PORTLAND, Maine — Amid a national debate over legislation to prevent the student loan rate from doubling, a former Vermont college student living in Maine says she knows firsthand what the issue is all about.
Amanda St. John, 32, told Maine Today Media she defaulted on more than $98,000 in student loans for her studies at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt. The York, Maine, native consolidated her debt and now makes $20 monthly payments, which don’t even cover the interest, she said.
St. John struggles to make larger payments, working part time at the Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau in Maine.
“My credit is so bad,” she said, “I can’t conceive of buying a car or a house or even having a family.”
St. John may not be alone in northern New England. A nonprofit research group says New Hampshire had the highest average student debt load, followed by Maine at No. 2. Vermont was at No. 6, among 2010 graduates.
The Project on Student Debt’s sixth annual report found that students who graduated from four-year colleges in New Hampshire in 2010 had an average loan debt of $31,048, followed by Maine at $29,983. In Vermont, the average was the sixth-highest at $28,391. The study, released in December, found high-debt states concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest.
In New Hampshire, 74 percent of the 2010 college graduates carried student debt, the nation’s No. 2 ranking. In Maine, 68 percent of the state’s graduates had loans, for a No. 7 national ranking, according to the report. Vermont numbers were 66 percent for a No. 11 spot.
Legislation in Congress to prevent the rate on federally subsidized student loans from doubling for one year passed in the House on Friday. President Barack Obama has promised to veto the bill because it covers the $6 billion cost by eliminating preventive health care funding provided under the Affordable Care Act.
“Maine at $29,983…..”
Hmm. I went to UMO for four years, never lived on campus and I walked away with $43,000 worth of debt. It was my choice to go to college and my choice to take on debt but I won’t for a minute say that college isn’t OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE.
Perhaps one of the reasons they are expensive is the low course load the teachers carry. They use the same materials year after year, some slightly nudged by current events, and cry overload from teaching three courses, the norm for a full prof. I do think it is a national disgrace and a good reason to increase the use of machine learning. Also, they tend to be top heavy with administration, i.e. a public relations person for the USM campus – huh? Further, if anyone suggests changes it is like their world is being invaded by aliens and the whole crew goes on the defense rather than understanding they are in trouble and helping to bail the boat. For all this we are supposed to enjoy sending them money every year, private schools included – where do you think the huge endowments have been sourced from? Frankly, it is a system one learns to disrespect with some perspective in life.
Yup…started out by bashing the teachers…as though they were the REAL problem. Not too partisan there. Want to know the real problems? Well I’ll give you three of them:
One: It’s this screwball notion that EVERYBODY CAN AND MUST go to college. Sorry folks, but a massive amount of this student debt is held by people who don’t (as mom used to say), have the brains god gave a louse who went on to a post secondary institution who had no business being there (and a watered down version at that), drop out after a semester or two with $12,000 in debt.
Two: We have students going off to post secondary institution with no common sense or accountability to comprehend that whatever course of study they choose will NEVER result in them earning enough money to actually have a chance at ever paying back their student debts.
Three: Post secondary universities (and employers), are clearly under the belief that more expensive=better, and this MAY be true for top level operations, but many middling operations, in an effort to seem more prestigious, simply raise their prices. In that scenario, you’re paying for the same mid-level education, only more for it, to enter a career which KNOWS that the school which you attended isn’t worth its weight in spit, and therefore despite paying higher tuition, you won’t earn a higher salary. Might as well just have summer camp for slightly above average intelligence kids.
5 years at UMaine and I switched over after 1 year to engineering, 58k in loans by the time everything was finished… I can’t imagine what would have happened if I didn’t get an engineering job after college! 20 years from now I will be doing quite a bit better, but right now it’s kind of tough.
To me, that is what is so disgraceful. I sit here and listen to people saying, “If you cant afford to go, dont go”, or ” Taking on a debt is the price you pay for a good job” and of course, ” Everyone can go to college if they want to” . I get very angry about it, because of your situation exactly. You go to five years of college, study an excellent field, one of the highest paying in the country, and yet, you are looking at TWENTY years down the road beginning to realize what all the work is for. Meanwhile, we have politicians in Washington and each state that goes to a community college for political science, gets a degree, learns how to lie and accept money from lobbyists, and they make having the American Dream harder for everyone else? Our government is the main reason why the US is becoming the laughing stock of the world. They have allowed the CEO’s and Politicians to take over, while the little person who only wants to provide for their family and lead a modest lifestyle and be happy is getting the shaft…It is completely disgraceful.
