A day after Finland’s leaders declared unequivocally that the nation would join NATO, Sweden’s government signaled on Friday that it could soon follow suit, issuing a scathing report outlining how Russian aggression in Ukraine had fundamentally altered Europe’s security equation and saying that only NATO membership would offer the nation protection.
The report, which did not make an explicit recommendation, came as Western coordination to counter Russian aggression appeared to be deepening. …
Turkey is not trying to block Finland and Sweden’s potential membership in NATO but rather to ensure that all members’ security concerns are considered, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, a day after the leader suggesting that he would be reluctant to welcome the two countries into the alliance.
Mr. Erdogan told reporters on Friday that his country did not “have positive views” toward developments around Finland and Sweden’s potential NATO accession. That raised fears that Mr. Erdogan was signaling that he might try to bargain for his approval, since Sweden and Finland need unanimous approval from all 30 member states to join. …
The virus that causes COVID-19 didn’t change much in the early days of the pandemic. Then the number of mutations started increasing, and scientists began using an alphabet soup of letters and numbers to distinguish them.
But nothing prepared them for the dizzying array of strains that the mighty Omicron variant has been spitting out.
As one of the newest Omicron variants, BA.2.12.1, overtakes its predecessors, here’s what you need to know.
What is this BA.2.12.1 that is racing across the country?
First things, first. The original Omicron variant, called B.1.1.529, emerged in South Africa last year and spread quickly around the world. By late January, another Omicron subvariant, BA.1.1, already was dominant in the United States. …
Yes, it appears it has an increased capacity to evade antibodies triggered by a previous Omicron infection and vaccination, according to recent research by Chinese scientists that has not been peer reviewed. Dr. Pedro Piedra, a professor of molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, compares these virus variants to a leopard that can change its spots to help it avoid detection.
“As these viruses go through the population once, it becomes harder to reinfect the population that already has a level of protection against that variant,” he said. “What we are seeing is these rapid changes that are enough for this variant to take a foothold and cause infection.”
What about the level of illness from BA.2.12.1?
While this latest subvariant doesn’t appear to be causing the flood of hospitalizations that the original Omicron wave did over the winter, hospitalizations are slowly rising again as cases mount in Massachusetts.
“I and many other people had expected that as treatments become more available, as vaccinations are more widespread, we would see a decoupling of the case counts and hospitalizations and we have to a large extent,” Lemieux said. “However it hasn’t been a complete decoupling that was hoped for. So we will have to keep a close eye on the hospitalization count.”
Are there yet more Omicron variants out there?
Yes. Meet BA.4 and BA.5, the newest offshoots identified by scientists in South Africa. The two subvariants have rapidly replaced Omicron’s BA.2 line, reaching more than 50 percent of sequenced cases in South Africa from the first week of April 2022 onward, a team of researchers there recently reported in a study that has not been peer reviewed. The scientists also reported “early signs” of rising hospital admissions in some of the country’s provinces. They said there are signs BA.4 and BA.5 may be even more wily about evading immunity. As far as causing more severe disease, they said the jury is still out.
Are BA.4 and BA.5 in the US?
Yes. Outbreak.info, a database that tracks variants worldwide, reports that BA.4 was first detected in the US in March, and has since been pinpointed in at least 17 states, including Massachusetts. But it still accounts for less than 1 percent of the samples sequenced in the country. According to the database,BA.5 has shown up in at least 13 states, including Massachusetts, as of mid-April, but it has a tiny presence here, accounting for fewer than 1 percent of sequenced samples. …
Many adults under 35 are throwing financial caution to the wind. It’s all about saving less, spending more and pursuing passions.
In a tumultuous time, many adults under 35 have stopped playing it safe. Instead of banking as much of their pay as they used to, they’re saving less, spending more and pursuing passion projects or risky careers. …
… A recent study by Fidelity Investments found that 45 percent of people aged 18 to 35 “don’t see a point in saving until things return to normal.” In that same age group, 55 percent said they have put retirement planning on hold.
