Initial key points draft
The Principles involved here:
Responsibility for paying for one's own benefits (where possible)
Education is vital and a must
PAYBACK
President Obama is proposing an idea that has a good element in it and also a not-good element in it.
The idea of limiting loan paybacks to 10% of income has merit, I think, as long as interest is charged. This would help prevent an excessive burden, though it may end up with some losses, to be accepted.
The parents estate should also be on the hook, so that the inheritance will bear the cost incurred by the student. This would be in the form of a lien on the "future inheritance", which would be recorded to link with the settlement of the parent's estates.
But I think that the percentage should be increased to 15% once a person is able to afford it, at, say, $100,000 and above.
The idea of moving the forgiveness of the remaining loan balance from 25 years to 20 years lacks logic, as it adds to the debt burden of the taxpayers. Logically, there should be no limit in years and the obligation should go all the way through to the person's estate.
This is an obligation the person takes on and he/she should not be relieved of that obligation, if he/she is able to pay and has any resources.
The loan amount should be limited to where there is no financing for the "luxury educations", as the public interest is not served by that.