Umaine needs more business support, the mills are closing down and there are virtually no more big local companies that give resources to students. Maine needs to attract more business! Tourism will not help this part of our economy.
What’s your solution?
Stop voting for democrats
Stop voting for Republicans
School debt should be seen as an investment in one’s future, but one must be realistic in their choice of school, the amount of debt they should (or should not) take on, and their career choice. And anyone suggesting that one can take on such massive debt and then argue that it should be forgotten or forgiven is selfish and totally irresponsible.
Exactly. I am sorry for folks who have a lot of school debt…about as much as those who buy more car than they can afford.
This is such a complicated issue, compounded in part by so many variables for parents and students to consider. How many families know, for example, to research the strength of a college or university’s endowment? Two students, with equal financial need, could have very different experiences, depending on where they attend. If a student matriculates at Bowdoin or Colby, that student is promised to have 100% of her need met without loans. A student at UMaine, however, isn’t even guaranteed a loan package to meet tuition. The reason? In part, it’s because UMaine’s endowment isn’t as healthy as those at highly selective, private schools. This isn’t an indictment of public institutions, but students who apply to these schools in the mistaken belief that it will be less expensive are often stunned by the reality.
Probably true comments, but having attended two of the above schools, I would opt for UMO in a heartbeat. Reason is that the first two are overpriced and overrated in the real world. My constant choice is to go where you can get a good solid education and few job opportunities late in life will hinge on where you when to school and that is from having worked for 35 years in some of the largest corps in America. Many employers will rank a person higher for having worked through school than opted for loans.
Thank you for “probably” believing me.
And what about those who worked through school AND got loans? A person living on their own with the regular expenses of rent/mortgage, food, utilities, car, gas, heat, etc., working 40+ hours a week is still not going to make enough money to pay for the necessities AND pay in full for tuition. I’ve been there, it doesn’t work. I feel terrible for anyone who has a family to take care of in the same situation. I at least didn’t have kids to worry about.
Havard’s Endowment Is back up to like $40 billion. Yet only about 5% of the kids come from poor to lower middle class backgrounds. I have a friend who son Had a 1580 SAT turned down by Harvard. He ended up getting into Tuffs for free. What was OBAMA’s SAT score??? Seems like how much money you have is far more important than SAT grades or how hard you work. I bet the endowments Interest alone from the top colleges would be enough money to send every kid who wanted an education to college for free . Providing we stripped down education back to just education. Greed, social class, Who you know, and other factors are more important than Grades .
Proud: You may think Colby, Bates and Bowdoin colleges are giving out hundreds of 100% scholarships to Maine graduates but you are wrong. These schools are very interested in a diverse population from many areas of the world and they are not reserving a big pile of scholarships for Maine graduates. Also many of the 100% scholarships you are talking about are for the freshman year only. The University of Maine offers a much better value to Maine graduates. Hands down!!! I hope you are not a college counselor at a Maine high school
No, I’m not a counselor, but I am a Maine teacher (widowed) whose own children did attend two of those schools. All three of them are leaving school with zero debt – their financial aid offers from UMaine and USM couldn’t come close to that. It’s true that these schools want a diverse student population. I just feel fortunate that they wanted my three working class kids. These awards were based on financial need. And both Colby and Bowdoin have around 10% of their current student body from Maine, as a matter of fact.
The real problem, though, isn’t the relative merits of the UMaine system versus small liberal arts colleges. Again, as someone who watches high school seniors apply to hundreds of schools every year, I think we have to acknowledge that it is becoming more and more difficult for middle class students to afford a college education without massive debt. The students I teach mostly have jobs, are bright, apply for scholarships, and want desperately to continue their educations. It is a daunting task these days. If we want to maintain (or regain, depending on who’s arguing the point) our competitive edge in the world, should we be making it so difficult for our students to get an education from our public institutions of higher learning?
The University of Maine at Orono is a bargain unless you are getting 100% 4 year support at some other school which is rare.
UMO in state tuition $8,370 Fees$2,218 Room and Board $8,944
Thomas College: in state tuition $22,140 Fees $1,800 Room and Board, students find their own.
