Monday, June 29, 2009

Oh the Irony!

During the Obama campaign, many ads suggested that McCain was proposing taxing the health care benefits that you receive from your employer (and conveniently left out the fact that he proposed that EVERYONE would get a tax benefit to buy insurance, actually equalizing employer-received benefits with individually purchased)... but never mind the facts.

Fast forward months later: the Democrats are proposing taxing employer-sponsored healthcare (with of course no credit for anybody... because, as Democrats know, the government can manage your money better and choose your health care plans better than you or your employer).

The really CORRUPT proposal: Unions wouldn't have their health benefits taxed in the same way.

Handing a benefit to the union doesn't even help union members; it just keeps corrupt union leaders in power. With all of the money the union donated to some of these campaigns, how can they legally be allowed to accept a favor like that? Will any voters be listening? Will they call their congressman?

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Student loans? Don't worry!

Did you go to college? Did you borrow too much, make a poor career choice, stay in college too long, or just feel lazy when you graduated?

NO WORRIES!

The federal government is again making sure that you are not responsible for your poor decisions. Further, they would like to encourage those of you who really need to increase your income to relaaaxxx, be more laid back, "it's all good".

Article in Forbes this week: http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/02/student-loan-calculator-personal-finance-income-based-repayment.html

Basically, your student loan repayment rate is now dependent on your income. Further, if you take a job with the government, you'll be done paying in 10 years... whether or not you've paid it back. Quote "Public health workers, law enforcement officers, public school teachers and other government employees can stop making payments on federal student loans after only 10 years." I truly appreciate police officers and teachers. But the system already allows the lousy ones to stay on with the good ones... and what does "other government employees" include?

I can see rationale in repaying student loans for certain teachers and police officers who fulfill needs and do a good job. This program, however, is another stab at American productivity. It is likely a step towards "free college" for all.

I believe that education is worthwhile not only for the individual but for the society. However, making that education "free and easy" does not make it valuable.