For some ,,, the isolation of pandemic life triggered the decision to enjoy the moment, financial consequences be damned. For others, the motivation has come from worries over climate change, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, domestic political instability, soaring inflation, through-the-roof housing costs and a topsy-turvy stock market. …
… Rather than putting his pay into a traditional savings account, Schuyler Wagner, 25, has been pouring his time and money into an idiosyncratic investment: coral farming. For Mr. Wagner, a financial analyst in Tempe, Ariz., aquaculture was a childhood hobby that he gave up in his college years — large tanks don’t exactly fit in dorms.
After graduation, he pursued it again. Now he tends to Goniopora (also known as flowerpot coral), Euphylia (which can be very expensive, Mr. Wagner said) and Acanthophyllia (“a massive single polyp coral that can be as large as a pizza”), among other types of coral. Mr. Wagner has seven tanks in his condo, with a total volume of over 450 gallons. He buys and trades the chunks with other hobbyists in Arizona, as well as reef specialty stores and aquatic pet shops.
Mr. Wagner said he spends $750 to $1,500 on materials and equipment each month. He hopes that one day his expensive hobby will pay off and he can pursue aquaculture as a full-time job.
“Rather than just trying to save to compete with inflation or buy a house in five years, which doesn’t make sense to me right now, I want to pursue this passion,” he said. “There’s so much uncertainty in the world, and Covid has pushed passions to the forefront.”
John Fetterman has used his shorts-and-hoodie image to connect with Pennsylvania voters in the Democratic Senate primary. …
… Just a dude. Doing his thing.
That thing includes believing that “voting is kinda critical to democracy.” And pledging to “get good Democratic stuff done.” And referring to a potential Republican opponent as a “weirdo.”
Mr. Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, does not sound like any other leading politician in recent memory. And standing roughly 6-foot-8, with his uniform of basketball shorts and hoodies bearing occasional schmutz, he plainly does not look like one. …
(So, which one of the three PA GOP MAGA candidates is he going to go up against?)
… Mr. Lamb now heads into the state’s Democratic primary on Tuesday on a much less competitive footing than he or his supporters had hoped. He trails by double digits in polling behind John Fetterman …
Kalush Orchestra of Ukraine was named the winner, pushed to the top by the public vote. The band was victorious with a performance of a rousing, anthemic song delivered as a tribute to Ukraine as a motherland.
The Ukrainian rap and folk band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, as European viewers and juries delivered a symbolic, pop culture endorsement of solidarity behind Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. …
(Casting! Get me Will Ferrel & Rachel McAdams pronto!)
(An 18-year old gunman drove about 200 miles from a small town south of Binghamton in east-central upstate NY to wreak havoc in the westernmost city in NY state.
The high concentration of Black residents on Buffalo’s East Side — which the suspect in Saturday’s mass shooting said was his reason for targeting the area — is a direct result of decades of segregation and systemic racism, according to decades of research.
One analysis from the University of Michigan, based on data from the 2010 census, found that the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro area was the nation’s sixth most segregated when ranked specifically by the distribution of Black and white residents.
Segregation is also a root cause, according to experts, of why efforts to bring an economic renaissance to Buffalo have done little for Black residents. A University of Buffalo report in 2021 found that living conditions for Black residents of the city, across measures of health, housing, income and education, had improved little and in some cases had declined over the preceding 30 years. …
A teenage gunman espousing a white supremacist ideology known as replacement theory opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo on Saturday, methodically shooting and killing 10 people and injuring three more, almost all of them Black, in one of the deadliest racist massacres in recent American history.
The authorities identified the gunman as 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron of Conklin, a small town in New York’s rural Southern Tier. Mr. Gendron drove more than 200 miles to mount his attack, which he also live streamed, the police said, a chilling video feed that appeared designed to promote his sinister agenda. …
Ruth Whitfield, 88: Ms. Whitfield was a devoted parishioner at Durham Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church for 50 years, where she sang in the choir, her daughter-in-law Cassietta Whitfield said. Ruth Whitfield had lived in Buffalo for more than five decades, raising four children. In recent years, she had taken on caring for her husband, who was in a nursing home. Ruth Whitfield has eight grandchildren. “She was a religious woman who cared deeply for her family,” Cassietta Whitfield said.
Roberta Drury, 32: Ms. Drury was on her way to the Tops supermarket to get groceries to make dinner, according to her sister, Amanda Drury. “She was very vibrant,” Ms. Drury said. “She always was the center of attention and made the whole room smile and laugh.”
