Over the years, I've reminisced about my college years. Those were some of the most fun times of my earlier days. What would you say to this offer: Do it all over again and have it paid for by your Uncle Sam? Sounds like a great time, right? This may become a reality if President Obama's upcoming budget is passed as it now stands. Obama is urging the government takeover of the college loan system. The cradle to grave mentality lives on............
Here is the plan: Obama wants to make the Pell Grant Program an entitlement like Social Security and transfer control of the lending business to the government. He is calling on Congress to expand the availability of the grant for poor students by increasing the loans from 1 Billion/year to 6 Billion/year. Furthermore, Obama wants to make this program a mandatory part of the annual budget. Am I getting your attention yet?
Consolidation of the loan program may save 94 Billion over a period of 10 years BUT will boost yearly spending over that same 10 year period by 293 Billion.....this is according to the numbers released by our Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Not to mention the limit on loan options, loss of jobs, and the large increase to our deficit. The private bank industry has built this entire industry and now the government wants a piggyback ride.
Putting aside all the other concerns from the above, here is want makes my spine tingle when I think about this proposal.....what does this do for a student's freedom of choice. What is being proposed is a cradle to grave school system. What happens, down the road, when a student is "rewarded" with a government loan......does the government have a choice in the student's chosen major? Will a certain career path need to be chosen in order to have the "privilege" of going to school? What if the student has difficulty paying the loan back after graduation? Will the National Call To Service Act be brought around and we, the taxpayer, be asked to "forgive" part of the loan in exchange for the student's participation in public service?
All the "what ifs" are a little alarming to me. The Forgotten Man already struggles to pay for our current public school system through increasing property and school taxes.....can he really afford this too?
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Well you have certainly hit a nerve with me! People who say they can't afford college....Bullsh**. There are so many grants, loans and scholarships out there that everyone can afford it. Yeah, you may not get to go to the school of your dreams or you may not get to stay on campus, but you will get a college education. When the government starts paying they also control. Therefore, the colleges will have to start answering to the government if they want to get a piece of that sweet govt pie. And, we already know what a bang-up job they are doing with K-12. And...get this one, they also want universal pre-school. That's right. One of Obama's campaign promises was taxpayer paid universal pre-school. Statistics show that most kids are already in pre-school and for those that can't afford it, there are programs like Head Start which are free (and not filled). The government has already screwed up K-12. Do we really want to hand them over control of our education system even further. If they take control of pre-school and college, you can kiss any kind of free-thinking good-bye!!! I have two words for you...FREE MARKETS!!! Open up the school system. Let the employees have to compete for jobs and let the schools have to compete for students. Only then will we see an end to the education system mess!!! Who in the world ever thought govt controlled education was a good idea anyway. --- Let's hire people to teach our children and once they have a few years of teaching under their belts, they can never be reviewed, penalized, rewarded or fired!!! What a great idea. This assine system hinders the good teachers and rewards the bad. A private business would never survive if it operated like that!
ReplyDeleteAnd, these same people want the govt running our healthcare.