144 Comments

The 20+ year old one is going to apply to me. Still got about $4000 hanging around from 1998-2002. By then, PSLF will also discharge the grad loans. At this point, I'm making minimum payments and calling it good.

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I really hope they get something done soon. My husband and I got legally married last December because I started a job with really great medical insurance and he was uninsured. When I was let go last Friday, one of my main concerns was that now that we're married our combined income is just barely too high for me to qualify for any kind of repayment plans. Also, I'm losing my really good insurance and we just barely don't qualify for me to get affordable insurance. The hits just keep coming!

In good (relatively) news, I had a very productive meeting with my psych doctor yesterday and we made a med plan to make sure that I won't have to stop taking my depression and anxiety meds when my insurance runs out. She was really great and price checking different ways of writing the prescription to see what will have the cheapest out of pocket cost through my pharmacy, so that was a huge relief for me through all of this. I also live in Washington State and had been receiving WA paid medical leave and found out that I will be able to continue receiving that even though I've lost my job so I'll be able to take time for my mental health over the holiday season and then go onto unemployment and figure out what's next. So at least that's one system doing what it's intended to do.

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Is it too late to bring suit against the covid business loans that were forgiven?

Even if we don't eventually win at the Supreme Court, the left has to start drawing these parallels.

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No one should ever go into debt for education. We are facing critical shortages in the medical field, education, trades. How many brilliant would-be doctors, teachers, etc are priced out of an education? We should want our populace educated.

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Free K-16

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well if they're not going to forgive MY loans (i don't have any) then no one should be forgiven... (i'm sure there is someone out there saying that)

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You joke, but that was literally the false pretext that the Supreme Court used to grant standing to people without loans that weren't forgiven.

Other people benefitted, which didn't feel fair, so the court struck down the debt forgiveness.

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i remember (so does pepperidge farms) i was harking back to that

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how upset is the "I've gone mine, fuck you"-crowd on a scale from Mr. Bigglesworth to Dawn Davenport?

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Sun Devils?! As IF!

What about the Scottsdale Community College Artichokes?

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I wish I could whisper in the ears of these folks and suggest forgiveness of Parent Plus loans for people who have reached retirement.

But I will not be the kind of whiny little loser who pouts about other people getting something I’m not.

Because. Functioning adult.

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Totally get you! Just retired, then pandemic paused payment resumed so just paid off the final loan for my kids' educations. We are a forgotten group!

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December 6, 2023Edited
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Why can't they pay back their loans the old fashioned way, plasma donations?

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$20. Same as downtown.

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MTG is now accusing Richard McCormick of being "physically aggressive" with her. I wonder how much longer House Republicans are going to put up with her constant drama.

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Just another segment of "As The Stomach Turns".

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McCormick was just trying to spice up the relationship.

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OT. We won't have Kevin McCarthy to kick around anymore, at the end of the year.

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If only he could be replaced by a sane person, but it is Bakersfield, after all.

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Buck Owens in 24?

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Could do worse!

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He'll always be available to kick around in our hearts.

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He's quitting because 1) His caucus is crazy and he knows it, and 2) nobody is going to listen to him, anyways. Whether he quits or not, it's not really going to make a difference.

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Going out the same way all previous Republican speakers in the last decade have gone.

Tail between his legs.

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That an he is an onerous coward who believes if he gets out now he won't hang with any of the other Rethugs when their entire fascist facade burns down around them after Jack Smith's gavel strike sparks long overdue January 6 consequences.

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I'll drink to that!

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Slàinte!

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Taylor Swift person of the year. Okay. I can deal. She makes people happy, and I've got no problem with that. I hope it sends the Ben Shapiro's of the world into a fucking spiral.

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Just saw a random blurb where she was one of the few celebrities that refused to do a sponsorship deal with FTX/crypto bullshit, because she recognized it was bullshit (both her parents are in finance.) So that's neat.

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Proud to have done my part.

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I've always held that the cause of high student loan debt is the price of higher education. Back in my day, Calif. state university could be as low as $670 a year. And I had a student debt through Sallie Mae of $2,500, which bought me books and a queen-sized bed (because no college student should have to sleep on their childhood bunk bed, dang it).

And that's what you did, unless your parents had the scratch to send you to the Ivy Leagues, or private college.

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My actual education was free, thanks to Georgia's HOPE scholarship paying my in state tuition.

But the school I went to was two hours away, so all my student loans were to cover room and board, which itself is scamtastic at state universities. (Then I had to pay about $25,000 for my master's degree, but at least that degree got me a good job.)

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My eight sisters all went to state college, four in the 60s, four in the 70s, with no debt. My parents didn't help them at all because they couldn't.

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Well of course because states stopped helping the colleges financially. And then the student loan thing is a vicious circle. Colleges see that people can get bigger loans so they raise rates to get more money which results in bigger loans and so on.

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Yep.

All of this.

Prior to the late 80s/early 90s, states basically subsidized in-state tuition for public colleges and universities to the tune of 70%.

That number is now about 19%.

Which is why I fly into a blind rage when I hear some boomer wax poetic about how these students just need to buckle down and work a summer to pay their tuition. These two situations ARE NOT ALIKE!

And that decline in state support is all thanks to your Friendly Neighborhood Republican Shitbag (tm) who stands in the way of all of us having nice things.

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OT, but I need someone to talk me down: the rescue that we volunteer for just sent an email about 3 dogs who urgently need to be moved out of an unsafe situation into decent foster homes. The last friggin thing I need is another dog right now, but *their widdle faces*..... Voices of reason only, pls :)

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You're doing a wonderful thing by fostering dogs, but there are limits as to how many you can handle. If you take more than that, you'll be doing both you and the dogs a disservice.

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First and foremost you need to be able to do what's best for these animals. If you're already feeling a bit overwhelmed it may be in those precious pup's best interests to be fostered with another patient and loving human who isn't already as busy.

Follow your heart responsibly, love.

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We've only got 2 dogs right now ("only" HA!), so one more wouldn't be a stretch for us. My stressors are more end-of-year crap at work and my concern is that I won't be as present for this new dog as I should be. I wouldn't even be considering it normally, but based on the photos, these dogs need a new place ASAP (it looks like they're living outside in a rotting shed :( :( :( ).

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Well, if you already have 15, what's one more?

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OT

Andy Borowitz has been dropped by NYMag

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This does NOT please me.

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As a fellow cynical sarcastic person I cry foul! To the snark cave!

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I'll join you!

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is this the place where people go to say stupid shit like "if you can't pay back a loan, don't borrow the money!" and other sorts of bootstrap bullshit? Because if so, I might skip the popcorn this time.

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