Stephanie C. Warriner
Business, credit card, mortgage and even gambling debt can all be discharged. So why not forgive student loans?
My name is Stephanie C. Warriner and I am writing to urge everyone to support H.R. 4170 and to call or write to your respective representatives (Pearce, Heinrich, or Luján) to co-sponsor The Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012.
I am a life-long resident of New Mexico. I am a product of New Mexico’s public education system, a graduate of New Mexico State University, and am currently enrolled in the EMBA program at the University of New Mexico.
H.R. 4170 was introduced last month in the House by Rep. Hansen Clarke, D-Mich, and co- sponsored by Reps. Karen Bass, D-Calif., John Conyers, D-Mich., Bob Filner, D-Calif, Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, and Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill. Student loan debt in our country has reached exorbitant levels, and it’s having a devastatingly effect on economic growth. As a voter in New Mexico I respectfully ask you to support this bill.
An education is not a luxury. It’s not a BMW, a heated pool, or a 15-room mansion. To seek an education does not make one a snob. Seeking an education is about opportunity. Education is the great equalizer. Investing in education is an investment into our future. It’s an assurance that everybody has a fair shot.
Student loans are the only type of debt that has been stripped away of any sort of consumer protection. Business, credit card, mortgage and even gambling debt can all be discharged. So why not forgive student loans? How can we ever expect the housing market to recover when those who are most likely to purchase homes (educated professionals) are burdened with thousands and thousands of dollars in student loan debt?
Money doesn’t trickle down, but an education lifts all boats. Everyone benefits from a more educated population. To positively stimulate economic growth, we need to start from the bottom and “trickle-up.” The Federal Reserve has given $16 trillion in loans with virtually zero interest to Wall Street. Meanwhile, I am left to beg and plead for a couple thousand bucks to pay tuition, and I still get strapped with an 8 percent interest rate. How is that fair?
We bailed out Wall Street
For those who may claim that because I support this act I don’t want to take responsibility for my actions, I ask that you consider the following: When the top earners in this country were paying 90 percent of the marginal tax, the economy boomed and they still got rich. Now they pay less, still get rich, and our economy is in the tank. But I’m not the responsible one because I want my student loans forgiven.
We bailed out Wall Street for their recklessness. It’s time to for America and Wall Street to do right by us.
In a time in which the high school dropout rate is skyrocketing, it is rare to even see people with a desire for baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate education. The thought of having years and years of student loan debt makes it much more difficult to encourage people to seek higher education.
This bill helps people. This bill encourages people to seek an education, and an education encourages people to be successful. This bill is an investment.
I am a student with student loan debt and I am a voter. I urge you support this bill. I urge you to contact your representative and ask him to please co-sponsor H.B. 4170. Please support The Student Loan Forgiveness ACT of 2012.
Warriner is a Democrat and life-long resident of New Mexico, and presently resides in Albuquerque with her fiancé. She is a 2008 graduate of New Mexico State University with a bachelor’s in government and philosophy. Currently, she is an EMBA student in the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico. In a nutshell, she is an Irish-Mexican, so naturally she enjoys loud music, a pint of chilled Guinness and huge family gatherings.