Abolish the Pell Grant and Department of Education

 The era of free handouts is over.  THIS COUNTRY IS BROKE!!!!! Students and families need to bear the full responsibility of their education.  The Government cannot afford to keep giving out money for nothing in return.  We all know or should know there is no such thing as a free lunch.  The American taxpayer is not only footing the bill for these grants, but also all the loans that students default on.   The Pell Grant and the Department of education are just another antiquated idea that was sustainable only temporarily, and are now a drain on the economy and the citizen.  Get off Your Butts

All I ever see on the news is the poor plight of the college students out protesting cuts college grants, and of course the biased media is going to spin the story in their favor and make them look like victims to garner sympathy and support for the left.  But let’s think about this.  They are basically protesting for money that isn’t theirs in the first place, but that they feel they have an entitlement to.  This is just another government program run amok that has helped fuel this outrageous sense of entitlement.  We are seeing something truly fascinating play out right now in our lives.  Globalization is on the rise.  We are in an unprecedented “recession”.  I think we are in a depression.  There are no jobs, so record numbers of people are going to school in hopes of finding jobs, fueling a record increase in grant expenditures.  When these students graduate they are still having a hard time finding jobs.  This system, this way of doing things, is not working.  I hope all of you know that student loan debt has recently surpassed the $1 trillion dollar mark to become the number one largest debt category in the nation. Interview with Ron Paul on the Education Crisis

Now before I go any further let me clarify that I am a recipient of college benefits.  I am using the G.I. Bill.  I enlisted in the Army before I even graduated from high school because I knew I had no way to pay for college. I am also still working 30+ hours a week because I am pursuing multiple degrees.  My girlfriend works three jobs to pay for her school.  This is my whole general point; If someone wants education benefits, they have to earn it.  They have to do something for it. They have to sacrifice for it.   Look, I am not for the Government being completely out of the education picture.  I believe the government can help college students by making private lenders compete by offering VERY low interest loans.  I’m talking 1% or less to make them as affordable as possible.

 There is a new order now of how to go to college and this is it....

1.       1. The student should continue to live at home after high school and attend a community college.   This will eliminate room/board and drastically reduce tuition the first two years.

2.       2. The student should find a part time job while in school to help out the parents and build a real work ethic.

3.       3.The student will apply for every scholarship available.

4.      4. When it is time for the student to move out and get an apartment, he/she will room in low cost college housing.  I know of places where monthly rent is $400 or less.  Will they have to give up a bit of privacy?  Yes.  But everyone still gets their own room and can try to find buddies to room with. 

5.       5.The student should pick a degree that is relevant.  I would strongly suggest a STEM degree.  If  you hate math you should probably learn to love it and take every math course available.

6.     6.  For those few who have what it takes, they can join the military for a short three years to earn their G.I. Bill.

Alot of Talk on Contraception

         I have noticed a few blogs on the contraception issue and all of its moral and economic implications.  When I first heard of the contraception mandate my knee-jerk reaction was, "no way do I want to pay for other people to have relations!!"  My thinking was that people should all be responsible and abstain from sexual relations if they couldnt bear the consequences of it.  I was definitely on the anti-contraception side.  But I realize this is an ideal theoryin a real world.  It will never happen.  Because I have written a paper on this issue and hear about it on the radio almost every day I have taken a second look.  On the blog site, Where are Your Feet?, the author makes a compelling argument for the pro-contraceptive side.  The author cites the positive side effects of birth control for women, and the social and economic woes it can help to curtail including unwanted and uninsured pregnancies, and likely dependence on welfare.  The author also tells of who is likely to pick up tthe bill for unprotected sex; the middle class.  I am most likely going to be a member of the middle class my whole life so this really got my attention.  I don't want to pay for birth control for other people.  But I REALLY dont want to pay for other peoples' welfare babies.

      Now that I have looked at both sides of the contraception debate it comes down to the numbers.  I am a taxpayer and I favor the side that will cost me less in taxes.  If handing out a bunch of pills to prevent pregnancy is cheaper than paying for all the uninsured pregnancies and hospital bills, then so be it.

Can You Count on Social Security when you Retire?

        Social Security was enacted while the country was in the depths of the Great Depression.  This was a time when fifty percent of senior citizens lived in poverty and the stock market crash wiped out many Americans’ life savings.  The Act was intended to limit the afflictions of poverty, unemployment, and illness.  It would be hard for someone to argue against the virtue of Social Security.  It is basically the nation’s young taking care of the nation’s elderly.  That’s the way it should be right?  The idea behind Social Security is truly benevolent.  But the entire system is in trouble.  

        It is clear from the very start that the Social Security System is flawed and/or mismanaged.    The first monthly retirement check issued on January 31, 1940 from Social Security went to a woman named Ida May Fuller.  She paid $24.75 into the System and collected $22,888 over the course of her retirement.  Does this sound like a system that works?  

      Over the next few decades the baby boomers entered the work force which meant there were way more workers than retirees.  In 1950 the worker to retiree ratio was 16/1.  Not only was Social Security able to cover benefits for everyone, it created a surplus of money.  The Social Security Administration took this surplus and created a Trust Fund. Everything has been fine and dandy ever since then.   The country was the healthiest and wealthiest it will probably ever be during the second half of the 20^th century. But that is no longer the case.  Social Security is facing a double edged sword.  The nation is in serious decline at the same time that the baby boomer generation is retiring.  The worker to retiree ratio is shrinking very fast.  Today we are at 3.3/1 and we are projected to be at 2/1 by the 2050’s due to low birth and mortality rates.  The Baby Boomer Generation and preceding generations will benefit greatly from Social Security, but the generations after them will be paying for it and get short changed. Declining Social Security  The Social Security payroll tax is the highest it has ever been and it is not going to be nearly enough to stop the decline that is coming.

      Very soon, by 2017, payroll (FICA) taxes will be insufficient to cover full benefits.  At this point, the system will begin drawing from the surplus trust fund created when we had that wonderful 16/1 ratio.  The fund  has over two trillion dollars in it.  It sounds like a lot of money but the fund is projected to last until just 2036.  At this point,  if nothing is done,Social Security will begin its slow decline.  After 2036 retirees will see their benefits cut by 23% up to the year 2085.  After 2085 the benefits will decline another 3% and so on.

      So what can be done to stop the impending extinction of Social Security?  The proposals are to raise taxes of course, raise the retirement age, and cut benefits to retirees right now and for future retirees.  It is hard to say whether Social Security should ever have been implemented in the first place, but at present there is no point dwelling on that. Now that it is here and elderly citizens depend on it,  I would propose that ALL of the above mentioned  proposals be enacted.  Hopefully these measures will ensure that Social Security will survive the Boomer retirement and the system will balance back out after then.  If not, then we need to look at privatizing Social Security wholly or partially.  However, the biggest mandate I would add to this is education.  Financial responsibility and frugality need to become an integral part of the education curriculum from kindergarten through college.  The young generation needs to be made to understand that any system, whether it be government or private, can potentially fail them, and cannot be counted on for a fully secure retirement.  They must know it is up to them first and they must live responsibly.