Theft in the Name of “Student Loan Forgiveness”

This nation’s universities are money-making machines for the leftist elites.  From their bloated administrations run by liberals to the predominantly “progressive” faculty and staff, to the liberals who dominate the lecture circuit (a la Hillary and Bill) to those who write the pricey books that are intentionally obsolete after a semester, there is a vast network of people – mostly Democrats – who benefit greatly from the machine.  Consequently they have their cohorts within our government – again Democrats – working tirelessly to find ways to feed the machine more and more of our money.

A century ago the odds were against getting a college education unless you came from a family of strong financial means or you had a sponsor.  At some point people had the idea of borrowing money to attend college, but I’m guessing that this was back at a time when banks were still allowed to expect to be repaid and, consequently, were choosy about who they lent their depositors’ money too.  Naturally this would have left out poorer people who lacked a reliable source of repayment, and naturally this would have offended our liberal friends who, naturally, would look to the government (i.e. the taxpayers) to right this terrible wrong rather than reach into their own pockets and risk any of their own money.  So the federal government was brought into the business of guaranteeing student loans which thus enabled banks to be more generous with their lending policies and – eureka – the golden goose was born!  And all the liberals were happy…..for a while.

Liberals and greed have something in common:  neither one can ever be satisfied.  With a solid income source to tap into, the liberals sought to expand their empire and, of course, increase their salaries and benefits.  They advanced the idea that everyone should have a college education, and their government buddies enacted policies that kept the student loan money flowing.  When the economic crisis of 2008 hit, however, the cost of credit increased and private lenders who weren’t seeing a profit in student loans were getting out of the business.  Ruh-roh!  Government to the rescue!  The feds stepped in with a temporary plan to keep the loans coming by promising to buy the loans.  But the liberals were nervous about the future of their golden goose.  Enter Barack Obama and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.  Democrats figured the passing of HCERA would be a great time to also solve the problem of the threat to the university welfare syndicate, as taxpayers were distracted by the even larger attack on their wealth known as ‘Obamacare.’  With the passing of HCERA the federal government essentially, and quiety, took over the student loan program that previously had worked in conjunction with private banks.

But then came yet another problem.  It seems there is a limit on a person’s appetite for debt when they understand that one day it will all have to be paid back.   So the leftists put their thinking caps on their pointy heads and they drummed their fingers on the tables at the coffee houses and think-tanks where they like to meet.  Hmmm….what to do, what to do….. Until one little liberal pounded his puny fist on the table and cried, “It’s just not right that these poor people, so many of whom can’t find jobs in their chosen fields, should have to pay back these loans!”  I wonder if it occurred to the liberals that it’s even less fair for taxpayers – already struggling with the burden of carrying every other leftwing socialist program on their shoulders – to be saddled with debts they didn’t incur or benefit from, but I digress.  And so was born the grand and noble agenda of student loan forgiveness.  Purely for unselfish reasons, you understand.  Now the socialists would not have to worry until they ran out of other people’s money (which will probably come much sooner than they think).  Tomorrow is another day, as Scarlett O’Hara famously said.

The students feel entitled to their subsidized education, because that’s what they’ve been taught in the leftist-run universities which benefit from their sense of entitlement.  No conflict of interest there, eh?   If little Mindy wants to spend $400,000 to go to law school and become a public defender so that she can make a difference and be happy with herself, who are we to selfishly expect her to repay her debts?  Or what about little Stephan, who racks up $100,000 in loans he can never repay to be a social worker who makes $35,000 a year?  Nancy Pelosi would tell us that people should be what they want to be without having to worry about the cost (or the cost of providing themselves with healthcare).  I guess if they just want to sit and watch the grass grow we should pay them to do that as well.  Why not? 

This is just the tip of the iceberg on this conversation, folks.  Anyone who wants to get into more of the nitty gritty should watch a little weekday documentary called ‘Judge Judy.’  There you’ll see infinite examples of what happens with the money loaned out given away under the student loan program.  “Student loan” is now a euphemism for “free money,” or at least the recipients think so.  These “students” lend the money to their deadbeat friends to buy cars, get caught up on their baby-mama support or be bailed out of jail.  Billions of dollars – perhaps trillions – is being transferred in this way.  I don’t like to say that it’s been “wasted” because this conjures up a picture of money being dumped down a hole or burned in a fireplace.  Alas that would be preferable.  The money has been transferred, with the vast bulk of it going to enrich the leftwing cabal running our universities and to fuel the nation’s growing addiction to other people’s money.

I pray that Donald Trump and his allies in the federal government will make righting this wrong one of their top priorities.  If that happens, you may see a battle like you’ve never seen.  What say you?

~CW

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