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07/21/2013

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Jim

Another way to look at the student loan legislation is that it basically halves the doubling time of the principal itself. It WILL mean the difference for many Americans in being able to pay off that loan or not.

It's simple insanity that it could possibly bring in extra revenue, as a lot of revenue will be lost in a declining economy due to those same people not contributing as they could do otherwise. It's nothing short of putting a leg iron on many of the most promising young Americans.

One thing not mentioned in the CNN article is that the rate for parents paying for their children's education will be capped at 10.5%. Because, clearly, they can afford it. Why else would they take out a loan?

Beyond the corporate tax rate, or tax rates for the highest incomes, or closing loopholes, our yearly defense budget is over 8,000x (not an exaggeration) the amount of extra revenue generated from raising the student loan interest rates. We couldn't shave off 1/8,000th of that?

I see Washington and politics as basically being about who gets the money. All the struggles going on right now come down to that simple element. Inside that struggle, factions constantly battle over who gets to sport the crown for the day. It's all pure self-interest. In this arena, money speaks the loudest, and so, more money naturally flows towards more money. There's nothing benign about it.

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