feds (us, the taxpayers) guaranteed loans made by private lenders, so the taxpayer has all the risk, and the bank makes all the profits. Now, all federal loans will be direct (the majority, 88% already are). The interest on those loans goes back to the federal government, and not to banks. All that extra money taking the remaining 12% of loans into the direct program will and not subsidizing the middle man banks goes into making college more affordable.

Get district-by-district info about Student Aid and Responsibility Act

Mike Kruger, Online Outreach Specialist for the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, sent this update:

More district-by-district information about the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act that will be included in the budget reconciliation package voted on tomorrow [Sunday].

District-by-district: http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2010/03/education-reconciliation-landm.shtml#more

More information on SAFRA: http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/07/student-aid-and-fiscal-respons.shtml

So now you know exactly what is at stake for students and taxpayers when your Representatives vote tomorrow.

FMI: 202-226-1956; http://edlabor.house.gov/; http://www.twitter.com/edlabordems; http://www.facebook.com/EdLaborCommittee

Student loan bill could save billions

Headline for an editorial in the Dec. 7 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Give it the old college try: student loan bills could save billions of dollars"

It makes the case for the passage of the new student loan bill in Congress. A good counterpoint to the naysaying Wall Street Journal editorial opposing the legislation.

Here's an excerpt:

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act passed the House on a bipartisan vote of 253-171 in September, and the measure now is awaiting action in the Senate. It likely will be waiting until there is action on the all-consuming health-care reform bill, but opponents are busily lobbying against it.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09341/1019123-192.stm#ixzz0ZFpIvBK1

Greedy banks that got taxpayer bailouts try to stop student loan overhaul

From Monday's New York Times:

President Obama sharply criticized the nation’s largest banks for trying to stop legislation that would overhaul federal student loan programs.

Mr. Obama, speaking at a community college, said that American banks had received bailout money from the federal government, and yet were still fighting against a proposal that would eliminate an unwarranted subsidy which the banks receive for providing student loans.

“Ending this unwarranted subsidy for big banks is a no-brainer for folks everywhere,” Mr. Obama said, before lashing out against his favorite target of late. “Everywhere except Washington, that is. In fact, we’re already seeing the special interests rallying to save this giveaway.”

Lummis No. 15 on the richy-rich list! And she doesn't want you to get a student loan!

Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne was ranked number 15 on Roll Call's list of 50 richest members of Congress. As you may remember, she was elected to Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat in November. Not sure how often she votes the Republican party line, but I estimate it to be 110 percent of the time. But it could be more.

Last week, she voted against a House bill that ends subsidies to banks and student loan companies that have a long history of ripping off students and their parents -- and racking up incredible profits in the process. Pres. Obama said: "This bill will end the billions upon billions of dollars in unwarranted subsidies that we hand out to banks and financial institutions, and will use that money to guarantee access to low-cost loans."

I've always been tickled by student loan companies denying loans to strapped 19-year-olds because their middle-class parents make too much money working three part-time jobs. The House bill's projected $87 billion in savings would be used to expand aid to students and colleges, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Read full richy-rich list at http://www.rollcall.com/features/Guide-to-Congress_2009/guide/38181-1.html

From Roll Call:

Lummis’ prosperity is tied to three Cheyenne, Wyo.-based cattle ranches -- Lummis Livestock Co., Arp & Hammond Hardware Co. and Old Horse Pasture Inc. — each valued at $5 million to $25 million.

The first-term lawmaker also lists the Laramie River Ranch in Wheatland, Wyo., valued at $500,000 to $1 million. Her husband, Al Wiederspahn, lists the Equipoise Corp. in Cheyenne with a value of $1 million to $5 million.

Lummis lists two mortgages for her Wyoming properties with a combined minimum value of at least $1.1 million.

New Dem Chair supports Pres. Obama's higher-education plan

This is the second press release I've received from Leslie Petersen, the new chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party. Thing is, she's been in office for less than two weeks. Hope she keeps up the pace.

In this release, Leslie supports Pres. Barack Obama's higher education plan, which was presented on Friday.

Said Leslie:

“Students in Wyoming – like young people all across America – are struggling to cope with the skyrocketing cost of higher education. In recent decades tuition has grown ten times faster than a typical family’s income – putting an undue strain on families and making the cost of higher education too expensive for far too many.