Aaron Salter Jr., 55: Mr. Salter was a retired officer with the Buffalo Police Department, and worked as a security guard at the Tops grocery store where the attack happened since leaving the force. Described as a “hero” by the Buffalo Police Department’s commissioner, Mr. Salter confronted the gunman and exchanged fire with him when he entered the supermarket Saturday afternoon. Mr. Salter struck the suspect, but the man was wearing a bulletproof vest, which stopped the bullet.
Celestine Chaney, 65: Ms. Chaney was killed during the shooting, her son, Wayne Jones, 48, said. Ms. Chaney was visiting her sister, and the two went to the supermarket because Ms. Chaney wanted to get strawberries to make shortcakes, which she loved, said Mr. Jones. “It’s kind of crazy that she was there shopping, because we go shopping together,” he said. …
Heyward Patterson: Mr. Patterson would travel to the supermarket daily, giving people rides for less money then they’d spend on a taxi or a ride-sharing service, said his grand-niece Teniqua Clark. “That’s how he made his livelihood,” she said.
He was helping another person load groceries into the trunk of the car when he was killed, she said. “He didn’t even have a chance to run,” she said. “He didn’t have a chance at all.” …
During his 30 years as a Buffalo police officer, Aaron Salter Jr. earned a reputation for bravery, with more than one of his exploits recorded in the local newspaper, The Buffalo News. …
… on Saturday, Mr. Salter, 55, would once again encounter a situation that would test his bravery when a man — wearing body armor and camouflage gear and armed with an assault weapon — stormed into the supermarket and opened fire.
Mr. Salter confronted the gunman and fired back. But he became one of 10 people, including three other store employees and several shoppers, who were killed in one of the deadliest racist massacres in American history.
At least three others were wounded, and almost all of the victims, including Mr. Salter, were Black. …
In addition to Mr. Salter, the names of the people fatally shot were released by the authorities on Sunday night: Celestine Chaney, 65, of Buffalo; Roberta A. Drury, 32, of Buffalo; Andre Mackneil, 53, of Auburn, N.Y.; Katherine Massey, 72, of Buffalo; Margus D. Morrison, 52, of Buffalo; Heyward Patterson, 67, of Buffalo; Geraldine Talley, 62, of Buffalo; Ruth Whitfield, 86, of Buffalo; and Pearl Young, 77, of Buffalo.
The people who were wounded included Christopher Braden, 55, of Lackawanna, N.Y.; Zaire Goodman, 20, of Buffalo; and Jennifer Warrington, 50, of Tonawanda, N.Y. …
In addition to Mr. Salter, the names of the people fatally shot were released by the authorities on Sunday night: Celestine Chaney, 65, of Buffalo; Roberta A. Drury, 32, of Buffalo; Andre Mackneil, 53, of Auburn, N.Y.; Katherine Massey, 72, of Buffalo; Margus D. Morrison, 52, of Buffalo; Heyward Patterson, 67, of Buffalo; Geraldine Talley, 62, of Buffalo; Ruth Whitfield, 86, of Buffalo; and Pearl Young, 77, of Buffalo.
The people who were wounded included Christopher Braden, 55, of Lackawanna, N.Y.; Zaire Goodman, 20, of Buffalo; and Jennifer Warrington, 50, of Tonawanda, N.Y. …
(It seems that ‘offering an apology’ is more of an insult than a useful solution. One might wonder how much better off indebted students would be if they got $20K of debt relief. However, perhaps this is a problem that will never get solved, alas.)
… If President Biden removes $10,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower, it would total $321 billion, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimates. That would leave 69 percent of debtors with remaining balances.
That is a large dollar figure, but its size ought to help reframe the national conversation around what we owe the victims of this scandalous failure of public policy. This is especially true for the roughly 40 percent of borrowers who acquired some debt but did not get a degree after six years — and thus lack the earning power that a diploma often brings …
Well, my suggestion was just to consider having the US guv’mint ‘forgive’ (i,e. payoff) $20K of student loan debt, instead of $10K. In hopes that would improve the lives of 80% of borrowers instead of 40%. I suppose that would not help those with med-school debts of $200K very much really. Nor should it.