Husson in state tuition $13,000 Fees$1,000 +/- Room and Board $6,790
College of the Atlantic Tuition and fees $37,000 Room and Board $9,300
St.Joseph College Tuition $25,150 Fees $1,700 Room and Board $10,350
Beal College tuition $7,000 Fees $1000. Room and Board find your own.
Bowdoin College: Tuition and fees $42,816 Room and board $11,654
Ms. Jones, you’re falling victim to the same trap my students do when looking at schools. They look at the bottom-line price, and don’t factor in what their financial aid award will be each year, and how much each school will give. Hardly anyone in my school has parents who make more than about $60,000 a year, which means they won’t have to pay more than $8000-10,000 per year anywhere, if they fill out a federal financial aid form.
But it’s the financial aid package that counts. A small liberal arts college offered me a package with approximately $17,000 in loans, while my local state school offered me nearly nothing EXCEPT loans. Like many are saying here: it was cheaper for me to choose the more expensive school. And I did get a tremendous education (not Colby or Bowdoin: have no opinion on those).
And there are similar schools all over the country that will take Maine students as well, many of which still offer need-blind admissions and very generous financial aid packages. I truly hope students will at least apply, because if their experience is similar to mine, they may find the cost of Williams or Amherst or Pomona is cheaper than UMO.
Too many of these young people are being sold a bill of goods. They often attend small, expensive , liberal arts colleges when they simply cannot afford it and would have benefited more from going to an in-state university. We need to make sure guidance counselors, teachers and parents talk positively about state schools, I remember out kids classes being told by guidance counselors that they had better get with the program or they would end up going to a state school. This is not the message they should be sending. Whether you go to East Podunk College or the State University you will earn the same amount of money when you get out, only the later will leave you with far less debt. They also offer far more extensive programs generally. I have great sympathy for these young people who feel they need the experience of heading out of state to school and paying through the nose. Get your education at a state school that you can afford more easily and then if you want a job elsewhere to sample the world do it.when you graduate. Do not incur debt to do this or it could follow you forever. The schools must lead this endeavor to give kids a positive feeling about attending state schools and the parents need to be on board also.
imp1, see my post below. Several of my senior students every year have LESS debt in their financial aid packages from “small, expensive, liberal arts colleges” than from the University of Maine system. It’s complicated, and it truly depends on so many factors. State schools are a great option, of course. But if a student’s financial need is great, the schools promising to meet 100% of that student’s need are the better bargains.
Of course if you can get a free ride take it. Common sense dictates that you take the best deal available. This article is talking about kids who take on massive debt. There are many kids who take out huge loans to go to small liberal arts colleges thinking that somehow they are getting a better education. This is simply not true.
I agree with this, too. In the job market, it doesn’t necessarily come down to WHERE you went to school, but WHAT you did while there or after graduating. Good grades and active participation on campus or in the community at a lesser-known school are better than mediocre grades and minimal accomplishment at an Ivy-League school. Saddling yourself with crazy debt just for an institution’s name is shortsighted.
Still, as Teacher said, one shouldn’t assume the state school will be cheaper. I was the first person to go to college in my family. We certainly didn’t expect the out of state school to be cheaper for us than UMO.
False. Goldman, Barclays, etc. will most likely toss your app in the trash if you go to a mediocre school.
That’s true. Right or wrong, pedigree matters in a competitive job market…
I went to a small liberal-arts school out of state and it cost less than going to UMO. I got excellent grades and SAT scores and was involved in many clubs, activities. The liberal arts school gave me a full scholarship. UMO offered me $400. Even while taking loans to pay living expenses, my college education was cheaper out of state. The primary reason, I think, is that my school wanted out-of-state students to improve their demographics (or as a prof told me, “You’re ‘exotic’ because you’re from Maine).
I was lucky because that was 25 years ago. It *was* hard to pay off my loans, but I did. One thing that made a difference is that I *knew* what I wanted to do. I now teach at the college level. I notice SOOOOO many kids who are in college with no idea of what they want to do or unreasonable expectations about the job market. They go to college because it’s “expected” by their parents. These students tend to not take their classes as seriously. For them, college is about “the experience”.
Again, I feel *lucky* I went to school 25 years ago. My school was roughly $18,000 a year. Now, it’s over $40,000. Even if I *had* paid for the full ride, my degree has paid for itself several times since graduation.
But, yes, teacher, students should shop around and shouldn’t automatically conclude state school is cheaper.
