Letter To The President: The Best Way To Help With Student Loans

Dear Mr. President, My name is Charlie Pryor, and I’m a small business owner who’s looking to get his start to life off in the right direction. I’m 27 years old, have been married for 10 months now, and my wife and I are about to close on a wonderful house in a great neighborhood. Together, we hope to shape a great head start for our future children, to give them the chance to be somebody amazing in America. Unfortunately, there’s still something that plagues our family, and prohibits us from getting this head start moving forward: Student Loan Debt. Currently, after 6 years of university, my debt to income ratio is atrocious. It almost prevented us from getting an approval for our home loan in the first place (the ratio turned out to be .2% lower than the maximum we were allowed). Currently, I owe almost $80,000 in student loan debt – hardly the $25,000 the news is saying as the average. FEDERAL loans add up to over $52,000, with private institutions being the rest. I was deeply saddened to hear that Republicans have once again blocked a key bill that would improve our lives immensely, at very little cost to anyone. Over the course of my loan, this bill by Senator Warren would have had an incredible impact on me, saving me from the ridiculous 10% interest rate that Sallie Mae has on me, and removing close to $200/month in payments. It would save me, over the course of 20 years of repayment, nearly $60,000. That is the incredible impact your decisions in the House and Senate have on Americans. It’s the difference of $60,000 for a new college graduate trying to start a family. [caption id="attachment_4409" align="aligncenter" width="679"] Think about what I could do if I didn’t have such a burden? The investments and risks I could take to build something sustainable…[/caption] While this bill didn’t pass, there’s still something you can do as President to get it passed: Don’t raise taxes on wealthy people. Instead, lower the budget you spend on defense. This country is no longer in major conflicts around the world… or at least we shouldn’t be. Yet despite having little presence in Afghanistan and Iraq today, the defense budget still climbs up and up. This country’s military complex is insane as viewed by an ordinary citizen. Shedding a mere 5% off the defense budget would more than pay for what is needed to save the millions of Americans from soaring interest rates. The defense department misplaces that much of their budget every year anyways. It’s wasted money that could have been invested in students. Think of all the students that would refinance their private loans into a government loan, and the increased revenue you’d have with that. The government already PROFITS from student loans (why is that, exactly?), so allowing a refinance will strengthen your cash-flow from this anyways, giving you more money to spend on education, healthcare, and other issues that actually matter to the American people. Better yet, show the people how much you really believe in education, by not profiting from it at all, and not making money off of our struggles as our government. Drop the federal loan interest to zero. I’m sure that will make Republicans happy, and I guarantee it’ll make the nation happy. There isn’t a single person in the country that wouldn’t be in support of that move, because in the end, ask yourself: why does our government profit from the struggles of students in the first place, if they actually care about education so much? [bctt tweet=”Why does government profit from the struggles of students, if they actually care about education?”] Anyways, back to the issue… The truth is, Mr. President: we’re tired of war and conflict. Since this country was founded, we’ve had very little peace. Countries in Europe are able to aid students with their education, and invest in the future of their country as a direct result of not going to war all over the world. The military complex has got to end Mr. President. We need you to take the lead in restoring what this country really needs: citizens doing well for themselves. When more than half the country isn’t happy with their lives, and less than 10% approve of how congress works… you know something has to be done with the system INSIDE the country, not OUTSIDE. Please, as a humble request from a citizen of the country you lead, and as a voter who helped you win the last two elections in the hope that you would represent us properly, I request that you consider helping education over bloodshed, by dipping into defense spending. We don’t have to raise taxes to pay for things, if we trim the areas we already spend too much in. Don’t let the legacy of America be military spending and incarceration rates. Let it be that America cares about the future of the world, and the education of its citizens. Without raising taxes, this investment is still something that will more than pay for itself as well. Defense spending is wasted, and sucked out of our economy without any hope of a return. It actually adds substantially to our deficit. Investing in the future of Americas students, aiding them with this burden, will increase tax revenue exponentially however. It’s an investment that does generate a return, as students who are less burdened by debts will make investments, takes more risks, build more businesses, and allow themselves more financial freedom to hire others. We’ll create jobs, and in the course of that, pay more taxes. Currently, we get tax breaks on the interest we pay. That’s money we’re paying to private corporations, being returned to us by the government. Don’t you see this problem? By aiding us in paying off our debts, just with a SIMPLE interest rate reduction, we’ll be much closer to paying off this burden, and can start paying taxes instead of getting breaks. Help me send my children to college, so they don’t have to deal with their own loan burden in the future. Thank you for your time, Humbly, Charlie Pryor Detroit, Michigan]]>