President Obama has mentioned the problem of student debt since he ran for his first term as President in 2008, but definitive action to improve the day to day circumstances of student loan debtors has yet to be seen.
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| Obama's legacy will be determined by his response to the single biggest problem facing the country: the Student Debt Crisis. |
However, the current Obama student loan forgiveness programs have exceptionally strict requirements regarding repaying full payments on time for 10 years or more. This may help many students and possibly stem the problem if our current economy were not a depression disguised as a recession, and that the primary culprits responsible for destroying the economy were not uncapitalistically bailed out using taxpayer money, money that would have been better spent repairing the credit of taxpaying homeowners and students.
For the majority of current student loan serfs, there have been no solutions.
Instead, congress, acting against the interest of the people, played partisan games with the lives of student borrowers and in an irresponsible intentional act of inaction, permitted the doubling of the student loan interest rates for current borrowers.
To dig deep for a positive in the Obama administration to date regarding student loans, at the very least, students can still have "hope" since Mitt Romney isn't president, although our patience is all but exhausted. A Romney presidency would have been marked by willful ignorance of the issue, defining it as a problem of the 47%, requiring that you go to the ER for your stress induced heart attack from the lack of student loan relief and health insurance, or helpful suggestions like borrowing the money from wealthy family members to pay for tuition instead.
At the very least, the Obama administration has shown a willingness to pay lip service to the issue.
Obama has made several stump speeches about the plight of student loan debtors, as well as, referenced the issue in his State of the Union address.
It is also a well-known fact that his and Michelle's student loans were not paid off until he became president, along with the income from several books that became bestsellers as a result of his corporate funded campaigns. At least we student loan serfs know that he has a rudimentary understanding of the issue and possibly some empathy for those of us who have not yet gotten our turn to win the presidency.
On a more serious note, no other issue touches the lives of so many who will not only guide America's fortunes in the future but will also have to be the engines of our economy right now, and to allow young people to bear the burden of the cost of an education that stands to benefit all Americans is as unconscionable as taking from Social Security to bail out the banks when their next bubble bursts.
So, despite the economic collapse, homeowners underwater and the foreclosure epidemic, the BP oil spills, and the warmongering of Russia, it will be President Obama's response to the issue of the student debt crisis that will singularly determine his legacy.
Do you agree that the $1.1 Trillion in Student Loan Debt is the greatest burden on the economy and the greatest problem facing the country? Will President Obama be able to create a solution before leaving office? Tell us what you think in the comments below!