Assuming there would be enough support to at least consider this, although it would presumably double the cost of the benefit, a cost which ain’t cheap.
a little misunderstanding. I was suggesting that people with high incomes presumably got what they paid for with the loans and should not have them forgiven. I threw out 200k as income threshold, not amount of debt. I am very sure another threshold would a better limit.
otherwise, my comment was not coherent enoough to be taken as a finished proposal. just suggesting that a means test would not be as hard to manage as some folks are claiming. but then I realized I had forgotten the problem of “justice” to those who have already paid a lot on their debts. All I can say is that I know people who have been swindled by big banks and other crooks, and we just write it off to rendering unto Caesar. not “justice” but there comes a time when you write off your losses and keep on living your life. That is not the same as being saddled with a life-killing debt that was probably fraudulent in the first place, aided by a Congress that does not eevn read the bills it passes, much less thinks about them.
and no, the “debates” in Congress have nothing to do with thinking.
The average medical school debt for the class of 2019 is $201,490, according to the most recent data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Those figures include medical school loans, as well as debt from undergraduate studies and other higher education.
“(It’s apparently common for med students to think of their chosen profession as a ‘calling’. So, not something to work at just for $$$.)”
that’s what they say. but after the grind wears away the idealism, most of them seem to be in it for the money.
in any case, if they got the income [AND the calling, which is nice work if you can get it] they can afford to pay their student debt. I’m more worried about the poor kids who were sold a bill of goods and got no education, or a poor education, and no chance at enough income to pay their student debt. Some of those kids thought they had a calling, too.
President Biden says that he is taking a “hard look” at student debt relief, which probably means that some significant relief is coming. For one thing, Biden promised relief during the 2020 campaign. For another, it’s one progressive priority he can address by executive action, which is important given the extreme difficulty of getting anything through an evenly divided Senate.
How much relief will he offer? I have no idea. How much relief should he offer? I’m for going as big as political realities allow, but I understand that too generous a debt write-off might produce a backlash. And I have no confidence that I know where the line should be drawn.
What I think I do know is that much of the backlash to proposals for student debt relief is based on a false premise: the belief that Americans who have gone to college are, in general, members of the economic elite.
The falsity of this proposition is obvious for those who were exploited by predatory for-profit institutions that encouraged them to go into debt to get more or less worthless credentials. The same applies to those who took on educational debt but never managed to get a degree — not a small group. In fact, around 40 percent of student loan borrowers never finish their education. …
But even among those who make it through, a college degree is hardly a guarantee of economic success. And I’m not sure how widely that reality is understood.
What is widely understood is that America has become a far more unequal society over the past 40 years or so. The nature of rising inequality, however, isn’t as broadly known. I keep encountering seemingly well-informed people who believe that we’re mainly looking at a widening gap between the college-educated and everyone else.
This story had some truth to it in the 1980s and 1990s, although even then it didn’t account for the huge income gains at the top of the distribution — the rise of the 1 percent and even more among the 0.01 percent. Since 2000, however, most college graduates have actually seen their real incomes stagnate or even decline.
The Economic Policy Institute had a very useful analysis of this data just before the pandemic. Between 1979 and 2000, there was a rough match between growth in one measure of overall inequality — the gap between wages at the 95th percentile and those of the median worker — and its estimate of the average wage premium for college-educated workers. Since 2000, however, wage inequality has continued to rise, while the college premium has barely changed … (graph at link)
much as I hate to say this, I agree with you entirely. If I were a doctor, though, I would use some of my wealth to get together with other “successful” folks and do something to curb the power of banks and others to make predatory loans, and the government to destroy the whole point of bankkruptcy, just in case, you know, something happens and they stop being able to pay.
on the other hand, me and Abe Lincoln beleive in paying your debts before buying that cool car or big house…saves a huge amount of interest. and other troubles down the road. I suspect the average doctor’s parents helped him a lot when he was younger, and might not be in a position to pay huge medical school, or other college, debts.
and, oh yes, college is really not the answer for everybody..i.e. it is vastly oversold. on the other hand, either better high schools or some government subsidized post high school education would be a benefit for the whole country.
there is an insane greed factor on both sides of this “debate.”
At least 43 million Americans have student loan debt, ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Until now, there’s been no hope of a bailout.
