After kicking you kids around a while, they will now take credit for giving you a hand.
"Congressional negotiators close to student loan deal" June 24, 2012
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators appear to be closing in on a compromise that would head off a July 1 doubling of interest rates on federal loans to 7.4 million college students and end an election-year battle between President Obama and Congress.
Senate aides from both parties said Friday that the two sides were moving toward a deal on how to pay the measure’s $6 billion price tag, the chief source of partisan conflict.
The goal is to push legislation through Congress next week so the current 3.4 percent interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans can be preserved for another year. A 2007 law gradually reduced interest rates on the loans but required them to balloon back to 6.8 percent this July 1 in a cost-saving maneuver.
Just wondering why Democrats did that. Aren't they your friends, kids?
On another front, the two sides were also close to an agreement to overhaul federal transportation programs, according to House and Senate aides from both parties. Negotiations were expected to continue through the weekend, with votes expected next week on either a major transportation bill or an extension of current programs, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the talks.
In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama pressed Congress to reach agreement on the student loan and transportation bills.
Obama has ridiculed Republicans for weeks for not moving quickly to prevent the student loan interest rates from doubling, a stance that Democrats have hoped will boost his support among young voters who broadly backed him in the 2008 election.
Related: Obama Finds Fountain of Electoral Youth
Not going to get you another term, sorry. We all know how reliable the kids are, for if they were Ron Paul would be the Republican nominee.
With college costs and student debt growing steadily, the issue ties directly into concerns about the economy and jobs that polls show dominate voters’ worries....
Republicans have accused Obama of creating a phony issue and drawing out the battle in an attempt to reap political points....
Are you as tired of the s*** political fooleys as me, kids?
According to Democratic aides, negotiators are approaching a deal to cover the bill’s costs by charging companies more to insure pensions and changing rules so companies take fewer tax deductions for their pension contributions. Senate majority leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, proposed both of those ideas this month.
They said additional money would come from a list of options Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has offered, probably one to limit federal subsidies of undergraduates’ loans to six years. The government does not begin charging interest on Stafford loans until after students graduate, which can take longer than six years.
‘‘While we’re not there, we’re well down the road; I think we can get something done,’’ Reid told reporters Thursday. He said McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, ‘‘are compromising, just as we are, and hope we can get something done.’’
For you, kids.
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What was the problem?
"In recent weeks, the disagreement was over how to pay for the extension."
That's odd; problem never seems to come up when the $$$ is for wars, Wall Street, or Israel.
Related: Student Loan Scam
Sunday Globe Special: Student Loan Legacy
Student Sacrifice
It's worth it if it is going to banks, kids, even if the degree ain't.
"Education, he knows, is the pathway to a more prosperous life"
Not anymore, not here in Amerika.
"Lawmakers reportedly make a deal on roads, student loans" by Alan Fram and Joan Lowy | Associated Press, June 28, 2012
WASHINGTON — The agreements underscored the pressures both parties face to avoid angering voters and facing embarrassing headlines in the run-up to this November’s elections.
Translation: They DID THIS FOR THEMSELVES, just as they do everything!
Btw, we are already angry.
Letting road-building programs grind to a halt during an economic downturn would be a blow to the image of lawmakers, while Democrats and Republicans alike seemed eager to avoid enraging millions of students and their parents by boosting the costs of college loans.
In contrast, enactment of the transportation measure would create or save 3 million jobs, said Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California and chief sponsor of the Senate version of the bill....
Stop it with the exaggerations, will ya?
The two-year highway bill would prevent the government’s authority to spend money on highways, bridges, and transit systems from lapsing on Saturday, along with its ability to collect gasoline and diesel taxes.
Oh, the BILL HAD TO BE DONE so they could KEEP COLLECTING TAXES, huh? This wasn't done for you at all, kids -- but I guess you are smart enough to know that by now if you are reading this.
With both parties checkmating each other’s top priorities this campaign season, Democrats and Republicans say the highway measure will be Congress’s top job-creation initiative until the elections.
Do you know how sick I am of the s*** fooley politicking?
