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Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:24 pm
by Nodack
It makes the young people starting out with a high student loan debt happy. It makes some people angry that they had to pay off their own student loan while others get a freebie paid for by tax payers. I can see how it can do some good for those who have high student loan debt and haven’t landed a high paying job. If does remind me of Obamacare in that it helps the poor more than those who make more money. Those who landed a six figure job, bought a real nice house, a new Mercedes’ and haven’t touched their student loan, I don’t have as much sympathy for them.

Like was said. College has gotten ridiculously expensive. There is a lot of talk about just how valuable a college education is in the job market today. If you want to be a doctor or an engineer I would say a college education is a prerequisite. I don’t know the figures. I would guess that most available jobs don’t require a college education. Not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:47 pm
by Split T
I’m happy for the student loan forgiveness, but the real problem is college is way too expensive and not worth the price for most people…and there are way too many employers who require a college degree when it’s not necessary. I know too many people with masters degrees in something completely unrelated to their job. A job that while it required a college degree, didn’t care what the degree was in.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:55 pm
by Nodack
I saw this and am posting it. I can’t confirm it yet though.

“Biden isn’t just forgiving a set amount of debt. He is also enacting a new policy that ends excess interest on student loans—as long as a borrower pays their minimum monthly payment (now capped at only 5% of their income), their balance will no longer increase.”

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 3:04 pm
by Indy
This thread is EXACTLY the kind of things Dems never do, and should. I am shocked they had the balls to do this.


Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 7:00 am
by Mori Chu
Why was the PPP money so easy to steal and abuse like that?

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:16 pm
by specialsauce
Nodack wrote:
Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:24 pm
Those who landed a six figure job, bought a real nice house, a new Mercedes’ and haven’t touched their student loan, I don’t have as much sympathy for them.
Right, because they just lucked into that job right? It had nothing to do with them busting their ass and taking their education and career seriously. And then owning a home with a mortgage that is proportionally a less percentage of their income than the average family, how dare they! How dare they pay the minimum payment on their $500k+ student loan and try to ask the government for some relief as well from the predatory practices of higher educational institutions! I’d rather the government and banks keep that money!


That is ridiculous. It’s just as ridiculous as saying we shouldn’t reward lazy people who majored in philosophy or some other worthless major from a practical standpoint and didn’t take their education seriously, got a shit job and now have loans to pay off.

Life circumstances are different. The predatory practice of college tuition crosses along all socioeconomic levels.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:38 pm
by Indy
specialsauce wrote:
Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:16 pm
Nodack wrote:
Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:24 pm
Those who landed a six figure job, bought a real nice house, a new Mercedes’ and haven’t touched their student loan, I don’t have as much sympathy for them.
Right, because they just lucked into that job right? It had nothing to do with them busting their ass and taking their education and career seriously. And then owning a home with a mortgage that is proportionally a less percentage of their income than the average family, how dare they! How dare they pay the minimum payment on their $500k+ student loan and try to ask the government for some relief as well from the predatory practices of higher educational institutions! I’d rather the government and banks keep that money!


That is ridiculous. It’s just as ridiculous as saying we shouldn’t reward lazy people who majored in philosophy or some other worthless major from a practical standpoint and didn’t take their education seriously, got a shit job and now have loans to pay off.

Life circumstances are different. The predatory practice of college tuition crosses along all socioeconomic levels.
Doesn't that give you an even better opportunity to not default on your loans?

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:40 pm
by Indy
Mori Chu wrote:
Fri Aug 26, 2022 7:00 am
Why was the PPP money so easy to steal and abuse like that?
It was written that way on purpose. The $2,000,000,000,000 give away was intended to do things like this.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 6:24 pm
by specialsauce
Indy wrote:
Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:38 pm
specialsauce wrote:
Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:16 pm
Nodack wrote:
Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:24 pm
Those who landed a six figure job, bought a real nice house, a new Mercedes’ and haven’t touched their student loan, I don’t have as much sympathy for them.
Right, because they just lucked into that job right? It had nothing to do with them busting their ass and taking their education and career seriously. And then owning a home with a mortgage that is proportionally a less percentage of their income than the average family, how dare they! How dare they pay the minimum payment on their $500k+ student loan and try to ask the government for some relief as well from the predatory practices of higher educational institutions! I’d rather the government and banks keep that money!


That is ridiculous. It’s just as ridiculous as saying we shouldn’t reward lazy people who majored in philosophy or some other worthless major from a practical standpoint and didn’t take their education seriously, got a shit job and now have loans to pay off.

Life circumstances are different. The predatory practice of college tuition crosses along all socioeconomic levels.
Doesn't that give you an even better opportunity to not default on your loans?
?

