Sallie, Fannie, and Freddie
Sallie Mae: Student Loan Debt is at $1,000,000,000,000 ($1 trillion)---exceeding credit card debt!
Like with the mortgage market, the gigantous influx of government money/guarantee into this market has caused a meteoric rise in prices: as schools see more money flooding in and available, tuition and costs skyrocket. Fannie and Freddie has similar effects in their respective markets, driving real property prices through the roof based on no real increase in market value.
Boy, the banks are making an awful lot of money off of us. Well, now, its the Dept of Education that is acting as the student loan bank and making the government a lot of money. Its making so much money, that the federal politicians are using it to pay down the federal debt. Imagine that, our big senators and representatives are transferring all this money to their pet projects, their favorite lobbyists and campaign supporters, and paying for their purchases off of our backs, whether its from our tax dollars or from our student loan payments. How ethical is that, to squeeze us through our need for an education. And, to protect their cash cow--us, they have successfully lobbied congress to remove every fundamental consumer protection for student loans: bankruptcy, statute of limitations,...
Relief in sight? Well, its not debt relief. And, why is it that there are all these articles about Obama's changes, accomplished via executive authority, don't include the name of this move or a link that provides the executive order in its entirety? Well maybe its because they don't really want us to know that we may be able to get our debt forgiven after 20 years.
Even if you go the the Dept of Education website, you still can't find the Obama 10/25/2011 changes-well, you can't find this change from 25 years to 20 years.
I did find this, however:
http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/discharges.jsp?tab=repaying
Note that it says that, on a rare occassion, you can get the debt cancelled via bankruptcy if undue hardship is found. I don't know what you need to prove to get Undue Hardship...if you have any case law, let me know in a comment.
United States Aid Fund vs. Espinosa
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/25/fact-sheet-help-americans-manage-student-loan-debt
Still no mention of the reduction to 20 years, though.
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