Congress Cuts, Obama Attempts to Collect as Loan Default Rates Rise

@ Everyone with Private Student Loans

We know that it these federal programs do not help if you have private student loans. But please keep sharing your stories. They help make sure others maximize the amount of federal loans they take out. (The new GRAD Plus loans that were not available for many of you are a huge help today.) And I promise that if we ever get a chance to do anything to help people with private loans, we will.

- Isaac

Isaac of DC 9:29AM November 22, 2011

SLR - the problem is NOT the loans themselves... the PROBLEM is the lobbyist-written legislation that made REPAYMENT of student loans a KILLING field...

Make interest SIMPLE at 3 - 4%

Forbid compounding and CAPITALIZING of interest fees, etc.

Hold late charges separate, simple and non-capitalized to the principal.

Apply all payments 50/50 to PRINCIPAL first, then interest, then fees and charges.

Make SocSec DISABILITY the standard definition of 'disability' for discharge.

Deferments should only accrue interest, and that

should NOT 'capitalize' or compound.

RETURN BK AND CONSUMER PROTECTIONS TO ALL STUDENT LOANS.

Forgive a large portion of said loans, because they have been absurdly inflated JUST SO THE BANKS CAN BET AGAINST THEM anyway.

I am grateful for the availability of student loans and I think the program should be preserved, but I despise the greedy corps and legislators who decided that they wanted to 'make a KILLING' at our expense.

Dorothy Roberts Arvizu of MO 12:43AM October 27, 2011

LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT, LETTER to MIDDLE CLASS TASK FORCE, LETTER TO U.S. CONGRESS, LETTER TO ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN THAT CAN SPUR CHANGE,

This is MY way of stimulating the US economy. Instead of trying to put all the billions and billions of dollars of our (Taxpayers) money into a jobs act and hope that it stimulates the economy and it probably will not work. You could just create the help the HTPACT(Help the people ACT). MY plan is pretty simple and you won’t have to fight everyone in every political party to get this passed it will be voluntary for those that want to except the terms. How about the Govt loan each US citizen, Legal residents, and Nationals over 18 that are unemployed, attending school or earns less than 100,000 dollars a year and give us a government funded $100,000 dollar LOAN AND STIMULUS program. This is a lot cheaper than the 700 Billion dollar ACTs that have been implemented in the past that have not really stimulated anything except the President’s and Congress approval ratings dropping like a brick from the Empire State Building, and they just sit around and argue about who is going to pay for it. IT won’t matter if the economy keeps going like this. This plan has to be better received than the current JOBS ACT being proposed right now for another couple hundred billion dollars. My plan works as follows: 75% of the loan has to be used toward purchases of cars, home improvements, electronics, home entertainment real stuff from stores such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Costco,car dealers, construction companies etc.debt repayment (credit cards, school loans, any outstanding credit obligations)or past due rent or mortage payments. The key to this is it has to be spent on “real-things” at real places that use real money to stimulate the section of the U.S. they are in. The 75% has to be spent and accounted for all amounts of the 75% must be detailed like tax records and sent to the agency monitoring or overseeing the loan program. Or better yet the Government could create a debit card program just like they did for Unemployment EDD, Disability and Social Security and tax returns. To help monitor and track the spending the government could have us submit purchase orders prior to receiving the financing for any amount used over 2500.00 dollars. Items purchased or money spent will have limits or they could come up with something. MY other thoughts would be they could set up contracts with companies where you could spend the stimulus money and track it that way. An example you could only buy new hybrid or electric cars or install solar heating in your home or buy green technology appliances, tv’s from certain approved stores or locations ETC…. The other 25% of the loan stimulus just give to us as a check to be spent on whatever we want. I know for fact that MY spending plan will really stimulate the economy and get people out there spending money. Now the hard part of anything to get approved by the US Government is HOW DO WE PAY FOR THIS PROGRAM Remember we only use this program for people that accept the terms not for everyone. MY PLAN to pay for it we kill 2 birds with one stone the great debate of Social Security Reform and what it will look like in the future. Who really knows or cares right now except the people actually getting SOC SEC. First, increase our Social Security age limit by 2 or 3 years, second take 5 to 8 percent of our calculated Social Security future payments and when were eligible to receive them its already been taken. Not much to be done to calculate this every year. Everyone in U.S. that works gets a form from SOC SEC with a calculated amount and what we put in to SOC SEC. This seems easy and simple too me. IF they take the 5-8 percent from what we could earn and just hold it out of what we supposed to get later it’s the same thing right. They could actually say they lowered social security without taxing or hurting anyone (Or do they already know we’re not getting anything) For those of us born say like me in 1975 or later. Anyway apply that amount to the principle amount. Next, any surplus income tax checks that we get in the future. Every year apply these amounts/payments towards are loan/stimulus amount. Over our lifetimes this would pay for most of the programs and also this way you can lower the future Social Security due and get some money back from us every year. For any politician this potentially could and should help get you reelected or elected. Any new candidate MR PERRY, MR Gingricht, MR .CAIN , or current CONGRESSMEN or WOMEN, HOUSE SPEAKER , anyone that could float this plan around and see what people think if it’s something they like you might be able to steal their election vote. (just think someone knows someone that knows someone that is struggling and unemployed right now that this program could and would help them RIGHT NOW) There are million upon millions of people that would love you if you could get this plan introduced and approved. I know it’s a long shot but anything is better than the first stimulus plan (it only stimulated the banks and businesses pockets not regular joe’s like me) and the new one that is being introduced (another terrible waste of billions you might as well put somebody on the hook and let us have the money backed by the GOVT and we have to pay it back it could work just like the student loan program have you ever heard anyone getting out of that payment plan yet. You can run from the GOVT but you can’t hide your locked onto your social security number) . I will send this plan to anyone that will listen. This or something like this would really work if the genius lawyers, congressmen and women get their act together and economist and Press Sec etc… sit down and put some real plans together. I say this because I don't know how I'm going to make it financially or what waiting for the retirement age is going to do for me. I am a current 99er my unemployment is running out soon and the career that I was in seems to be dried up for me. I even returned to college to get my degree in teaching but that looks really dried up now. I need the Governments real help and soon. I don't want welfare or something that is just given. so this plan could be used for those of us that have actually worked and are eligible for SSI in the future. I got plenty of credits check out my name. Use what I have earned as a worker for the last 18 years and what I get back in tax check every year and raise my age for receiving Social Security. I believe this plan could and would get me and many other struggling American’s back on our feet, it would let me pay my rent for a couple months, allow me to buy a car without car payments, go shopping for some home entertainment items, pay off some credit card debt, pay down my student loans, and would really stimulate the economy. The bailouts and ACTS have used billions of dollars you guys could have given every US citizen, National legal residents over 18 a hundred thousand dollars each and it would have cost less than the other legislation signed into law. And I know we would have spent the money and really stimulated the economy better and faster than the ACTS.

Signed,

"REAL LIFE".

james ponders of CA 11:58PM October 26, 2011

I part of the Forgivestudentloans.com movement. I have a MBA and over $120k worth of loans (w/ interest aded). I never landed the job I thought I would after getting my MBA and now with an elderly mother who has cancer to take care of I can't afford the $750 per month loan payments. I would be happy if they forgave ALL the interest on my loans and just let me pay back the $60K I borrowed. The government can take your SS check if you are in default. How do they expect people to live if they do this? I received my first degree in 1994 and by MBA in 2003. I'm now 51. I have used all my delays on my student loans, but as of this month I'm in default.

Dawn Herridge of CA 3:08PM October 26, 2011