Want a Real Economic Stimulus and Job Plan?
Want a Real Economic Stimulus and Jobs Plan? Forgive Student Loan Debt!
By Robert Applebaum (Contact)
To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate and President Barack Obama
Forgiving the student loan debt of all Americans will have an immediate stimulative effect on our economy. With the stroke of the President's pen, millions of Americans would suddenly have hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of extra dollars in their pockets each and every month with which to spend on ailing sectors of the economy. As consumer spending increases, businesses will begin to hire, jobs will be created and a new era of innovation, entrepreneurship and prosperity will be ushered in for all. A rising tide does, in fact, lift all boats - forgiving student loan debt, rather than tax cuts for corporations, millionaires and billionaires, has a MUCH greater chance of helping to rise that tide in a MUCH shorter time-frame. The future economic success of this country is wholly dependent upon a well-educated, prosperous middle class. Instead of saddling entire generations with debt from which there is no escape, let's empower the American people to grow this economy on their own!
~~~
The Student Loan Debacle is so outrageous it’s beyond words but I will try to conjure up a few to relieve the pressure that has built up in my brain over the lack of common sense concerning these loans. First of all, using the tool called 'common sense' (which Republicans seem to lack) to illustrate: When an economy makes education very expensive and out of reach for most of its citizens 'the powers that be' conjure up a remedy (bandaid) to allow students to take out exorbitant loans (government backed of course) and the only collateral needed is a promise of a career upon graduation for payback, which… MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL! These loans in essence tell the borrower that PIE IN THE SKY awaits them and it doesn’t matter how large a loan they make because an affluent job $$$$ will be their reward at the end and they will be able to pay the loan back in no time at all. Say what? Of course the loan industry doesn’t seem to worry that they are pushing a preposterously optimistic goal because if the student finds he cannot pay the loan back the government will pay it for them. Who the hell thought this flimflam up? It leaves we-the-people holding the bag either way. How gloomy for a young man or woman to complete all the hard work it takes to get a college degree only to find out they’ve been hoodwinked and the careers promised are not there. What Is there... is this enormous personal debt which will plague them for the rest of their lives; like I said DISGUSTING BEYOND WORDS.
If bankruptcy does not become a tool for this debacle, our educated... the doctors, lawyers and all those schooled to help a Nation prosper will slip into poverty; and our government will, without a doubt, become A Plutocracy (the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy.) (a government or state in which the wealthy class rules.) (a class or group ruling, or exercising power or influence, by virtue of its wealth.) (These descriptions sound like we are ALREADY THERE or almost there, to me!!!)
Please read the interesting article (somewhat related to the Student Loan fiasco) below which outlines where the OWS is now headed, AND consider signing the petition to FORGIVE STUDENT LOAN DEBT. Thanks, thinkingblue
After tent cities fade, Occupy turns to specifics
After tent cities fade, Occupy turns to specifics
APBy AMY WESTFELDT | AP – 31 mins ago
NEW YORK (AP) — For more than two months, they were open-air communes where people came to rebuild society and start a nationwide discussion on how to close the wide gap between the rich and the poor. But as Occupy Wall Street tent cities fade away, a growing number of protesters are pushing to put a clear message ahead of the movement.
Alan Collinge has his list ready — return bankruptcy protection to student loans. Bring back regulations that were removed from the Glass-Steagall Act. End corporate personhood.
"They should come up with a short term list of no brainer agenda items," said Collinge, wearing a huge sign in the rain at New York's Zuccotti Park calling for student loan reforms.
More than a dozen other protesters interviewed by The Associated Press also came up with a wish list of specifics to address what they say is corporate greed and economic inequality. The list of demands ranged from the simple — get corporate money out of politics — to the ethereal (make sure Washington politicians act with a moral conscience).
Asking Occupy protesters what, exactly, they would do to reform government and the financial system is a loaded question and a source of internal conflict. Collinge, 41, of Tacoma, Wash., said he has unsuccessfully lobbied Occupy's general assembly meetings in New York to develop a strong platform, but has been rebuffed.
"A lot of people, they think that this should be sort of a catchall" for every issue, he said, the goal being to expose the economic problems in the country, not solve them.
Other cities' movements have held meetings of committees with titles like "cohesive messaging" to discuss strategy, but haven't agreed on listing specifics as a movement. The greater purpose isn't to influence the government or the financial system through classic demands, but to foster broad cultural changes that will gradually empower people to stop depending on big corporations and Wall Street money.
"All the energy has gone into an outcry over economic conditions, with the hope that others will join us and pick up issues they care about," says Bill Dobbs, press liaison for Occupy Wall Street in New York. "Our best hope is inspiring other people to take action to bring economic justice."
Some observers and experts predict that Occupy groups may spend the next few months focusing on smaller actions while waiting for the summer when the Republican and Democratic conventions would give Occupiers a world-wide audience.
But ask around, and protesters who spent weeks living in encampments and talking about the country's woes have a clear idea of what they want.
A number have called for limiting campaign donations and getting big money out of politics. Some Occupy members want to limit the amount of money a person is allowed to give a politician. Others want to ban corporate donations specifically, or the number of campaign ads.
"How did Abraham Lincoln ever become president without a television set?" asked Ryan Peterson, an entertainment company worker from Chicago who lived for weeks in Zuccotti Park. Paul Lemaire, a 20-year-old visual arts student from Brooklyn, wants the two-party system eliminated.
The influence of money in politics is one of the greatest factors behind the gap between the superrich and the poor, said James Parrott, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute in New York, which published a report last year on economic disparity. It shows "that they're very focused in understanding the root causes" of the country's economic issues, he said.
The call for tighter regulation of campaign contributions won't gain traction anytime soon. The Supreme Court, in its landmark Citizens United decision in January 2010, cleared the way for corporations to spend unlimited funds to influence elections, often using money from anonymous donors. The court struck down most of the so-called McCain-Feingold law that had set tight restrictions on such donations, arguing that government did not have the right to regulate political speech.
Campaign regulation, stopping wars that strain resources, halting corporate personhood — the spending power given to corporations in the 2010 Supreme Court ruling — and addressing higher education costs have emerged as key goals of the Occupy movement in Los Angeles. Organizers say they are now focusing on sharpening their objectives, as police moved in to shut down the two-month-old encampment this week. MORE HERE
Want a Real Economic Stimulus and Jobs Plan? Forgive Student Loan Debt!
By Robert Applebaum (Contact)
To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate and President Barack Obama
Forgiving the student loan debt of all Americans will have an immediate stimulative effect on our economy. With the stroke of the President's pen, millions of Americans would suddenly have hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of extra dollars in their pockets each and every month with which to spend on ailing sectors of the economy. As consumer spending increases, businesses will begin to hire, jobs will be created and a new era of innovation, entrepreneurship and prosperity will be ushered in for all. A rising tide does, in fact, lift all boats - forgiving student loan debt, rather than tax cuts for corporations, millionaires and billionaires, has a MUCH greater chance of helping to rise that tide in a MUCH shorter time-frame. The future economic success of this country is wholly dependent upon a well-educated, prosperous middle class. Instead of saddling entire generations with debt from which there is no escape, let's empower the American people to grow this economy on their own!
OCCUPY WALL STREET - AMERICAN AWAKENING
OCCUPY WALL STREET 4TH WEEK UPDATE
OCCUPY WALL STREET WEEK SIX - We Shall Overcome
posted by thinkingblue at 10:58 AM
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