Open
email to Rep. Messer (Indiana) and Republicans in
general:Dear Rep. Messer,
I just listened twice to your video, entitled, "Weekly Republican Address", but which actually concentrated on student loans.
You bemoaned the fact that student loans are scheduled to rise from an interest rate of 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1. Apparently the House has already passed a bill which will stop that increase, and you are now appealing to the Senate and Pres. Obama to follow suit. However so far, the Senate has failed to show any signs of cooperation and Pres. Obama has indicated objection.
I am normally on the side which opposes almost everything Pres. Obama and the Democrats are for, but it in this case, I believe they are showing correct judgment.
The federal government has been pushing higher education for many years and has been effective in convincing almost everybody of the need for a college education. Unfortunately, that is a misguidance. A college energy education generally prepares people for a more intellectual approach to viewing problems and applying appropriate judgments. In that respect, a college education helps to generate leaders, not workers in the traditional sense. In fact, as college trained people are employed and are unable to assume significant leadership capacities because of limited opportunities, they tend to fall into bureaucratic slots, most of which is a make-work environment. An example of that is the already bloated federal government, which is filled with these college trained bureaucrats causing more difficulty than they resolve.
With that basic statement, we can go on to consider some proofs.
The federal government is already burdened with many billions of dollars of student loans and there is considerable concern as to how much of these loans will actually be repaid. This comes about also in spite of the fact that billions of dollars of federal tax money are given routinely to municipal and state colleges and universities as grants, some of which support ridiculous research projects or projects intended to support government ideology. Pell grants are also another form of direct assistance to college students.
You mentioned that there is a 16% unemployment among young people with the implication that if we approve a student interest rate decrease to help them through college, the young people unemployment problem will be solved. Nothing could be father from the truth. I suspect the 16% unemployment rate includes many college-educated young people unable to find work, because college has not prepared them for the work needs of industry. Industry needs a balance of managers and workers, neither all managers nor all workers. We already have an excess of potential managers, and that access will do nothing to make jobs. Jobs will be made by industry and the rate at which these jobs are created will depend strongly on government attitude to industry and not on the basis of availability of employees.
You said that one can obtain a used car loan at a lower interest rate than a student loan. This is an indication of market forces at work. Apparently lenders feel there is a greater likelihood of loan repayment among borrowers for used cars then there is for student loans. Another indication that there is already an excess of college trained people.
I am a personal believer in the value of education, but as is characteristic of most things done by government, it has reached an excessive stage. We do not need low student loan rates to entice people to go to college when many of them don't really have the intellectual capability or interest to go through the required educational program for a degree. In fact, excessive low student rates will suck in candidates who don't really have the aptitude for managerial success and and create for them a heavy financial burden. For those who are qualified intellectually, and show early leadership capability, there are ample opportunities in the private sector. Educational money is available from families and from various organizations, as either athletic or academic scholarships and through work programs such as you aptly described from your personal experience in the video.
You said you want to stop the rate increase from 3.4% to 6.5% and then have Washington get out of the student loan business. Great idea with limitation! Forget holding the line on rate increase and let market forces determine what interest rate is appropriate for student loans. Additionally, carry through with your suggestion of having Washington out of the student loan business, but go further and have Washington out of the educational business. Eliminate the Department of Education, Pell grants and all forms of subsidies for colleges and universities. Those institutions got along well and led to the development of this country over the years without government meddling. They can do so again.
