How many people with one or more university degrees would qualify for this? Why should you be the arbiter of who qualifies for loan forgiveness and who doesn't?
Also, does it really help society to forgive the loans of people who have multiple degrees but for some inexplicable reason can't get a job making $15+ an hour? The people at Whole Foods and Amazon make that and they do not need degrees.
Or would it be more helpful to society to allow educated, skilled folks the opportunity to serve the public by working for the government or 501c3 non-profits for a decade while they make reasonable salaries, make monthly payments based on those salaries, and then be forgiven their remaining debt after those terms are met? This way people in my situation can, if they choose, engage in the economy in a mostly enfranchised way. If I was married, I could very easily buy a house. If I wanted to, I could afford to have a family. I was able to buy a car, rent an apartment, and -- yes, afford some luxuries. For me these are once or twice a year trips to foreign countries. I can afford these trips because I don't own a house or have kids and because I live frugally otherwise in a sparsely furnished apartment and so forth.
Explain to me how working three jobs just to cover the basics makes any sense to anyone. I grew up deep in the working poor. I have never seen someone have to work three jobs to cover their basics.
But you are digressing from the topic. So let's get back to that, if we can.
The cost of living is higher on the coasts, especially the cost of housing.
Some people have high out of pocket medical costs, the leading cause of bankruptcy.
Some people have dependents.
These people should not pay for what you admit are your "luxuries". But you are determined to justify your privileges gained at the expense of the less fortunate.
Okay... I would suggest people who cannot afford to live there move to more affordable locations. Now you might say: "But they can't afford to move!"
What is more costly, a one-time expense of moving to a much lower cost of living area or a lifetime of paying out the wazoo to live on the coast?
And as a liberal, I think that we should address this issue by creating a single-payer healthcare system like Canada has, for instance.
I also think these people should eat more vegetables and exercise.
What does this have to do with my Public Service Loan Forgiveness?
How'd that happen?
People who are really poor don't pay much or any taxes. So they are not paying for my luxuries. If anything, I am paying for them as I pay taxes that go to many social programs.
You seem oddly fixated on me and on my enrollment in the PSLF program. You seem to begrudge me for making merely $58k.
I went from making $50k to $58k by taking a job in a city/state where I know almost no one and to work for a university whose primary mission is socioeconomic uplift. 42% of our students have an Expected Family Contribution of $0. Over 90% of our students qualify for need-based aid. Over 50% are first generation college students -- the children of the working poor.
While I could have taken other jobs at more prestigious universities (such as the one I left) I chose this one for several reasons. One of this biggest reasons was that I wanted to empower students who come from the same socioeconomic milieu as me with a college education -- something that was absolutely life-changing for me, an unremarkable kid who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.
Also, I get more money, more vacation time, some other good benefits, and I get to be the member of a union.
How did it happen that people land up with dependents? You tell me. How did you land up supporting a dog instead of paying more on your student loan debts?
Somehow they found time and wherewithal between their three jobs, debilitating medical debts, horrible bankruptcies, lack of opportunity to go to college, payments for my luxuries, and all around hard luck to knock boots?
Back when I was in graduate school, about ten years ago, I saw my future dog on Pet Finder. This was a dog in need of rescue! So I went and got my Harlan. The rest, as they say, is history!
Again, you are digressing from the topic we set out to work through. Could it be that you are starting to realize it is time for you to update your beliefs about me and about the PSLF program?
I will never support a regressive program that funds your jet set lifestyle. Social programs should be for the needy not the greedy who have a sense of entitlement to let others pay for their overpriced educational mistakes. You claim to be a liberal but you support a regressive policy rather than a progressive one. $58K is a lot of money in the heartland. It's the average income for a household not an individual. There is nothing poor or deserving of a subsidy about it. But you have no shame and you keep wanting to re-argue the same points rather than admit you are a moocher.
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