DYHALTO'S PROFILE

So we meet again, 3.5" floppy disc x)

author=bulmabriefs144
What do they teach in school that is so valuable anyway?

I've actually seen this sentiment going around a lot lately, particularly among Ron/Rand Paul supporters who cite an "education bubble" that's about to burst. It's a prejudice that comes from the foul taste left by useless Arts and Business degrees most of us took at least once in our post-secondary years.
If you want to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, veterinarian, social worker, auto mechanic, teacher, or even just a step above mere general labor (a skilled trade), you need some basis of education. And you should be aspiring to something, as it betters your own life and inadvertently contributes to society at large. Why limit yourself to the Unskilled Labor section of the classifieds and Help Wanted signs outside Stabucks?

author=mawk
[I can especially speak to the truth of this from where I am in Canada, where the party currently in power is keeping neurotically close to American policy as it possibly can.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who holds Canadian "sovereignty" in low regard.
Still, no personal attacks here please.

I think a few people here might be interested in this, particularly ones taking on loans for post-secondary education.

It's a bill proposed by senator Elizabeth Warren that will lower the Stafford student loan interest rate to 0.75% instead of the current 3.4% and soon-to-double 6.8% from July onward. The genius of it is that it's done at no cost to the taxpayer*.
In its current form, it only affects Stafford loans for 2013-2014. For one, it shouldn't be limited to just that timespan, and two, it shouldn't be restricted to Stafford loans only. Because the corrupt political establishment is largely against it, it'll need a lot of democratic action to not only get passed, but to be amended so that it includes all student loans.

To Americans, this is where you might want to consider becoming politically active for the first time in your life (or stepping it up if you're a veteran).
Consider the difference between 6.8% and 0.75% on a $50,000 loan (phDs can go >$100,000). That's ~$3000/year just in interest. That's car payments for a year, or several months rent, or even just more beer and video games. How many work hours will you have to put in just to make that annual interest payment, nevermind working down the principal? Try putting those hours into some kind of meaningful activism in order to get this thing through.
The most basic form would be to simply talk about it. Raise the discussion on other forums you visit. Talk about it with family and friends. Talk about it at work. Etc. The more people who know about it, the more popular it gets. It's an idea that immediately appeals to almost everybody in the country, as long as they "get it".
And to non-Americans, the idea of low interest student loans will spread worldwide if it happens in the US. All roads lead to Rome, and today the US is Rome.

At the very least, open a new window and get acquainted with what I'm talking about.



*Technical jargon: The bill proposes to use the Federal Reserve Discount Window to finance the Stafford loans. Currently, technically-bankrupt zombie banks enjoy the exclusive right to borrow money at 0.75% interest to keep themselves afloat via this window. In the way the bill works, money would go from the Fed, to the student loan agency, to the student. The student would then repay the student loan agency, which would repay the Fed. This leaves the taxpayer, and thus the budget and T-bill issuance, completely out of the picture.

author=Sailerius

author=kory_toombs
Being able to give a star rating to a game without
writing a review.

Please not this.

I second the "not this".