Last night President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address (1). With the constant, 24-hour "news" cycle we have in our country, most of us are quite aware of the state of our union. That being said, President Obama laid out a bunch of ideas to try and fix things while maintaining a firm tone with his opposition, and at times with his constituents. On that note, it was refreshing to hear a Democrat with a back bone. As far is the issues go, there are quite a few that I hope come to pass.
The first issue is one I was hoping would be mentioned, and it actually received much more attention than I expected. I'm referring to the rising cost of a college education, which the President spoke about here:
To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer-subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants. And let’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years – and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service. Because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college. And it’s time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs – because they too have a responsibility to help solve this problem.I am of the opinion that this would help students and their families out tremendously. I do not claim to be a financial expert, so I will refer only to my situation, as that is what I am familiar with. As it stands now, I owe $78,162. I began college in January 2003. I received my first (and only) Pell Grant for the Fall semester of 2008, for a total of $2291. The other eight semesters during which I was a full-time student, I received nothing. Even if Pell Grants were increased to the point where I received $500 per semester, that would still knock $4000 off of my debt. With the $10,000 tax credit, I'm not entirely sure how that would work. I paid for college, not my family. Would I see that tax credit or would they? Because I am not sure, we'll say I would've gotten half of that number, taking another $5000 off of my final debt. President Obama also mentioned that schools should cut back on spending, in examples I can relate to, perhaps Rowan shouldn't have entered a legal/bidding war with Walmart over who got to annex farmland. Maybe Temple shouldn't be spending a million dollars per year to use Lincoln Financial Field for their under-attended football games (2). With these cutbacks, let us assume I would have saved another $1000 over the course of my college career. All in all, that's $10,000 saved making my debt $68,162.
Now let's examine the other part of this selection. The President says debt would be forgiven in 20 years, 10 years if the graduate enters public service. My current repayment plan has my debt forgiven in 25 years. Taking that five years off at the end would save me $16,020. Should I become a teacher, as I have considered on and off since high school, the loan forgiveness after ten years would save me $46,800. With these ideas enacted, my debt would end up somewhere between $21,362 and $52,142, a savings of between $56,800 and $26,020. This is without factoring in that my payments would only amount to ten percent of my income, meaning I would have only paid $1300 in overall payments last year. Instead, with our current situation, I paid that much in interest alone last year. This money saved could be money in the hands of young professionals who could stimulate the economy by buying new cars, getting their first house, or contributing to their local bar scene. Even small business wins with this one! All kidding aside, with these steps enacted, the future of our country could start their lives off with a sense of hope and financial security instead of somebody like me, who has under $30 between his wallet and two bank accounts, has moved back in with his parents, and is jobless. It's like Dolly's past and future husbands both said, "Money, pardon the expression, is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow (3)."
I spent more time than anticipated on that subject, so I'm going to have to cut it short and resume my job hunt. Perhaps I'll go into more detail later, but until thin I have this to say: Health care must be reformed. Not because I have a sense of entitlement, not because anyone owes us anything, but because the current system is an abysmal failure and it is simply inhumane to have the means to treat the ill and injured only to turn them away for financial reasons. What does it say about our system as it stands now when Abby and I each have our own health insurance, but avoid going to the doctor as much as possible due to expense? What does it say about our system that my monthly payment is roughly $80, I pay $30 or $40 for each visit, yet I still have nearly $900 in unpaid medical bills for about one hour of that doctor's time over the course of three visits? Something needs to be done.
I have seen some feedback to this speech, and from the right, it is very defensive. Republicans feel as though they were attacked. Well, I happen to disagree. I find that President Obama was at times firm with both sides of the aisle, and managed to find some time for light-hearted joking with both sides as well. I think it is a dangerous double standard for the right wing to try and play the victim here. For years I was called a traitor, unpatriotic, and numerous four lettered things for sharing my liberal opinions. I didn't cry about it, I just continued to defend my position. So, Republicans, don't get upset because the President isn't as nice as you want him to be. Stop campaigning, and do your damn job. As for the Democrats, get off of your asses and get some work done! I want our elected officials to be aggressive in attacking our nation's problems, not courting businesses to line their pockets in hopes of winning the next election.
Finally, because I really do need to stop, transparency. In my opinion, the reason our government is prone to convoluted gridlock and confusion is the manner in which bills, orders, etc. are presented. I propose that any bill, order, etc. be limited to 20 pages. It should consist of an outline, a preamble that establishes the clear goal of the bill, an outline of the steps to take and money to be spent, a ledger detailing where this money will come from, and a brief essay describing how it will help the citizens of our nation. The document would be posted in full on a website, making it accessible for anyone to read. The bill could be debated so long as minutes from the debate and any changes, additions, or subtractions included are listed on the website. This would take away the all to common instance of bills not being read by the people we elected to vote on them.
That's all for now, it's time to practice what I preach, and get back to work. I have a one-inch stack of paperwork to get through in order to start substitute teaching, and I'm sure there are a handful of jobs left I haven't yet applied to. Have a snazzy day!