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:27 pm
by Indy
If the average home costs you a much lower percentage of your income because you make hundreds of thousands per year, doesn't that help with your student loans?

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 11:34 pm
by specialsauce
Indy wrote:
Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:27 pm
If the average home costs you a much lower percentage of your income because you make hundreds of thousands per year, doesn't that help with your student loans?
I don’t see what that has to do with the price of oil in China. You know Indy, if you didn’t own a house or have rent at all then you’d have more money for your student loans too. Maybe you should be homeless!

Whether I’m at risk of defaulting on my loans isn’t the topic. It’s whether a cap on income was ethical. It’s bullshit and a typical easy cop out.

So the guy who has $10k in loans and makes $100k annually can benefit, but the guy who has $500k in loans and makes $300k annually is “too rich” :roll:

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:22 pm
by Nodack
I’m one of those losers who decided to have a useless job of being a musician and went to school for it. I took out student loans to do it. My average salary throughout my career has been in the neighborhood of 30k a year. I paid off my student loans and just finished paying off my house. I’m lucky enough to have a nest egg from being somewhat of a trust fund baby but, not a penny of that money has ever been spent. Everything I have acquired I got myself or with my workaholic wife who has held two jobs at a time most of her adult life.

Nobody forced anyone to choose their career path. I was told not to be a musician because 99% of them fail at it. “You better have another career to fall back on.” You guys might consider me a failure. That kind of money is a joke to someone who makes 300k a year. I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world because I have gotten to do what I love for a living my whole life.

I am good with our country helping those who need help who weren’t smart enough to become doctors, but still want to eat. There is a cap on income all over the place. Your tax bracket is a good example. They figure people that make more money can afford to pay more. Most billionaires aren’t happy with paying more either. It’s not fair. Obamacare made healthcare more affordable for low income people. Is it fair? I am good with it. Most people who aren’t poor don’t like it. I have survived off of $15 a week before. On the road our band once pooled all our money to buy a loaf of bread, cheese and some bologna so we could eat. Lots of people live like that all the time. Some would just call them stupid and say they deserve to be poor. Some of those people work two jobs and try to raise a family on a shoestring budget. They work 80 hours a week and can barely afford food for their family. I have lots of sympathy for them. We should be doing better as a country to make all jobs high paying enough to buy food clothing and shelter. The wage difference between those on the top and those on the bottom is too extreme. Those with the wealth control the levers of society. Politicians are bought and sold to the highest bidder. The GOP is basically the party of helping the rich under the cover of apple pie, the flag, freedom, low taxes to get the votes of the people they hate.

People get talked into going to college because “You will never land a good job without a college degree.” Many are young and don’t have a clue what they want to do with their lives other than they have to go to college and get a degree to get a good job. Many finish their degree and can’t get a job at what they trained at. They are your server at Applebee’s. Some try for a modest job at a factory but are overqualified. Maybe they are dumb for just getting a degree and not really having a plan. Maybe they shouldn’t have listened to those who told them to just go to college right out of HS. If you wait it probably won’t happen at all. We need to do a better job at helping HS kids get prepared for they lives as adults. Pointing them at the jobs of the future and not just pointing them at college.

What it boils down to for me is that I want to live in a country where we help the guy who really needs help get on their feet and those who are doing really well can afford to pay a little more to the house. I consider the US a community where we are all in this together. Everything we do as a country should be for the good of the country and it’s people, not just the good of the ones who spend the most on lobbyists.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:27 pm
by specialsauce
We all make choices that we feel are the best for us. You didn’t go into being a musician thinking you’d get rich, you did it because you loved it. I would venture that you didn’t go into it thinking the government would just help you out either.

When we voluntarily make a choice, it’s unfair for the government to reward a financially poor decision and punish others. Equality is equality. It’s one thing if like you lost a leg or you had a rough upbringing or something, but otherwise debt to income is debt to income.

$10k of debt on $100k income is the same as $100k of debt on $1M income.

Corporate tax and taxes on billionaires is a different issue as well with all these loopholes to get around paying your fair share.

If it was me I would make a flat tax with no exceptions, loopholes, deductions or anything. Everyone pays 10% of their income unless you’re close to the poverty line.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:38 pm
by Nodack
You are right. I don’t do it for the money and I didn’t expect the government to help me. I was actually shocked that I got money for being out of work from Covid. I had never gone on unemployment before Covid.

I do have sympathy for young people that feel they have to go to college and rack up a bunch of student loans. They are told they need to by all their peers or they will be a failure. Not only that but tuition has gone up a hell of a lot more than inflation over the last several decades.