‘‘This is the jobs bill for the 112th Congress,’’ said House Transportation Committee chairman John Mica, Republican of Florida....
Oh, yaaaaaaaaaaaayyy!!!
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"Congress acts to head off student loan rate increase" June 30, 2012
WASHINGTON — Congress emphatically approved legislation Friday preserving jobs on transportation projects from coast to coast and avoiding interest rate increases on new loans to millions of college students, giving lawmakers campaign-season bragging rights on what may be their biggest economic achievement before the November elections.
(Blog editor's mouth goes straight, then frowns; this wasn't about you kids at all. This was ABOUT the POLTICIANS and THIER IMAGE)
The bill sent for President Obama’s signature enables just over $100 billion to be spent on highway, mass transit, and other transportation programs over the next two years, projects that would have expired Saturday without congressional action.
No mention of the tax-collecting authority laosing.
It also ends a bare-knuckle political battle over student loans that raged since spring, a proxy fight over which party was best helping voters muddle through the economic downturn....
NEITHER!
Under the bill, interest rates of 3.4 percent for subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduates will continue for another year, instead of doubling for new loans beginning on Sunday as scheduled by a law passed five years ago to save money.
Had the measure failed, interest rates would have mushroomed to 6.8 percent for 7.4 million students expected to get the loans over the coming year, adding an extra $1,000 to the average cost of each loan and antagonizing students — and their parents — four months from Election Day.
The Democratic-led Senate sent the measure to Obama by a 74-19 vote, just minutes after the Republican-run House approved it 373-52. The unusual display of harmony, in a bitterly partisan year, signaled lawmakers’ eagerness to claim credit for providing transportation jobs, to avert higher costs for students and their families, and to avoid being embarrassed had the effort run aground.
They seem to have plenty of harmony when they are approving by near unanimity anything Israel wants.
It is ONLY WHEN YOU WANT or NEED something, American people, that the harmony of the War Party and its two factions break down.
This year has seen the two parties mostly drive each other’s plans for tax breaks and economic revival into a stalemate, although lawmakers have enacted bills retaining the Social Security payroll tax cut for a year and renewing a government agency that promotes US exports.
What a successful Congress, 'eh? Of course, I'd rather they do nothing these days because every time they do something they make things worse.
‘‘It’s important for Congress to act, not just talk about problems we have but to get things done,’’ said Representative John Mica, a Florida Rebublican and a chief House author of the transportation measure.
‘‘We have a bill that will boost this economy,’’ said Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat and a sponsor who said the measure would create or save 2.8 million jobs. ‘‘We have a bill that is supported by conservatives and liberals, progressives and moderates. I think this is a great day.’’
Yeah, right, $100 billion is going to do what $2 trillion in stimuloot could not.
And two days ago she said 3 million jobs. So the fudging has already begun, huh?
All the no votes were cast by Republicans.
The compromise ended up sprinkled with unrelated nuggets dealing with Asian carp, roll-your-own tobacco, and federal timber aid....
Related: Only the Globe Can Prevent Forest Fires
Carp Sharks
States Stole Tobacco Money
What, we can't roll our own anymore?
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Don't worry, kiddo; the Globe is going to help you pay off that loan:
"For 2008 graduate, school loans take toll" by Lynn Asinof | Globe Correspondent, July 08, 2012
Vinny Ross took his first student loan in 2003, figuring that once he had his engineering degree, he’d earn enough to easily pay off what he owed. But by the time he graduated from Penn State in 2008, he’d switched his major to journalism and accumulated $148,000 in student debt.
The result: A crash course in the problems created by big student loans and too little income.
You kids may want to see to this.
With loan payments consuming about 30 percent of his $3,000 a month take-home pay, Ross had real worries about ever being able to afford more than a no-frills lifestyle.
I only allow myself a coffee and a Globe for luxuries.
So Ross, 26, who writes technical user manuals for the Navy, applied for a Boston Globe Money Makeover, saying he needed help to dig out from his mountain of debt.
Fee-only financial planner Mary Hoey of Braver Wealth Management had no easy answers when she met with Ross at her Needham office. “The reality is that you have $130,000 of student debt remaining, and that isn’t going to just go away,” she said....
