Relief to students, massacre for taxpayers

As much as I would love nothing more for college to be inexpensive and provide a wealthy education, I feel that Obama's Income Based Repayment plan isn't necessarily right. Being a college student myself with hopes of going to a well-rounded university, I am aware of the insane price it will cost me and most likely put me in debt by the thousands. However, there are already options for relief such as scholarships and grants that can be obtained as long as the student applies themselves and puts in the work. If you want to go to a prestigious school, keep in mind that prestigious schools are meant for those willing to work hard for it.

Just because we all aren't blessed with well-endowed parents willing to pay off our education in full does not mean that we should get a break. Spoiler alert: Life isn't fair. Some of us need to work harder, study a little more and apply for student loans. As taxpayers, the money that will be salvaged within this plan is OUR money. I, personally, do not feel this is fair to the people that worked hard, managed to suffice throughout college and pay off their student loans, just to end up paying for someone who may or may not abide by their legally binding contract with the government. There are other solutions other than the Income Based Repayment plan--for example, why don't we raise minimum wage to alleviate the income of most college students who work? What about raising the income tax on the rich? Private lending? I really hope that we consider other options before endangering the pockets of the public.

Wall Street Couldn't Have Done It Alone

Lately, I've been really caught up in the whole Occupy Wall Street extravaganza and I found this article fairly interesting compared to my thoughts on the matter. I stumbled upon a neat little piece written October 14th, 2011 by blogger Sheldon Richman, editor of The Freeman and author of Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State. who explains to the audience that while most of us are finally exercising our right to free speech and fighting back against Wall Street, they are not the only ones who deserve a lashing. Sheldon spells out everything clear as crystal, elaborating and providing key points as to how the "protesters’ wrath should also be directed at the national government and its central bank, the Federal Reserve System".

It is apparent that he is directing this piece towards an audience who is already aligning with protesters or someone who may be on the fence. Honestly, I admire what the people are saying and I can understand why, I just disagree with most of their demands. However, if I were considering to look into how to become a part of Occupy, I feel refreshed and well-prepared to go into a protest after reading Sheldon's blog.

His argument is clear, concise, straight to the point, and he does a very good job at convincing you that Wall Street couldn't have done it alone by stating it repeatedly. I also got chills when I read "Greed without political power is boorish. Greed with political power is dangerous."

Kudos to you, Sheldon. I believe that those who are currently in the midst of protesting would have a better sense on what they're arguing against if they read this piece.

The American Dream? Pfft.

I had the pleasure of reading an opinion article published on September 27th by Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine.(sarcasm) In her article, she expresses her idea that what America needs in order to salvage and recover from our current recession is "a movement to reclaim the American Dream".

I feel as though her efforts to invoke some sort of spirit to rally together against the government only make her look like a naive socialist. She doesn't use any effective evidence to support her argument that this is the solution to our economic problem. I respect the author for trying to inspire the audience, but in reality, a progressive movement led by Obama was what brought us to our current state. She fails to mention that we have a gazillion defecits coming from Obama, yet 1 out of 6 of us are drowning in poverty and it was "done to them". Her blame on the extremely rich for our poor economy comes off as immature.

The modern day American Dream isn't just about staying afloat; it's about buying things we think we need, despite whether we can afford it or not. We've handed out enough money and not enough encouragement to simply work hard and spend wisely. As ideal as it may sound that everyone gets a fair wage and a nice home and so forth, the reality is that this will never happen. Katrina lives in a progressive dream world and not trying to be brash or anything, but she needs to wake up.

2011: Year of the Penny Pinchers

According to an article I found on Time.com, the Census Bureau reports that one in six Americans now live in poverty. While a "supercommittee" is currently trying to decide how to handle where our cut from the federal budget should be, the portion responsible for covering child needs is looking to get smaller. A program called Building Futures in Washington was created to "promote "middle-skill" jobs that don't necessarily require a college degree." This program offers $10 a day per person to cover transportation and food along with teaching the attendees particular courses in order to get those better prepared and capable of landing a job, which would boost consumer spending and strengthen our economy.

I suggest you all read this because I find it almost appalling that even though we claim that 'children are our future', we have no problem firing mentors, making insane budget cuts in our schools, and now we're going to jeopardize the health and well-being of what could be the one finding a cure to a disease you have one day. There has to be another solution to all of this. Check out this jibberish here: Census Data Show Poverty’s Creep, Lasting Effects of Recession