“At the same time, students are competing in a global marketplace with countries like China and India, and we need to ensure that the American workforce has the tools to rise to the challenge. That’s why the President today announced a plan to make college more affordable and to continue his administration’s historic investment in America’s future.

“President Obama has already enacted legislation making the cost of college more affordable by making working families eligible for a $2,500 tax credit to help offset the cost of tuition, modernizing and expanding federal loan programs and reforming the Pell Grant program. The plan the President announced today to eliminate waste in the current loan programs and expand Pell Grants will help ensure that more students can afford college and that our system is as efficient as possible.

“As unemployment rises, a college degree is more important than ever. We must do
everything we can to make sure all eligible students can get the education they need to succeed. We are thankful that with President Obama at the helm, we are much closer to making the dream of an affordable college education a reality.”

If only our all-Repub Congressional delegation would get behind this plan. At one point, Sen. Enzi was a champion of education. But I suspect that the Know-Nothings in his party got to him.

We already know that Sen. Barrasso and Rep. Lummis are too busy sucking up to the wingnuts to be of any help on this issue.

Young Democrats rally Tuesday at UW

Bill Luckett sends this announcement:

Democrats at the University of Wyoming plan to hold a press conference tomorrow to discuss the impact of President Obama’s investments in education on students in Wyoming.

TIME: Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 12:15 p.m.

PLACE: University of Wyoming, Simpson Plaza, in front of the Wyoming Union

CONTACT:
Dana Walton, Chair, Young Democrats of Wyoming, 307-258-1825
Rey Fuentes, Vice Chair, Young Democrats of Wyoming, 307-679-4125
Bill Luckett, Executive Director, Wyoming Democratic Party, 307-631-7638

One suggestion. Support Barack Obama's plan for student loans, which boots out the mercenary private lenders and makes more federal funds available through Pell Grants.

For more, go to http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2009/04/pres-obama-takes-on-student-loan.html

Pres. Obama takes on student loan industry -- and it's about time

Reporter David M. Herszenhorn reported in the New York Times April 12 about the brewing student loan clash in Congress:

The private student lending industry and its allies in Congress are maneuvering to thwart a plan by President Obama to end a subsidized loan program and redirect billions of dollars in bank profits to scholarships for needy students.

The plan is the main money-saving component of Mr. Obama’s education agenda, which includes a sweeping overhaul of financial aid programs. The Congressional
Budget Office says replacing subsidized loans made by private banks with direct government lending would save $94 billion over the next decade, money that Mr. Obama would use to expand Pell grants for the poorest students.

But the proposal has ignited one of the most fractious policy fights this year.

I'm backing Obama on this one. The private lending industry has abused our trust. The whole system is out of whack and we need a new -- and better -- one.

Student loan borrowers "too small to help"

Arthur Delaney reports this on Huffington Post:

A new report released Thursday on the private student lending industry offers a bit of deja vu.

"It's the same sad story: irresponsible lending," says Deanne Loonin, author of the report and director of the National Consumer Law Center's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, in an interview with the Huffington Post.

The report (PDF), titled "Too Small To Help: The Plight of Financially Distressed Student Loan Borrowers," laments that "unlike the lenders that made these loans" -- potential beneficiaries of the government's TALF and TARP bailouts -- "the borrowers are 'too small' to help."

Private lenders like Sallie Mae, Wells Fargo, and Citi relaxed their standards as the economy boomed and extended private loans to more students at lower-tier schools -- students often already maxed out on federal loans and unlikely to able to pay up.

The report calls out the newly infamous process of securitization for fueling bad lending: "Creditors made and sold loans to borrowers, but with the specific goal of selling them to investors. Loan products were thus developed for the repackaging rather than to provide the most affordable and sustainable products for borrowers."

Loonin's report says the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program for modifying mortgages should be a blueprint for student borrowers. The report says the government should require lenders benefiting from bailout funds to work with borrowers, restore bankruptcy rights to student lenders, and increase industry regulation in the areas of underwriting and interest rates, among other things.

Is help on the way for student loan debt?

If Business Week, Daily Kos and U.S. News & World Report think it's an idea whose time has come, who am I to argue?

This strange mix of media outlets have recently run stories about the idea of forgiving student loans -- or at least finding ways to lessen the burdens of those saddled with whopping student debt.

Business Week noted on March 24 that "help is on the way" for those with federal student loans.