Just as some argued that the subprime mortgage crisis was a matter of millions of people choosing to borrow too much, others have said that the student debt crisis is primarily the fault of the debtors. This myth hides that it was a harmful policy decision to encourage disadvantaged students to borrow for college in the first place. In 2008, the federal government was willing to bail out banks after their risky lending practices devastated the economy. We need a similar such bailout today. But unlike in 2008, this bailout would go to the victims of a crisis, not its perpetrators. …
For the last three decades, our government’s lending practices devoured borrowers’ incomes, prevented homeownership, and contributed to despairing anxiety. Lenders have denied borrowers access to loan relief programs and for-profit colleges have hounded prospective student borrowers, even when they knew graduates would get little return on their investments. By the time President Barack Obama left office, student loans were just as speculative and commonplace as subprime mortgages.
President Biden has signaled that we must make amends for this debt trap by bailing out the generation of borrowers who have been wronged. But the $10,000 of debt cancellation per borrower that he’s suggested will not be enough. …
… a surge of economically disadvantaged students pursued higher education in the 1980s as factory closures, automation and union-busting decimated the middle class. At the same time, President Ronald Reagan persuaded Congress to cut Pell Grant awards.
In his speech accepting the Democratic nomination for President in 1992, Bill Clinton described a “New Covenant” with America that would include the largest-ever expansion of federal student loans. Until that point, loans had played a relatively small role in funding U.S. higher education. With student loans for all, he said, “the doors of colleges are thrown open once again to the sons and daughters of stenographers and steelworkers.” …
Mr. Biden’s proposed income eligibility requirements would also exclude upwardly mobile borrowers with low net worths, including many Black professionals. Worse still, verifying income for debt forgiveness would likely offer false hope of cancellation for millions of low-income borrowers who qualify, as the process, again a bureaucratic gantlet, may very well fail them.
Instead, Mr. Biden must bail out borrowers from the trap of unpayable debts. To do right by at least half of borrowers, he would need to cancel $30,000 per borrower. But to fulfill the promise of higher education, to narrow the racial wealth gap, and to foster an opportunity society, the administration should cancel at least $50,000 per borrower. This would completely bail out 36 million from student debt, according to our analysis, including 67 percent of those who still owe more than they originally borrowed.
A $50,000 bailout per borrower would eliminate only a portion of the $1.6 trillion in outstanding student debt. The government has done fine without collections for two years during the existing repayment pause. And the Department of Education expects that a third of this sum will never be collected anyway.
And no, debt cancellation would not disproportionately benefit the rich, who rarely borrow to pay for school — only 4 percent of the most wealthy have any student debt at all.
To protect future generations, Americans need forward-looking reforms for our higher education financing system. Congress should finally pass a proposal that guarantees enough Pell Grants and other debt-free financial aid for any student trying to earn a college degree. Several of these proposals would sensibly cap the tuition and attendance expenses that would otherwise increase in response to another well-intended policy gone wrong.
But unlike these debt-free college proposals, student debt cancellation does not require passage by a deadlocked Congress. Legal scholars say the Higher Education Act gives Mr. Biden the authority to cancel existing student debts by executive order. Doing so will put Congress on notice that it has to act. …
Much of these loans are exaggerated. By that I mean, they are the original loans plus interest, interest on top of the interest, fees, penalties, etc. The $10,000 will never touch the original loan. If someone is in forbearance, the forbearance interest must be paid first. Once paid, any payments afterwards go towards principal and interest. Simple facts on just those fifty-one years and older.
– age; 50 to 61 yrs. The average loan is ~$44,000. Even if you locked interest rate at 2% and payment at $250/month. it would take >14 years to pay off.
– age >61, The average loan is ~$41,000. Same scenario of 2% rate and $250/month. It would take >12 years to pay.
– 8.8 million people in these two categories holding ~$380 million in loans.
Does anyone really believe these loans will be paid off? Or large portions of it paid? And these are the averages. People do not carry this type of debt into old age because they will not be making the money to pay it off. And the Dept, of Education will take their portion out of SS,
Biden owns much of the damage he created and advocated from 1990 right up to 2005 when he was pushing the 2005 Financial Act. A similar act was blocked by Pres. Clinton when Hillary went to him and asked him not to support it. 2005 was the death knell for holders of student loans.