Simply not true. I’ve sat on the admissions committees at a major professional school, and the students from East Podunk College tend to be less well prepared/able (judging from entrance exam scores) than those from your much maligned “small, liberal arts colleges”. Coupled with the evidence presented by other posters that students from those colleges end up with LESS debt, I would suggest maybe they are indeed worthwhile.
I am from Maine but went to a State School in New Hampshire (#1 in Student Debt on this list). I only paid out of state tuition for one year because I worked for a year out of school to gain NH residency, then paid instate tuition. My debt when I graduated: $60,000! and this was 7 years ago, it would probobly be much more if I graduated today. My monthly student loan payments were almost $600.00 a month. No wonder the current statistic is 85% of graduates now move in with their parents after graduation. This is like beginning life with a mortgage you took out at 18 years old. I don’t think students realize what they are getting themselves into when they incur this debt(I know I didn’t), because everyone believes in the “American Dream” where you will graduate college, get a well paying job and pay off your debt no problem. That just doesn’t happen anymore. Most kids end up having to work in a restaurant or in retail when they graduate in this job market and thats the reality. Something must be done to stop this big business of student loan debt and spiking tuition, it really will ruin prosperity and the future competititiveness of the U.S. in the global scheme of things. Kids will stop pursing an education because they don’t want to begin adulthood in major debt and that will hurt everyone in the longrun.
I would also like to share the statistic that the tuition rate has increased by 600% since 1980. Something is wrong with this picture. I think that sometimes folks who went to college before this time have a hard time relating to what it is like to incur this debt just to receive an education in this day in age. It is not frivilous to want to get a college education in a country where it is almost imperitive to your future success.
Take a look at sports budgets they keep climbing . Does anyone think poor kids play hockey , or Ski team ? Less than 1% of college kids play sports the money could be better spent. Not saying do away with sports ,but is thier any need to pay a coach $250k a year ? I bet someone would coach for free maybe it would not bring in as much money but it would not lose as much either.
Hating on sports programs does little to improve the education problem. Lifelong lessons are learned from competing at all levels of sports. Not sure what coaches you are talking about that make that kind of salary in Maine schools. D-1 football and basketball programs usually make money for their schools. Not so much at UMaine, but imo there is tremendous (fan) apathy for the sports programs there especially at the high level at which they usually compete. Maybe more people feel as you do than I do. Sad.
Try Jack Cosgrove with benefits Make that much. The college In Orono Spent About $9 million more on sports than the sports brought in. Sorry I pay taxes No one helps me pay for an education . I am not saying do away with sports but if it cost Millions of dollars maybe we do not need them when only about 1% of students play . I do not hate sports . I do not think that we as tax payer should have to pay for them these are not HS. kids . These are men that if were not in school would have to get jobs and if they wanted to lets say play ball after work would have to fund it without tax payer money. Nothing Against jack personally he did a great job with his football team .
Thanks to the government pouring money into the market for a college education,the cost to attend college has gone up astronomically. The solution isn’t to give more and cheaper loans. The capitalist pigs infesting the ivory towers at the universities will just increase prices to whatever the market will bear. Like almost everything government, the quest by government to make college more affordable has done just the opposite of what was intended.
I would have “liked” this without the capitalist pigs comment. That destroys the serious intent of your post.
But proves the point. If the students want to protest something, they should be protesting at the ivory towers. Instead they protest against the banks who only did what they were asked to do by the students. Loan them money.
The capitalist pigs infesting the ivory towers at the universities will just increase prices to whatever the market will bear
That has to be the more ignorant statement I have seen this weekend. The general consensus might be that the universities and colleges are disproportionately liberal and leftist rather than “capitalist pigs”. How crass of you.
Ha! It’s recycled from a previous post!
Jesus was a bleeding heart, long-haired, peace loving, anti-establishment, liberal hippie freak with strange ideas. Everything Conservatives hate.
What your comment has to to with this sub thread, only Christ knows. Speaking of whom, your comment is a common falsehood made by people who don’t know him and harbor a hatred of Him and those who follow Him.
Since you are such a scholar on Jesus Christ, why don’t explain it to me you.
You know HIM???? From the nastiness of your posts it doesn’t seem that you and HE are very well acquainted.
What would you like to know?
WHY IS THERE SUCH HATRED FROM A MAN THAT SAYS HE KNOWS JESUS CHRIST?
