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I completely disagree with this comment. In 1988, Bill Clinton signed the Higher Education Amendments which made student loans NON-DISCHARGEABLE. Essentially,

I completely disagree with this comment. In 1988, Bill Clinton signed the Higher Education Amendments which made student loans NON-DISCHARGEABLE. Essentially, he handed the students to the bankers on a silver platter. These loans should be dischargeable and forgiven, because in my opinion they are FRAUDULENT. I don't think you realize the amount of damage this has caused to US society as a whole. There is an entire generation of kids whose lives were ruined because they were told to get a university degree which turned out to be worthless and expensive. Essentially you are saying she should have known better. I read your comment and you say that she is clueless, and I cannot help but think that you are also clueless because you also do not understand how the financial system actually works. But you are not alone, because all of the "expert economists" also do not understand, everybody is clueless. Believe me, this is a crisis that will be felt for generations.

majos 8y ago
> In 1988, Bill Clinton signed the Higher Education Amendments What? Clinton was a governor then. And, looking up the referenced act, it was signed into law in 1992, before Clinton took office. Doesn't substantially change your comment but that detail threw me.
- tehwebguy 8y ago
  It was a typo of 1998, and it was Clinton https://www.abi.org/abi-journal/congress-amends-523a8-to-eliminate-seven-year-discharge-provision-for-student-loans https://www.abi.org/abi-journal/congress-amends-523a8-to-eli... > Congress Amends 523(a)(8) to Eliminate Seven-year Discharge Provision for Student Loans
  - majos 8y ago
    Ah, I was looking at the 1992 act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/1150 https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/115...
IanDrake 8y ago
Nowhere did the OP say she should declare bankruptcy, so I’m not sure why you said the OP is clueless. I believe the OP understands the author is stuck with the loan. Your opinion about fraud is also unsupported. Even the author conceeds she didn’t read the contract, nor did she express any understanding of how her interest rate is set. Frankly, she still doesn’t seem to understand the basics of how loans work. “I will have paid nearly $170,000 to my original $95,000 loan.” The above quote is meant to express her outrage, but it’s meaningless. She’s missing the time component. I pity her and I think the student loan business is in a terrible state, just remember who the politicians were who got us here and what they said these laws were for. The road to hell is surely paved with good intentions. Which is why it’s better think selfishly rather than altruistically.
seanmcdirmid 8y ago
Do you mean Reagan? Bill Clinton became president in 1993, Bush I in 1989.
- sophacles 8y ago
  GP typoed the year. s/1988/1998/
mortehu 8y ago
If you make student debt dischargable, the cost of the loan must also include the cost of insuring against borrower default. I.e. students who don't default must pay for those who do, plus an additional amount to due to uncertainty in future default rates.
- conanbatt 8y ago
  Welcome to the world of lending. Thats how its supposed to work.
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- almostApatriot1 8y ago
  a similar line a reasoning led to the housing crisis, didn't it? Everyone should be able to get a mortgage!
- zeusk 8y ago
  > I.e. students who don't default must pay for those who do, plus an additional amount to due to uncertainty in future default rates. The whole concept of interest on lending was to insure against defaulters, that is before bankers wanted their cut of the pie.
arenaninja 8y ago
You misinterpret my intent, batteryhorse. I fully agree that this debt should be dischargeable, and universities (both public and private) should be on the hook. My point is that the author is NOT the Rosa Parks of the student loan crisis; there are far better standard-bearers out there.

majos 8y ago

> In 1988, Bill Clinton signed the Higher Education Amendments What? Clinton was a governor then. And, looking up the referenced act, it was signed into law in 1992, before Clinton took office. Doesn't substantially change your comment but that detail threw me.

tehwebguy 8y ago
It was a typo of 1998, and it was Clinton https://www.abi.org/abi-journal/congress-amends-523a8-to-eliminate-seven-year-discharge-provision-for-student-loans https://www.abi.org/abi-journal/congress-amends-523a8-to-eli... > Congress Amends 523(a)(8) to Eliminate Seven-year Discharge Provision for Student Loans
- majos 8y ago
  Ah, I was looking at the 1992 act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/1150 https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/115...

IanDrake 8y ago

Nowhere did the OP say she should declare bankruptcy, so I’m not sure why you said the OP is clueless. I believe the OP understands the author is stuck with the loan. Your opinion about fraud is also unsupported. Even the author conceeds she didn’t read the contract, nor did she express any understanding of how her interest rate is set. Frankly, she still doesn’t seem to understand the basics of how loans work. “I will have paid nearly $170,000 to my original $95,000 loan.” The above quote is meant to express her outrage, but it’s meaningless. She’s missing the time component. I pity her and I think the student loan business is in a terrible state, just remember who the politicians were who got us here and what they said these laws were for. The road to hell is surely paved with good intentions. Which is why it’s better think selfishly rather than altruistically.

seanmcdirmid 8y ago

Do you mean Reagan? Bill Clinton became president in 1993, Bush I in 1989.

sophacles 8y ago
GP typoed the year. s/1988/1998/

mortehu 8y ago

If you make student debt dischargable, the cost of the loan must also include the cost of insuring against borrower default. I.e. students who don't default must pay for those who do, plus an additional amount to due to uncertainty in future default rates.

conanbatt 8y ago
Welcome to the world of lending. Thats how its supposed to work.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
almostApatriot1 8y ago
a similar line a reasoning led to the housing crisis, didn't it? Everyone should be able to get a mortgage!
zeusk 8y ago
> I.e. students who don't default must pay for those who do, plus an additional amount to due to uncertainty in future default rates. The whole concept of interest on lending was to insure against defaulters, that is before bankers wanted their cut of the pie.

arenaninja 8y ago

You misinterpret my intent, batteryhorse. I fully agree that this debt should be dischargeable, and universities (both public and private) should be on the hook. My point is that the author is NOT the Rosa Parks of the student loan crisis; there are far better standard-bearers out there.