Our youth is our future. The % of US made cars, televisions and products Americans used in the fifties was a hell of a lot higher than it is today. It is a global economy now and for the US to stay competitive we need our youth to be educated and staying ahead of the rest of the world. We are failing big time now. We are failing as a country. We are divided and have lost sight of the big picture.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:41 pm
by specialsauce
Nodack wrote:
Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:38 pm
You are right. I don’t do it for the money and I didn’t expect the government to help me. I was actually shocked that I got money for being out of work from Covid. I had never gone on unemployment before Covid.

I do have sympathy for young people that feel they have to go to college and rack up a bunch of student loans. They are told they need to by all their peers or they will be a failure. Not only that but tuition has gone up a hell of a lot more than inflation over the last several decades.

Our youth is our future. The % of US made cars, televisions and products Americans used in the fifties was a hell of a lot higher than it is today. It is a global economy now and for the US to stay competitive we need our youth to be educated and staying ahead of the rest of the world. We are failing big time now. We are failing as a country. We are divided and have lost sight of the big picture.
Right. So the bigger issue is that tuition is not regulated and they can charge whatever the hell they want and nobody thinks about how they will pay it back when they’re 20 years old taking that loan out.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 2:54 pm
by Nodack
I don’t think most 20 year olds are capable of grasping what their future will be in ten years. Everyone else is going to college and they don’t want to be a failure working at Burger King in ten years. It’s just the way things are done. Most have no clue what they want to be when they start college. I have a smart niece that wanted to be a doctor. She found out early that wasn’t for her. Hates the sight of blood. She did finish college and works for a big appliance manufacturer now in the corporate world.

Colleges charge whatever they want but isn’t this supposed to be a supply and demand based country? Obviously people keep paying it. I went to a community college to start with. I think my tuition was $50 at Scottsdale Community College. Then it was just paying for books. I stayed with my parents. Later on I went to school in Hollywood and that tuition wasn’t cheap and I needed housing. I was a telemarketer in my off time to pay for food. Their tuition has steadily increased over time too.

I don’t know what the answer is. Any attempt by the government to step in is automatically called Socialism.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2022 10:37 pm
by Superbone

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:58 am
by Nodack
Some will celebrate. Others will reload.

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 7:53 pm
by Indy
specialsauce wrote:
Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:27 pm
We all make choices that we feel are the best for us. You didn’t go into being a musician thinking you’d get rich, you did it because you loved it. I would venture that you didn’t go into it thinking the government would just help you out either.

When we voluntarily make a choice, it’s unfair for the government to reward a financially poor decision and punish others. Equality is equality. It’s one thing if like you lost a leg or you had a rough upbringing or something, but otherwise debt to income is debt to income.

$10k of debt on $100k income is the same as $100k of debt on $1M income.


Corporate tax and taxes on billionaires is a different issue as well with all these loopholes to get around paying your fair share.

If it was me I would make a flat tax with no exceptions, loopholes, deductions or anything. Everyone pays 10% of their income unless you’re close to the poverty line.
It isn't close to the same, because the average person that makes >1M ends up paying a much smaller portion of taxes on that money than the person making 100k. And they get to compound that every year.

And do you really have 500k in student loans?

Re: Biden Administration misc. activities

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:12 pm
by specialsauce
Indy wrote:
Mon Aug 29, 2022 7:53 pm
specialsauce wrote:
Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:27 pm
We all make choices that we feel are the best for us. You didn’t go into being a musician thinking you’d get rich, you did it because you loved it. I would venture that you didn’t go into it thinking the government would just help you out either.

When we voluntarily make a choice, it’s unfair for the government to reward a financially poor decision and punish others. Equality is equality. It’s one thing if like you lost a leg or you had a rough upbringing or something, but otherwise debt to income is debt to income.

$10k of debt on $100k income is the same as $100k of debt on $1M income.


Corporate tax and taxes on billionaires is a different issue as well with all these loopholes to get around paying your fair share.

If it was me I would make a flat tax with no exceptions, loopholes, deductions or anything. Everyone pays 10% of their income unless you’re close to the poverty line.
It isn't close to the same, because the average person that makes >1M ends up paying a much smaller portion of taxes on that money than the person making 100k. And they get to compound that every year.

And do you really have 500k in student loans?
That’s just not true. It’s complete assumption and a generalization. Not everybody can find loopholes.

I don’t make a million dollars or anywhere close but I paid 32% in taxes last year. And the year before. And the year before. I literally gave a third of my money to the government to redistribute. One third. It’s ridiculous

And yes.