Skip to main content

Student Debt Impacts Economy

Wage inequality, which has led to flat family incomes and has led to $115 billion in federal loans for college. These college loans equal $7 million in student loan defaults and this in turn had led to a new industry which feeds off student loan debt. The companies are debt collectors who make calls for government contracted debt collectors. The companies making these calls are just one part of a system feeding on federal student loans. There are also debt services, refinance lender firms that help former students avoid defaulting on their loans and for profit schools that makes money as borrowers try to repay more than $1.2 trillion in government backed education debts. The beneficiaries of the loan programs are for the most part not the students, they are companies like debt services like Affiliated Computer Services Inc. Now part of Xerox Corporation and Education Management Corporation, which operates for for-profit colleges and whose largest shareholder is Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The GOP ensured these corporations will not be bothered by lawsuits or be cheated out of their profits by making it illegal for students to file bankruptcy. Just think, if all of this money was just used to pay for free education and not to for-profit schools and debt collectors the students would get an education and come out of college debt free and have a chance to get a good paying job and be able to pay taxes and not paying back inflated student loans, which just makes money to Goldman Sachs’ people and Wall Street. When people start out in their working life straddled with huge debts to repay they cannot purchase anything for their credit is zero. It is like starting out in a foot race and everyone gets a three-year head start. The chances of you winning are against you. This must change and just chipping away at the problem will take too long. We need to elect people who will change the way things are done now and not engage in slow walking. We need and deserve free education, free healthcare, a $15 an hour minimum wage, the right to form or join a union and card check now. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren could be our last hope for a real change before it’s too late.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Union or Project 2025

We have an election in two months, where the hell are the building Trade Unions? Members and organizers should be touting their wages, benefits and seeking out new members and union shops. So far, I’m only hearing crickets. While the Trade Unions sit back, the UAW have been striking and winning big benefits for their members. Then there is the Teamsters, who have taken on the Holy Grail—Amazon, the corporation. Again, just crickets from the Trade Unions. Then there is the Minnesota State model—-we can win more together than we can on our own. So why are all unions not working together? Why are all unions not talking with each other? There are two months left until the election—an election that could conceivably be the death null of unions. If we lose this election to the GOP, Trump and Project 2025, our unions will be destroyed and we’ll be back to the days of trying to make ends meet as the GOP will cut our wages, benefits will be eliminated and there will be nothing we can do abou...

David vs Goliath

Labor’s war is a David vs Goliath fight, but sometimes Goliath wins the battle but ultimately David will win the war, and here is one way it can be done in rural areas. Small towns that sit 40 to 50 miles away from larger cities have power for the low-wage workers have power for the low wage workers have nothing to lose for they have nothing, so they can and should use that nothing, which is a power, for better working conditions, such as good wages, regular working hours, healthcare—maybe even childcare. Employees can withhold their labor or just move. Businesses don’t have that option. So, labor in small towns should stand together for a good minimum wage and benefits. Wages should be $26 per hour. Given the income corporations are raking in today, they can well afford to pay their employees better. Healthcare workers, food workers, house keeping and any worker in town can join the town union (as the UAW has shown) and the unions could be the ones to join: fire, police and country ...

Set Aside Grievances and Vote Blue

International Brotherhood of Teamsters are following the United Auto Workers in making history with the groundbreaking joint employer decision against Amazon. Now, the Longshoremen have gotten a groundbreaking contract, as well. This is very telling on what labor can do if they all pull together. These are some of the best deals in the last 30 years. However, all can be lost in the next election if our members vote for the wrong candidate. It is not hyperbole, but history, to say Republicans hate unions. This election, all must set aside some of the “piss me off” things and vote for the people who will stand up for unions and the working people, union or nonunion. The richest 1 percent have half of the worlds wealth while the rest of us only have 0.75 percent. Since 2020, this 1 percent have taken 63 percent of all the wealth. In the U.S., 800 billionaires have more than half of the nation’s wealth while the bottom half of our families have 2.5 percent. Do you think these rich peop...