The Income-Based Repayment plan, part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, will provide some relief to federal student loan borrowers when it goes into effect on July 1. The program will cap most borrowers' monthly payments at less than 10% of their gross income for 25 years, after which any remaining debt will be forgiven. Another program, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness, allows borrowers to make income-based repayments and have their debt discharged after 10 years. "These programs actually provide some major help now and in the immediate future," says Irons of the Project on Student Debt.

But the situation is not quite as rosy for private loan borrowers. Many of these debtors have been unable to meet their monthly payments, putting their loans in forbearance for several years or, in the worst-case scenario, defaulting on their loans. Making matters worse for private borrowers is a clause in the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act that included private student loans as one of 10 debts that can't be forgiven in bankruptcy cases.

Read the entire article at
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/mar2009/bs20090323_558993.htm

I'm one of the 144,000 members of the Facebook group Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy. We all have horror stories to tell. Some members of the group have raised the point that the $500 we pay each month in student loans might be a better economic stimulus if we could spend it, rather than give it to a student loan conglomerate who uses it to line the pockets of their overpaid executives. It's well known that some of the same giant banks that bundled home and car loans also bundled student loans. The conglomerates made out like bandits, while we were left holding the bag of loans larded with compiling interest and collection charges.

It's consumer spending that stimulates the economy. After all, how many solid gold umbrella stands does one bank executive need? I understand that the purchase of gold umbrella stands contribute to the economy, especially if they are made in the U.S.A. and bought in the U.S.A. But it's a little-known fact that jobs in the the gold umbrella stand industry have all been shipped to Sri Lanka by those same executives who bought those umbrella stands during boom times for precious-metal accoutrements such as gold-flaked gourmet ice cream, gold-encrusted cell phones and 24-carat gold bullion doorstops. Not to mention those golden showers execs administered to us all.

But I digress, in the hummingbirdminds style.

What if that same $500 that went into an exec's gold umbrella stand budget line was instead spent locally on groceries, clothes, car repair and even umbrellas? What if there were thousands -- even millions -- of us doing that? Wouldn't that be better for the GDP and our local economies than the purchase of a few you-know-whats by you-know-who?

Think about it.

Meanwhile, check out a few other articles about student loan forgiveness on the CSLDTSTE group on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=46657437878. Thanks to group founder Robert Applebaum, NYC.

Stimulate the economy by cancelling student loan debt

I've been on Facebook for a few weeks. I have 29 friends, most of them far-away family members. My sister Mo in Tallahassee prompted my interest in FB, which had just been another PC time-waster until she started a family group. It's been fun to see what my four brothers and four sisters are up to. It's also educational viewing the posts by my nieces and nephews in college (and high school) in Florida -- and my son in college in Tucson. Exams, parties, rock concerts -- my niece Erin just went to a "wrock" concert, and I'm trying to figure out what it is. They post many more photos and videos that their elders. It's a multimedia melange to them. We're still figuring it out...

I've read a couple of anti-Facebook columns lately. I haven't been on long enough to be angry at this social networking site. One writer said that he didn't need FB to talk to his friends -- and didn't want to make any new friends who spend all their spare time on Facebook.

Facebook has a "groups" section. You can start your own group -- Red-headed Nazis for Christ, Recycling Geeks of America, etc. -- and you can invite all of your new friends to join. Some of these groups have gathered a huge number of joiners. One is Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy. It boasts more than 83,000 members who want to wipe clean the student loan slate and spend their money on more important things, such as a faster laptop to accommodate all their new FB friends. I joined this one, as I'd like to persuade the lender of my grad-school loan to knock off some of the thousands in interest and fines it has piled onto my loan.

Some have commented that the group's members are just a bunch of whiners, people who took out loans voluntarily and now want to default on those loans, ruining the system for others. As if there was a "system" to student loans. If the act of finding, applying and receiving a student loan is systematic, I haven't seen it. My son gets tuition assistance from Pima Community College, but hasn't yet taken out a loan. I encourage him to avoid it if possible.

Pres. Obama has taken a step in the right direction, with tax credits for college expenses and other programs. But, as in the mortgage loan mess, many of us are carrying around student loans bloated by expanding interest and fees that drag us down. As is the case with "responsible homeowners" and their mortgages, we're just looking for a little relief -- not a bailout. Or default.

