What the Obama administration did do was great for the federal government, not the students. Obama federalized the system to where the government now profits immensely from both interest on loans it makes directly to students, and defaults. To say that the federal government now sits atop the most predatory lending system in our nation’s history is not an understatement.
Obama was one of only two members on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee not to have taken money from the Sallie Mae PAC. In this position he was privy to the HELP Committee and other reports detailing a broad swath of illegal and deceptive activities by the lenders, the universities, and even the Department of Education. This also included the ways of recovery of defaulted loans.
The various repayment programs that promise forgiveness are cruel jokes, administered in bad faith by a Department of Education that has zero desire or intentions of forgiving any loans. It is estimate that fewer than 15% of those signing up for these programs will actually make it through. The rest will be expelled owing far more than when they entered.
So if Republicans in Congress are serious about reining in the powers of the federal government, they would not only join in those efforts to correct this- but lead on this critically important task. Obama didn’t invent this problem. It’s been going on for 60 or 70 years. He just learned and implemented a way of enslaving the people involved to the feds to create more votes to keep them in office. Just another lib lie. One the republicans should call them on, in public. But don’t hold your breath with their history.
But that’s the real problem, isn’t it? One side wishes to take advantage of the citizens to keep in power, and the other side doesn’t have the cajones to stop it while they say they are trying to protect citizens from the predator side of the aisle. They’re not draining the swamp. They are treating it like a wetland.
rwood
You’re 100% right.
I had loans back in the day. For some reason I ended up with 2 loan payments after I graduated. Consolidated them with the Dept of Ed, then took advantage of an offer from a private company. All was good. Then the Dept of Ed came back at me with a lower interest rate, so I went back to them. Paying everything on time. At that time, they sent out paper bills, every month. On the bill was a box that, if checked, would allow you to pay down your principal. At the time I was sending anywhere from $600-800 a month(total), of which, around $150 was the actual payment. I would check the box, expecting the additional $450-650 to go toward my principal. The next month I would get a statement that would say that my account was paid up for the next few months. I’d call and ask why the extra didn’t go toward the principal. This happened a few more times, my account was paid up for over a year, by the time I went to a private company and paid them off.
Point being, you’re exactly right about them being predatory lenders. Just like the shady mortgage people back in the day, that would give you anything you wanted. The Feds will loan you anything you want. But, unlike the mortgage industry, the Feds have the full weight of the government to find you and get their money.