You forgot to call me a racist.
You are avoiding the question that you said you would answer!
What would Jesus do? Tell us oh holy one!
Your question is presumptuous and amounts to a falsehood. What would Jesus do about what?
Do you have Attention Deficit Disorder?
You said you know JC so well and said you could answer any questions about him.
I asked you: WHY IS THERE SUCH HATRED FROM A MAN THAT SAYS HE KNOWS JESUS CHRIST?
YOU can not seem to answer the question. Lie much?
I suppose there are some men such as yourself who think they can speak about Jesus without having any knowledge of Him. The Bible tells us that the world is at enmity with Him. Were you discreetly asking me to explain why you express such hatred toward Christ and those of us who love Him while claiming to know what He was i.e. bleeding heart, long-haired, peace loving, anti-establishment, liberal hippie freak with strange ideas?
You STILL didn’t answer my question when you said you would!
My previous post was asking for some clarification from you. Nonetheless, I’ll go ahead and answer based on that premise. The reason there is such hatred from you while you claim to know Jesus is because you remain steeped in your sinful nature because of your rejection of Jesus Christ as your needed Savior. It is the common condition of all those who reject the Gospel and continue a life filled with unrighteous condemnation. Having your sin revealed doesn’t produce remorse and repentance. It fuels anger and resentment, hatred and rebellion. It is the condition of fallen man. Answering why you have such hate towards Christ is easy. Understanding why you continue in it is another question altogether.
This is not the best forum for this discussion and it is unrelated to the topic of the thread. Provide your email and I’ll respond appropriately.
You can write to me at: JesusIsVeryLiberal@aol.com
Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
You have verified your innate nature with the simplest task. Thank you for the confirmation.
So you think I actually care about, or respect what a person like you has to say Jesus.
No, not at all. I merely stripped the facade off your self-righteousness and you were not witty enough to realize it. Have a nice day.
You are apparently too obtuse to understand that the point is that it is the liberal colleges, supported by the government backing of loans, that has made college unaffordable. They are acting like true capitalists by charging whatever the market will bear INCLUDING the student loans made available through the government. You can continue to believe that the colleges have the interest of the students first, but the evidence proves that you are wrong.
They are not acting like anything. Eat your crow.
Do you REALLY not understand the point or are you just trying to protect the hypocritical education empire?
Crow? You’ve done absolutely nothing to refute my point.
Just a hunch, but I think oldmainer means that one can be both a capitalist and a leftist at the same time and that these ivory tower denizens are capitalist pigs when it comes to lining their own pockets and leftists when it comes to who pays for it.
That could be however the phrase “capitalist pig” is an ignorant expression usually used against anybody who has achieved financial success in their business endeavors.
Yes, that’s the usual way it’s used, but it can be used with a sense of irony and I think that’s how oldmainer is using it. There are capitalists and there are capitalist pigs. The second is usually a derogatory phrase used by leftists, and he’s throwing it back at leftists in the ivory tower. Again, that’s just my hunch.
I doubt he is using it in an ironic sense. I’ve interacted with him enough on this matter to come to the opinion that it is ignorance and confusion instead.
Oldtimer ignorant and confused? I don’t think so. I think it’s just a difference of opinions.
Anyway, if I’m really off base about oldtimer’s meaning, he can disabuse me.
I see that your problem is that you don’t understand the irony of the situation.
The phrase is used by liberals to denigrate those who they disagree with who make an excessive profit. They apparently do not appreciate the term when it is correctly applied to their own behavior.
Maybe you should stop and consider that the amount of knowledge that has to be taught doubles every 10 years! When I went to college in the mid 1960s, mechanical drawing was state-of-the-art. Now, the same courseline demands a 4 years of CAD and computer assisted design courses. There are ways to cut the cost if college. A student can always start in a Community college to take the mandated Liberal Arts courses where the cost is lower, or start in night school and work at the same time. It is all a matter of how fast they want a degree.
Maybe you should stop and consider that the market for a college education is behaving exactly like nay other market and that the cost is rising to whatever the market will bear. When the government infuses money into the system the price rises accordingly, leaving the consumer worse off than before as he still pays the same out of pocket cost while also absorbing the cost of the loan. The winners are the colleges who would not be able to raise prices to the current level without the infusion of government money.