Rock the vote -- and show up at the polls

Stephen Winn, deputy editorial page editor at the Kansas City Star, wrote a column today in praise of the youth vote. I read it in our local paper, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, while sipping coffee and listening to the blasted north wind whistle through the eaves. Winn applauds the younger generation for turning out in large numbers for Barack Obama. And then he bemoans the fact that Baby Boomers (his generation and mine) "have kind of screwed things up." He then lists the many ways that we have failed: electing George W. Bush not once but twice (maybe only once); lack of reform of Social Security and Medicare; running up the national debt; etc.

While our children get saddled with more of the national debt ($30,000 per person) and a whopping college loan debt (if they can even qualify for assistance), the country's older and oldest Americans keep getting more benefits. Why is that? They vote, work at the polls, write their congressional reps, and join powerful lobbying orgs such as AARP. Some of them even blog. They're loud and they're proud. A huge pain in the ass.

So youngsters, take a page from your elders' handbook and get involved to the point of pain-in-the-ass status. It's already happening, and it's good to see. My 23-year-old son, Kevin, voted in his first presidential election in 2004. He recently voted in the Arizona primary. He's outspoken in his support for Barack Obama, although he's too busy to do much electioneering, at least for now. He's paying for his own school, attending classes full-time and working nights. His girlfriend does the same. They're having a heck of a time finding enough financial aid. But they persevere. They're young and they have big plans.

My daughter is still too young to vote but will be in 2012. That same year, I'll be old enough to get Social Security checks. But I won't as retirement will still be a few years away. Will we have S.S. and Medicare reform by 2012? That depends on whether we have a Democrat as president or a Republican. To ensure that, we have to get to the polls and vote.

Speaking of polls, why is it that I'm the only one there who doesn't remember World War II? Born in 1950, I'm usually the youngest poll worker in my precinct. When we set up our e-voting machines in 2006, many of the poll workers gathered around and stared at the machines much like the primates in "2001: A Space Odyssey" stared at The Sentinel in the film's opening scene. They had about as much knowledge of the technology. We had techs from Diebold available to come in and fix any problems, but we did have to show others how to use the things to cast their vote.

Volunteers at polling places are primarily retirees. Younger people are at school or work or taking care of kids. Would that change if we had elections on weekends instead of weekdays? What if everyone had a paid day off on election day? Why not change polling day and see what happens. Or maybe we should change the entire system. We have local control of polling places, just as we have local control for schools. County clerks are responsible for setting up the system and making sure it runs smoothly.

But we've seen the results, most notably in the 2000 presidential elections. But even the latest round of primaries have shown ballot problems and machine breakdowns. Polling place workers are giving out faulty information, possibly because they forgot to take their morning meds.

So just add the crazy voting system to the things that we Baby Boomers should have fixed but didn't.

I've seen the young people getting involved in this election cycle. Men and women in their 20s and 30s are powering the Obama campaign nationally and right here in Wyoming. I think they see this as their opportunity to take charge of a broken system and make it better. There will be heartbreak and compromise along the way. But it's best not to think about that now. Win first, worry later.

Unveiling corruption in student loans

A New York Times’ story on April 7 carried this lede:

A senior Education Department official who owned stock in a student loan company while helping oversee the federal lending program was placed on leave yesterday, the department said.

And in today's NYT:

The CIT Group said today that it had put on leave three top executives of its student loan unit, Student Loan Xpress, after revelations last week that stock in that company had once been held by financial aid administrators at three universities and by an Education Department official who helps oversee the federal student loan program.... Separately, the office of Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York attorney general, sent letters to three universities — Johns Hopkins University, Widener University and Capella University — raising concerns about relationships they had with Student Loan Xpress. At each school, according to Mr. Cuomo’s office, the loan company is a lender recommended to students.

Closer to home, Matt Singer at Left in the West out of Montana wrote about the corruption in the U.S. student loan program on April 6 and tipped his readers off to Anya Kamenetz's blog, calling it "a must-read for more info." Kamenetz is the author of "Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, No Benefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers – And How to Fight Back."

Haven’t read the book but love the title. All of us with student loan debt up to our eyeballs – for us and our college-age kids – knew there was something rotten in the system. Thanks to the Times and Ms. Kamenetz for cluing us in.

According to Student Loan Justice, Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi and his PAC have benefitted handsomely from contributions from Sallie Mae, NelNet, and other student lenders. This report came out last October when Enzi was chair of the Senate committee that oversees the student loan system. He's been demoted since, so who knows whether the contributions are still rolling in.