Student Loan Debt Crisis More Pressing Issue Than Minimum Wage Debate

All the recent corporate press coverage of the minimum wage debate distracts from the issue that is really truly responsible for the slow recovery of the economy, and that is student loan debt.

If this country's leadership wanted to be responsible, they would know to address the question of the debt level carried by Americans before working to increase their incomes; even though without a doubt, the issue of raising the minimum wage is long overdue.

We The People are waiting for redress regarding student loan debt forgiveness and increasing the minimum wage.

There is indeed a proper order to dealing with these things.

To address the matter of student loan forgiveness before increasing the minimum wage would mean having 100% of the minimum wage increase would flow back into the American economy.

Increasing the minimum first and then working on student loan forgiveness would amount to students getting a bump in pay, only to have a percentage of that increase go back to the government as a bigger Income Based Repayment on their federal student loan.

In addition, without a change in the tax code, the increase in the minimum wage, in both scenarios, also results in a bigger tax bill from the government, making for a double slap in the face if the minimum wage were increased before student loans are forgiven.

Surely, all this must be obvious to the smart men and women who run our government, and so they must be planning to propose some form of student loan debt forgiveness imminently before taking up the issue of raising the minimum wage.

Unless the intention of the government is to continue to drag their feet on student loan debt forgiveness because of the profound profitability of student loans to the government.

Whether intentional or not, the now $1.2 Trillion Student Loan Debt Crisis is THE most important issue before Congress, to which there is no further postponement of action.

"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education."   - Franklin D. Roosevelt

And as a democracy, the threat to our freedom and democracy is not from foreign terrorists and invaders, but the threat is the ignorance and illiteracy of its citizens.

FDR had planned to enshrine Americans' Right to Education in a Second Bill of Rights.

There can be no democracy without declaring that education is an inherent human right of its citizens. Therefore, student loans were not only immoral, but illegal because it denies American students their Right to Education, a right that Franklin D. Roosevelt had planned to enshrine in a Second Bill of Rights, as the Allied Powers did in rebuilding the governments for the defeated Germans, Italians, and Japanese. FDR unfortunately passed away before having the chance to do so.

Therefore, we must forgive all student loan debt. Or admit that we are no longer a free democracy.

Sign the Petition to Adopt Sen. Warren's Plan To Refi Student Loan Debt

The following is the call to action from Van Jones, President and Founder of Rebuild The Dream, for the U.S. Congress to "End the Student Debt Crisis" by adopting the proposal put forth by Senator Elizabeth Warren to allow students to refinance their student loan debt at today's low interest rates:

Today, Americans hold an all-time record $1.3 trillion in student debt. Senator Elizabeth Warren has a smart plan to end this crisis: Let Americans with federal student loans refinance at today's low rate. When Senator Warren introduces legislation focused on refinancing student loans, I urge you to support the bill.

Why is this important?

Unlike almost every other type of loan, federal student loans are set in stone even if rates change for the better. That might not constitute a crisis if college cost what it did in the seventies. But with middle class wages flat for decades, the soaring cost of education has become a mammoth debt dilemma dragging down an entire generation.

In short, we are taking money from middle class students and handing it to the worst of the one percent. Sen. Warren's plan is to make up for lost revenue from student loan refinancing by making sure millionaires do not pay a lower tax rate than their assistants.

She is not the first to propose refinancing for federal student loans. Nor did she come up with the idea of the "Buffett Rule," a minimum tax on millionaires that The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates would raise $47 billion over 10 years, or an average of just under $5 billion per year. President Obama first proposed the tax in 2011, naming it after the acclaimed Warren Buffett, who notes that many millionaires pay a lower tax rate than their assistants.

Sen. Warren's step forward was combining the two. Suddenly, members of Congress worried about lost revenue no longer have an excuse. And those who oppose fair taxes now have to explain why they care more about hedge fund managers than middle-class families trying to pay for college.

We can save Americans thousands of dollars. Put money back in the pockets of families who invested in education. Create jobs from the middle class out. And do it without adding a dime to the deficit -- simply by putting in place a fair tax code and then allowing people to refinance federal student loans.

If we can refinance a flashy new sports car at today's low rates, we should be able to do the same for our student loans.  

In Solidarity,
Van Jones

Sign the Petition to Adopt Sen. Warren's Plan To Refi Student Loan Debt

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO GO TO THE PETITION PAGE!

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Obama's Legacy Will Be Defined By His Solution to the Student Loan Debt Crisis

At $1.1 Trillion, outstanding student loan debt has surpassed personal debt and home mortgage debt as the single biggest source of debt Americans have, finally making it THE most important issue before the President in addressing the still foundering American economy.

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.

Obama's legacy will be determined by his response to the single biggest problem facing the country: the Student Debt Crisis.

Many plans have been suggested for addressing the needs of students that will be taking out loans going forward along with two measures that would help students get loan forgiveness.

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!