To oldmainer: You are absolutely right about the inverse proportion of cheap, large amounts of money being available to the explosion in tuition costs. Well meaning, but ineffective government programs, as usual, bear the brunt of the blame.
All you ever hear is that we need more funding for education. Maybe we need less. Competition is what brings down costs, not pouring the proverbial gas on the fire.
I don’t think the relationship between cheap money and expanding tuition costs is inverse. It’s direct.
And people wonder why LePage is so adamant about the Maine Educational Bond’s being put out there without a Voter’s Referendum ?
What is happening is todays graduates, if they land a job, will not be able to buy a house, a new car or start a family until the loan is paid off. In the past these people have been a huge contributer to the economy…..no more. Secondly other country’s who provide cheaper or free education to their kids will start passing us by in technology.
There’s no such thing as a free education, anywhere.
College is expensive. However, as with health care, the liberals misplace their anger. With health care, instead of attacking the root cause – the cost of health care – they attack insurance companies who sell insurance to help people cover the cost of unplanned care. Now they attack banks (even though the government took over all college loans as part of Obamacare) instead of the real problem – the rising cost of a college education.
Hey wait a second we have the right to attack Banks . Some people have lost thier house with making thier house payments every month. I cashed a check It was no good at my bank I was 42 cent over drawn . Ever though I had $500 in an other account with the same bank. When i cashed the check no one said to me what account would you like to deposit it into. Latter I was charged $57 in fee’s . They told me we can not refuse a check if I did not have fund’s . I wrote myself a check for $1million dollars I said cash it . Then they said they could not cash it . Liars Banks are Liars . Then could not tell we what account the check was going to be drawn from they can not refuse a check because I did not have funds. I hate liars .
It is not clear from the article whether the students with the loans are people from Maine going to schools in Maine and outside of Maine. Or students from Maine and outside of Maine going to Maine schools and then living in Maine. Before we start complaining again about how bad Maine is as compared to other states we need to know just who we are talking about.
Just another product of free trade!
The dirty little secret is that at one time most students attended for 4 years. Now they are more likely to take 5-6 years to graduate. Of course the debt load is going to pile up.
Financial aid needs to move away on enormous loan debt and towards more grants. It also might force difficult decisions and tuition cuts not have virtually unlimited loan money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXouicynsmk&feature=player_embedded
This whole student loan mess is the next bubble in the U.S. People should be pretty concerned about graduating with tens of thousands in debt only to find themselves unemployed.
However, as someone that is about to graduate from a great, great school, I’m very lucky to have stayed debt-free by working and through the massive financial aid I received from the school—financial aid is the real deal.
None of us truly understand what the circumstances of the student who incurred $98k in student debt are, but really – $98k for a liberal arts degree from some small school? Hopefully the student will be OK and get out of debt, but students have to use common sense.
$20k in debt in today’s world is manageable. It’s a lot, but with a 10 year schedule and deferments, it can be repaid for about $300/month +/-. Beyond that it makes no sense. Borrow less. Go a less expensive school. Work part-time and take longer to finish the degree. But, don’t borrow more than you can afford to repay. It’s not monopoly money and unless the laws have changed you cannot get out it through bankrupthy.
I personally am sick and tired of people expecting handouts. My wife and I graduated with $35,000+ in student loans. We worked hard both during and after graduation and paid off all of our loans within a year and a half. We both work in the relatively stable medical field and make pretty good wages, but people need to think about that before racking up $50,000 for a degree in liberal arts. My wife and I drive paid for older vehicles, live in a house that is well under 1/4 of our monthly income and live on a strict budget. America in general- both on a government level and a personal level needs to learn how to live within our means.
This situation punctuates yet another example of how the conservatives in state and federal government have undermined our people and economy. The student loan bubble is the consequence of decades of disinvestment in higher education. The single most important thing we leave the next generation is investing in their education. This is what creates opportunity for our future. The short sighted savings of cutting these investments has finally caught up with us.
Similarly, the housing bubble was fed by conservatives both in rhetoric and policy. Reduced oversight played a part in this but so did the words of a president who declared that the ownership society was what we needed to promote, even though for many home ownership was not the responsible option.
So too will we learn in hindsight that cutting health benefits for workers in the private and public sectors increases the burden of these costs and creates a tangible inequality.
These things are all related in that when we invest in the common good: healthy, educated people, our society prospers. When we don’t the consequences are lurking around every corner.