Turns out that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is 32, single, and makes almost 200k/year, owes about 17k. Jamaal Bowman owes more than 100k. Rashida Tlaib owes more than 50k. Ilhan Omar owes more than 15k. According to their financial disclosures, several other representatives also have significant student loan debt.
A group of legislators has asked President Biden to cancel up to 50k in student loans per borrower through executive action. The president has balked at taking such a step, despite requesting a US Department of Education memo legally justifying it.
I've repaid my student loans. Have you?
I did not attend college or university directly out of high school, instead, I chose a different life path:
However, I did partake of higher education both while still on active duty (extremely limited opportunities in scope and depth), and later when I became a civilian again, I used my GI Bill benefits. In addition to the GI Bill, I applied for Pell Education Grants. At no point did I ever borrow even one cent to augment my studies, partially due to the real-world ramifications of strapping myself with untold amounts of debt with little or no concrete assurances that I’d be financially able to repay.
On a related note, I see parallels between this debate about whether or not a person can be excused an owed debt, and the debate about moratoriums on paying rent. In each instance, money is owed for products or services received, meaning that a person or an entity is owed. Laws, rules, or regulations that “forgive” legally owed debts after contracts have been agreed upon do not seem to make up for loaner or the property owner. It seems to be grossly one-sided as far as who benefits from it. In my personal situation, I recognized beforehand the probability of it being a heavy financial burden on me and the possibility that it would be difficult to repay. I see something very wrong with me not repaying what I owe. I put myself in the perspective of the loaner, in my opinion, it’s unfair to arbitrarily deprive that person or that entity of contractually obligated returns. People should be more circumspect when considering the big picture of debt, not just the rose-colored parts of it. Poor planning or unexpected outcomes on the part of the debtor should not become punishment for the loaner.
In the decisions to be either a borrower or a lender, I tread lightly on the former, and I avoid like the plague being the latter. I have very little trust in others on the issue of money.
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