Too bad you didn't become a banker, kid. Then government would make it go away.
But Hoey said Ross could shed his debt more quickly if he was willing to aggressively tighten his belt, accelerate his loan payments, and perhaps get a part-time job.
In other words, be a SLAVE for the BANKS!
Her austerity plan started with ensuring Ross’s monthly loan payments were automatically deducted from his bank account. That would cut a quarter percentage point from the interest rate, lowering most of his loans to 3.52 percent.
Next, she told Ross to take advantage of current low interest rates and start putting an extra $5,000 toward his loans each year. “This is a huge window of opportunity,” she explained. “Rates are going to rise, and when they do, you want to have a lower loan balance.”
Hoey suggested Ross start by putting an extra $250 each month toward his loans, boosting payments to $1,127 from $877. The additional money, she said, could come from a weekend job or cutting back on discretionary expenses. The most likely areas to trim: the $311 a month he spends eating out and $152 in ATM withdrawals for miscellaneous purchases.
While you are sitting around doing nothing I thought you might want to take a look at this:
"Corporate profits have risen 58 percent since mid-2009" and "corporate profits set a post World War II record last year" while big banks are booming and oil companies are awash in profits.
Yup, BANKERS are still making BILLIONS in BONUSES, and you gotta tighten that belt!
Should be easy skipping all those meals out -- although what is that going to do to the economy, huh?
Since he is paid biweekly, there are two months a year when Ross receives three paychecks.
Yeah, so? It's not really found or extra money, it's just a quirk of the calender.
During those months, Hoey said, he can take $1,000 from the third paycheck and put it toward his loans.
Why not just sign over the entire check to them?
Hoey cautioned that Ross needs to make sure that the lender puts extra payments towards principal, rather than using the money as an advance on the next monthly payment, which includes interest.
While student loan holders are often told to consolidate debt, Hoey said that’s a bad idea for Ross. Since most of his loans are from private lenders rather than the government, any consolidation would mean higher interest rates and stiff prepayment penalties.
Excuse me, the usurious thieves CHARGE YOU for more quickly PAYING THEM OFF??
Kids, they WANT YOU TO STAY IN DEBT!!!!
So what’s the bottom line?
Banks are f***ing us all!!!
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Hoey's recommendations were equally aggressive when it came to other financial planning issues. She said Ross should start building an emergency fund by transferring $3,000 from his $8,500 in savings and then adding $100 each month until the emergency account reaches $6,500, enough to cover three months of essential expenses.
You know, I tried that; however, all my money is currently tied up in staying alive.
And the guy has $8,500 dollars in the bank?
Turning to retirement, she said he should boost his company 401(k) plan contribution to 3 percent of income to take advantage of the company match. “And I want you to set up a Roth IRA,” she said, advising him to contribute $100 a month.
That's right, just fork over all your money to Wall Street for safe-keeping (blog editor's eyes roll toward the ceiling).
And where is the kid going to get all this dough?
To finance these recommended changes, Ross would have to cut $576 from his monthly spending. That would leave him with $110 a month for discretionary expenses, including clothes, travel, hobbies, and movies.
I'm sorry, but LESS THAN $30 a week just isn't going to cut it.
That’s not much money, Hoey said, noting a part-time job would provide some financial breathing room.
Good luck finding one of those because part-time is the new full-time.
Still, the belt tightening and aggressive loan repayment would pay off. After 10 years, Hoey said, her projections show Ross would not only have paid off his school debt, but also have nearly $61,000 in retirement savings and another $21,000 in the bank.
Ross’s take on Hoey’s tough-love financial plan? “This is awesome,” he said. “I tried getting myself on a budget, but didn’t know if it was worth it.” With plan in hand, he said, it is.
Yeah, see if you can stick to it, kid. I sure as hell help you don't get laid off as part of the upcoming Pentagon cuts. That would blow her plan to bits, wouldn't it?
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Good thing the Globe is looking out for you kids. I mean, it's not like they would ever send you to wars based on lies or anything.
But hey, it's time for summer recess so don't worry about.
