Student Debt

Bernie Sanders, 

Today in America, we have an entire generation of people burdened with nearly $1.8 trillion of student debt that leaves them less likely to own a home, start a family or a business, and with lower wages and more debt than generations before them.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of working-class high school students no longer see college as an option because of their fear of leaving school with obscene amounts of debt.

That is a tragedy not only for those young people, but it is a tragedy for our nation. And it is not what America is supposed to be about. 

Our mission must be to give them hope. 

Because a well-educated population is not only good for the individual student, but for our entire economy. And if every parent, teacher, and student in this country understands that if they study hard and do well in school, they will be able to go to college, that will have a radical impact on the future of our country. 

The good news is that President Biden’s announcement last year to substantially reduce the outrageous levels of student debt was an important step forward in providing real, meaningful help to a large number of working-class families in this country.

The bad news is that the future of the student debt forgiveness program will be in the hands of an increasingly reactionary and out-of-touch Supreme Court. 

Now, I would love to tell you that the Supreme Court is an impartial judicial institution whose decisions are above politics. That was perhaps once true, but it is certainly not the case any more.

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How Wall Street Skims Higher Education

To join the Drop Student Debt campaign go here. http://www.dsausa.org/drop_student_debt

Drop Student Debt

By  Thom Hartman,

Never in the history of the developed world has an entire generation had to go into debt just to get an education and a job. Until now.

Back in January, 31-year-old Tony Muzzatti, who at the time owed around $60,000 in student loan debt to Sallie Mae and always made on-time payments, was told that he had to immediately make a payment of $10,000, or face asset seizures.

That's because his grandmother, who also happened to be his cosigner on the student loans, had just died.

Christopher Kibler was also told by Sallie Mae that he had to immediately pay back nearly $22,000 in student loan debts after his father, the cosigner on his loans, had passed away.

Muzzatti and Kibler are just two of the many victims of what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau refers to as "auto-defaults," or when banks immediately say that private student loan debts are in default after the death or bankruptcy of a cosigner.

6000 students march on California Capitol

More than 6,000 students from Central and Northern California marched on the California Capitol today to demand full funding of education,  student debt relief and Tax the Millionaires to pay for it. The impressive demonstration was organized primarily by student associations of the community colleges, the CSU and U.C. campuses in the northern half of the state.

Key legislative leaders addressed the crowd and offered legislation to fund public education- which they can not pass do the constitutional requirement of a 2/3 vote to raise taxes.

There have been many promises of an occupation of the capitol, and the police presence was immense.

The first rally of the day was to end at 12:30.  Occupy folks have set up a site on the North Side of the Capitol where they held  a general assembly and non violence training.  The occupy supporters numbered about 100.   

Yet a third event today was the  5:30 PM rally organized by labor.   About 400 trade unionists showed up and supported the students and workers.  See photos.

The several unions supporting and funding the Tax the Millionaires signature gathering used an effective strategy which we used in March of 2010 while gathering signatures for the California Democracy Act.   They printed several hundred well done posters saying Tax the Millionaires.  They went to the student assembly points where thousands were arriving without signs and gave the posters away free.  In the march at least one of every six marchers was carrying a Tax the Millionaires sign – an impressive showing.  Tax the Millionaires is supported by the California Federation of Teaches (AFT), the California Nurses (CNA) and most recently Moveon.  In addition to tabling, some 60 signature gatherers traveled through the crowd to collect signatures of voters. 

  UC Davis YDS members at the rally.

Sacramento Student Demonstrations Today

Join Us on March 1 Day of Action

CSU –Sacramento. Rally at Noon

U.C. Davis.  Teach In.

To Demand that the California Government:

Fully fund public education, which is a public good and is the cornerstone of a democratic society, a vibrant economy, and the social and intellectual development of every individual.

Fully fund social services, which to a large part provide a crucial safety net for the most vulnerable members of society and therefore serve as a measure of society's moral standard.

Thousands of U.S. college students will walk out of class Thursday in a coordinated day of protest against what may be another year of significant higher-education budget cuts by state legislatures.

Young Democratic Socialists  at UC Davis   mobilized to participate in protests during National Student Debt Week, Feb.27- March 2, across the country.   Cornel West joined in the effortAction. http://vimeo.com/37209329