What happened to journalists reporting the facts and letting the reader decide their own viewpoint??? This article is full of snide comments it just looks biast and juvenille.

Therefore there may be some folks here who see the Clinton’s for who they really are…

While I don’t let Bush off the hook, (as you seem to by saying he inherited this mess) I see that Clinton was as bad in the “getting us into this mess” catagory.

My solution is evolving to “get rid of all these crooks and begin again” a second “revolution” so-to-speak and if we work together, we won’t need weapons other than our ballot!

Rod Paige, the Secretary of the US Department of Education under Clinton’s watch, said in the 1990s that the Dept. of Education had, through “waste, fraud, and mismanagement”, “lost” approximately $500,000,000. Whistleblowers were routinely harassed and intimidated while Clinton played his sax and wagged the dog (Yugoslavia). So don’t try to hand me this crap that it’s “all Bush’s fault”, because you know that that’s intellectually dishonest. I’m on the hook to repay the corrupt crooks at the Dept of Ed more money than I can possibly begin to pay. Where are MY rights? I am required by law to repay HUGE money that I am incapable of, to a corrupt government entity which STEALS money from the taxpayer. So either I live in poverty for the rest of my life in order to repay these loans, or the government garnishes my money and I’m out of a job. I have only contempt for the Clintons. You folks bitch about Bush, but not one of you has the balls to admit that Bush inherited the problems which grew out of control right under Clinton’s nose.

The student loan scandal has being going on for over 20 years, and students who were victims of pedatory propritory schools back in the 80’s are still being victimized by not being allowed to discharge their debts in bankruptcy, when most of those debts were the result of fraud and missrepresenation of the schools.

There is enough of a whole mountain range of evidence over the last 20 years to show that these schools were, and still are, misrepresenting themselves to students, to get the students to sign up for student loans from which the school benifits from and the students get left holding the bag.

In any other business this would be called a CON JOB, and unlike any other situation, the vicims don’t have any way out other than death.

Its time to deal with the victims of those predatory trade schools that have ruined so many lives. And its time for Congress to get out of the Student Loan business.

If congress can throw away a millon dollars a day on pork projects, then why can’t they forgive some student loans belonging to people who are otherwise paying taxes and contributing to this great society?

This reminds me of the time I wanted to emigrate to Canada. Bush SR and his saving & loans buddies made me so mad. I sent for Canadian immgration papers. They say. Who are you? What do you do? How much money do you have? What do you plan to do for work in Canada? Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Do not call, write, nor fax us. If you do not hear from us in six weeks you have been denied. That was pretty funny. I could not have afforded to move across the street anyway.
Now I hate Little Bush so much I want to move to France. I can only afford to move to Canada. I cannot do that because of the poor baby seals.
Life sucks enough but privitization and deregulation will make it worse.

There are things that private corporations do well and things thy do not.Private corporations have no interest in the common good.They have one interest profit.The Republican solution to everything is to privatize and that works well if you are an investor in that particular stock.Educating our kids is a common good issue and to privatize it is only to reward corporations with unearned income.I wish someone would do a study on the recidivist rate between prisons run by private corps and ones run by public funds.

Boy, what a deal !!! Pay a fortune, go into tremendous debt…all to allow the establishment 4 more years to try to further brainwash you.

What a sensationalistic and uninformed article. Do you know how many incidents of inpropriety the national student loan database recorded? 261 in four years. On a site that receives many thousands of hits a day. Lender inducements - with a few exceptions these have been shown to be mostly things totalling in the hundreds of dollars, not thousands. There have only been a handful of lenders who have been shown to have paid inducements in the thousands out of over 3500 lending companies. Oh yeah, the whole industry is corrupt. Get your facts before you post your sensationalized bull.

Eliminating the private sector in student lending would benefit no one. It would cost students more immediately by eliminating competition and it would cost the taxpayers more in the long run with the terrible default rate. The default rate on student loans held by the government is many times greater than any private lender. Who will eat the cost? Taxpayers. Quit believing everything people like this uninformed Ms Cocco write.

This is one of those issues, like Iraq, where the noblest sounding motives, like creating a Democracy, hide an ugly truth.

Student loans, were supposed to be a way to make   an education affordable to everyone. Students once they graduated would have to pay back the cost of their loans. This would prevent it from becomeing a give-away to those pursuing an education.

Instead it became another corporate give-away,to the the crooks, who make great wealth preying on Americans in need. It became the very thing it was not supposed to be, but since it was corporate crooks who benefit, then it was ok. As American as apple pie.

Those who pursue an education, so they can make a valid contribution to our society, are punished with staggering debt, that cripples them financially for most if not all of their adult life.

They are hounded, and penalized if they can’t pay, and their cases subject to adminstrative collection, in which they have little recourse, including garnishment of wages, attachement of income tax refund, and garnishment of bank accounts, without a hearing or a day in court.

American corporations, are like sharks, and the American people, are like the survivors of a capsized luxury liner, legs dangeling in the water.

The corporations are free to do with us what ever they want. One day, though, we will all be eaten, then who will they have to devour?

Many of those who reach retirement age and cannot work anymore, due to illness or lack of employment opportunities, are still paying out of their social security or disability income (I am one of them).  If you do not pay, they will take it from you.  I have been paying for many years and I still owe more than I did when I left school.  I am nearly 65 and will be paying until the day I die.  Unfortunately, I was forced to leave school before I received my Master’s Degree because I could not continue to commute the 75 miles and still support myself.  My payments are still nearly all interest, and I often wonder if there is some other cheating going on.  I have pretty much given up on trying to get ahead—-now I’m just living day to day, hoping I will be able to survive until I die.  Bush and his cronies have set the tone for years to come.  He has never wanted for anything, and never will.  He is an ignorant and uncaring idiot.

Truly this is the most corrupt administration in this country’s history to date and it’s had a lot of competition. “No dollar left behind” should be Bu$h Inc.‘s slogan.

67950 by KISS on 5/03 at 9:40 am

“credit card debt is immune from bankruptcy laws. “

NO, this is a misconception.  It is harder (since Bush/Repub bankrupcy laws) to desolve credit card debt, but not impossible.  The test is; “can you repay debt over a five year period without cutting into essentials” “Essentials” have come to mean housing, food, utilities transportation to work, and child support. They can not touch retirement funds, 401k’s, trust accounts set for college or health care, or your primary residence up to State set limits (1 Million Dollars in Florida, $35,000 here in Maine)

Tepid piece at best. 

“She says: Cleaning up the private student lending industry now is imperative. Killing it altogether would be even better.”

She made the case, the private student lending indrustry should go, for the benefit of students AND taxpayers.. Why end with this “knee-bend curtsey” to the banks?  Because the Washington Post (like every major newspaper) sells adrertisements to the student lending indrustry, and if the relationship between colleges and lenders “stinks” the downplaying of important issues by (what I laughing refer to as) “News media” outlets in exchange for advertising revenue is an abomination. 

Now Ms Marie Cocco, go get your payoff from Riggs…..I mean your paycheck.

Here in Missouri our Bush clone Gov. is leading the charge to privatize our student loan program. It is a lot like spending your rent money on a great party and ignoring the consequences. The profits to be made out of the student loans will decrease the amount of money available for education. It will leave students with undigestable debts and once the money is squandered in a building program the value of selling it off to private hands will disappear.

Privatization of Public Services are promoted on the idea that it will cost less, but it costs more, not less. Just look at the mess that it is creating in the military operations. Private Goon squads going out to commit murder in Iraq without any accountability and the professional soldier left to take the blame. How much do you think that is costing us in the long term?