Alan Collinge has been advocating Biden cancel these loans for years now. Others such as Akers, Delisle, Chinago, etc. have been advocating for far less and in some cases “tough luck.”
Stockholm signaled that it would likely follow Finland’s lead in vowing to apply for NATO membership
NY Times – May 13
Turkey isn’t trying to block Sweden and Finland from joining NATO
NY Times – May 14
What is this BA.2.12.1 that is racing across the country?
Boston Globe – May 13
The World’s a Mess. So They’ve Stopped Saving for Tomorrow
NY Times – May 13
And here I thought it was Social Securitydmaging the savings rate, crowding out investments and destroying our children’s future.
That, and closing down businesses for Covid.
At least we don’t have a draft.
How ‘Just a Dude’ in Shorts Became a Senate Front-Runner
NY Times – May 14
(So, which one of the three PA GOP MAGA candidates is he going to go up against?)
Conor Lamb, the PA Dem congressman running for Senate, has been a less competitive candidate than his supporters had hoped.
NY Times – May 12
Hmmm. Is a ‘Eurovision: Fire Sage’ sequel in order?
Ukraine Wins Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final 2022
NY Times – May 14
(Casting! Get me Will Ferrel & Rachel McAdams pronto!)
(An 18-year old gunman drove about 200 miles from a small town south of Binghamton in east-central upstate NY to wreak havoc in the westernmost city in NY state.
Gunman targeted Black neighborhood shaped by decades of segregation
NY Times – May 15
(Is this yet another victory for both the 1st and 2nd Amendments?)
The gunman in the Buffalo mass shooting was motivated by racism
NY Times – May 15
(Five of the victims…)
These Were the Victims in the Buffalo Attack
NY Times – May 15
(Full list)
Victims in the Buffalo Attack
NY Times – May 15
(The full list, from the NY Times.)
In addition to Mr. Salter, the names of the people fatally shot were released by the authorities on Sunday night: Celestine Chaney, 65, of Buffalo; Roberta A. Drury, 32, of Buffalo; Andre Mackneil, 53, of Auburn, N.Y.; Katherine Massey, 72, of Buffalo; Margus D. Morrison, 52, of Buffalo; Heyward Patterson, 67, of Buffalo; Geraldine Talley, 62, of Buffalo; Ruth Whitfield, 86, of Buffalo; and Pearl Young, 77, of Buffalo.
The people who were wounded included Christopher Braden, 55, of Lackawanna, N.Y.; Zaire Goodman, 20, of Buffalo; and Jennifer Warrington, 50, of Tonawanda, N.Y. …
(It seems that ‘offering an apology’ is more of an insult than a useful solution. One might wonder how much better off indebted students would be if they got $20K of debt relief. However, perhaps this is a problem that will never get solved, alas.)
Deserve ‘Forgiveness.’ They Deserve an Apology.
NY Times – May 13
Dobbs
yeah, yeah, but does forgiving the debt of doctors than make 200,000 a year make sense?
i may have lost track of the argument, but last i heard “means testing” was a sticking point.
too hard to do, they said. How about subtracting “student debt” from “taxes owed.” if result is negative, carry forward to next years tax.
oops..left out the line where “if adjusted income is greater than 80,000, subtract zero from taxes owed.”
as for apology…it’s okay, no apology needed, just the money will do.
now, is this unfair to the people who already paid all or part of their student debt?
i suppose it is, but i’ll listen to suggestions.
Well, my suggestion was just to consider having the US guv’mint ‘forgive’ (i,e. payoff) $20K of student loan debt, instead of $10K. In hopes that would improve the lives of 80% of borrowers instead of 40%. I suppose that would not help those with med-school debts of $200K very much really. Nor should it.
Assuming there would be enough support to at least consider this, although it would presumably double the cost of the benefit, a cost which ain’t cheap.
I’m pretty sure Joe Manchin would shoot it down.
Dobbs
a little misunderstanding. I was suggesting that people with high incomes presumably got what they paid for with the loans and should not have them forgiven. I threw out 200k as income threshold, not amount of debt. I am very sure another threshold would a better limit.
otherwise, my comment was not coherent enoough to be taken as a finished proposal. just suggesting that a means test would not be as hard to manage as some folks are claiming. but then I realized I had forgotten the problem of “justice” to those who have already paid a lot on their debts. All I can say is that I know people who have been swindled by big banks and other crooks, and we just write it off to rendering unto Caesar. not “justice” but there comes a time when you write off your losses and keep on living your life. That is not the same as being saddled with a life-killing debt that was probably fraudulent in the first place, aided by a Congress that does not eevn read the bills it passes, much less thinks about them.
and no, the “debates” in Congress have nothing to do with thinking.
I recognized that your ‘$200K figure’ was a hypothetical income amount. However, it’s also a likely med-school debt, coincidentally.
One of the reasons people go into medicine is ‘to be of service’.
Another is to have a high-income occupation, good for a lifetime.
For that you, you have to Pay & Pay. Hopefully, get your parents to cover the costs, all of them if possible, otherwise ‘a lot’. TANSTAFL.
The average medical school debt for the class of 2019 is $201,490, according to the most recent data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Those figures include medical school loans, as well as debt from undergraduate studies and other higher education.
What Is the Average Medical School Debt?
(It’s apparently common for med students to think of their chosen profession as a ‘calling’. So, not something to work at just for $$$.)
Medical Students’ Views of Medicine as a Calling and Selection of a Primary Care-Related Residency
Annals of Family Medicine – January 2018
“(It’s apparently common for med students to think of their chosen profession as a ‘calling’. So, not something to work at just for $$$.)”
that’s what they say. but after the grind wears away the idealism, most of them seem to be in it for the money.
in any case, if they got the income [AND the calling, which is nice work if you can get it] they can afford to pay their student debt. I’m more worried about the poor kids who were sold a bill of goods and got no education, or a poor education, and no chance at enough income to pay their student debt. Some of those kids thought they had a calling, too.
Education Has Less to Do With Inequality Than You Think
NY Times – Paul Krugman – April 29
Dobbs
much as I hate to say this, I agree with you entirely. If I were a doctor, though, I would use some of my wealth to get together with other “successful” folks and do something to curb the power of banks and others to make predatory loans, and the government to destroy the whole point of bankkruptcy, just in case, you know, something happens and they stop being able to pay.
on the other hand, me and Abe Lincoln beleive in paying your debts before buying that cool car or big house…saves a huge amount of interest. and other troubles down the road. I suspect the average doctor’s parents helped him a lot when he was younger, and might not be in a position to pay huge medical school, or other college, debts.
and, oh yes, college is really not the answer for everybody..i.e. it is vastly oversold. on the other hand, either better high schools or some government subsidized post high school education would be a benefit for the whole country.
there is an insane greed factor on both sides of this “debate.”
The Government Gave Out Bad Loans. Students Deserve a Bailout.
NY Times – May 17
Fred:
Much of these loans are exaggerated. By that I mean, they are the original loans plus interest, interest on top of the interest, fees, penalties, etc. The $10,000 will never touch the original loan. If someone is in forbearance, the forbearance interest must be paid first. Once paid, any payments afterwards go towards principal and interest. Simple facts on just those fifty-one years and older.
– age; 50 to 61 yrs. The average loan is ~$44,000. Even if you locked interest rate at 2% and payment at $250/month. it would take >14 years to pay off.
– age >61, The average loan is ~$41,000. Same scenario of 2% rate and $250/month. It would take >12 years to pay.
– 8.8 million people in these two categories holding ~$380 million in loans.
Bad Mouthing Student Loan Holders
Does anyone really believe these loans will be paid off? Or large portions of it paid? And these are the averages. People do not carry this type of debt into old age because they will not be making the money to pay it off. And the Dept, of Education will take their portion out of SS,
Biden owns much of the damage he created and advocated from 1990 right up to 2005 when he was pushing the 2005 Financial Act. A similar act was blocked by Pres. Clinton when Hillary went to him and asked him not to support it. 2005 was the death knell for holders of student loans.
History of Student Loan Discharging
Alan Collinge has been advocating Biden cancel these loans for years now. Others such as Akers, Delisle, Chinago, etc. have been advocating for far less and in some cases “tough luck.”