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Obama: Tuition costs a priority
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Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama discussed plans to lower the financial burden of tuition costs and increase affordability for college students during a conference call with college journalists Saturday.
“The biggest challenge is how do young people afford college in the first place? The average college graduate has almost $22,000 in student loans these days,” Obama said.
Obama plans to help college students pay for their education by providing a $4,000 annual tuition grant in exchange for community service.
Students would be eligible to receive the grant if they participated in military service or the Peace Corps. Students would also qualify if they completed 100 hours of community service during the year at service facilities like homeless or veterans’ shelters.
Another topic Obama focused on was his plan to revitalize the job market and help create jobs for recent college graduates. While Obama thinks millions of new jobs can be created within the energy sector, he also believes that in order to achieve economic prosperity, America has to overhaul the basis of its economy.
“What we’re going to have to do long-term is reinvigorate the fundamentals of our economy, and that means that we are making college affordable … improving teacher salaries and giving them more support, providing more college scholarships so that we’re producing more scientists and engineers and skilled workers,” Obama said.
He added students should be getting excited to participate in a historic election.
“Hopefully, young people are getting familiar with our positions, our track records and when they go into the polling stations on Nov. 4, they’re ready to seize history,” Obama said.
Despite their differences on the issues, Obama and Republican presidential nominee John McCain have expressed their gratitude toward the massive youth participation during this campaign season.
According to Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, McCain has also outlined a plan to decrease the costs of college for families.
McCain’s plan includes simplifying higher education tax benefits and federal financial aid, eliminating pork barrel spending and fixing the student-lending program.
McCain’s plan to create new jobs consists principally of keeping the current low-income and low-investment tax rates for American businesses.
“By lowering the tax burden on the jobs’ creator, you enable the job creator to do just that — have the finances to create new jobs,” Kukowski said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald, adding some of their most energetic volunteers are young people.
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How did we get in this financial mess? For answers watch this You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU6fuFrdCJY
“Obama plans to help college students pay for their education by providing a $4,000 annual tuition grant in exchange for community service.”
Yep. Obama promises to have all college students working in his racial huckster “community service” gulags— mandatory.
Obama’s buying your votes and paying for it with your own skin. But you still love your new pimp daddy…
You really have to admire the chutzpah of this liberal lightweight. Both of the Obamas availed themselves of the government guaranteed student loan programs, racking up large loan bills while in college. Then they made the minimum payments allowed while they were each knocking down salaries of +$100,000. They didn’t pay off the loans in full until after Barry was elected a Freshman US Senator, Michelle was getting paid +$300,000…. and they were +40 years old.
These parasite cheapskates are part of the reason our nation is facing a financial crises. They are the poster children of the entitlement generation. Both of them could afford to pay these loans off early, enabling other truly needy students the opportunity to attend college. But their personal greed and ‘rights but no responsibilities’ liberal philosophy makes cheating the system and the truly needy a national Democrat past time. They and all of the other financially able parasites milking the guaranteed student loan programs endanger the financial stability of the program and the foundations of our very government. They speak of ‘helping the little guy’ but they cheat the system and help themselves at every turn. The Obamas are the antithesis of President John Kennedy’s call to humble national service when he said “Ask not what your Country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your Country!”
I also used guaranteed student loans, to keep myself in college when I had no other recourse financially. I paid the loans off in the 3 years following graduation, denying myself any luxuries like a new vehicle, because I KNEW other deserving kids needed the money also.
That’s what personal integrity and self respect is all about. It’s about doing the right thing, even if it means deferring personal gratififcation. It’s about doing the right thing, even if no one else would know if you chose otherwise. Clearly, this is asking too much of the Obamas and the modern entitled liberal.
Do you REALLY want these ethically weak, morally impaired, no integrtity parasites in the White House? Do you REALLY think they are prepared to ‘fix’ a financial problem their own actions contribute to?
NoBama, NoWay! Keep the change…..
Alumni
That video is so skewed and biased. According to it, the Democrats stopped passage of a bill to make oversight of Fannie and Freddie in 2003… one problem, the Democrats didn’t have a majority then. And it completely ignores a major facet of the problem, CDSs that the AIG and Lehman made to make more money in an extremely risky way.
Say what you will “Me for McNasty” Why, just as any other leader with a fire about them, Martin Luther king, your local minister, or even a parent standing up to protect their kid.
Obama is expressionless and you can not read his heart or impression.
If someone came up you front lawn to harm your kids, would you not get fired up to protect what you hold dear? McNasty McCain has been fighting for his country all his life, I may not agree 100% with either of them, BUT you can’t say McCain is completely mean. There is a difference when someone is trying to make a point don’t tread on my country like that.
McCain has a plan, just like other great people “Have a Dream” The main point I am trying to make is at least you can see McCain’s heart and what he believes emotionally when he’s coming in your direction, Obama 90% of the time is emotionless.
President with emotion bad? NO! Was Ronald Reagan mean and nasty showing the U.S.S.R. when he raise his voice and put a frown on, and said “TARE DOWN THIS WALL”, NO!, he expressed what he felt!
For COLLAGE SCHOOL KIDS: Many collage kids have parent’s back home running the family business which gives them the base tuition money. These kids only stand on that they said is Obama will make school cheaper? Yet he will take the money from your family business first! Go ahead vote for Obama, let him give you an untold amount towards you schooling. BUT First he will take the money from those parents who are putting you there in the first place.
Out come: Then family business may not even have the money to come up with the base amount of your school tuition,
Selfish: But I am sure you kids (not adult thinking) think Obama will be able to gather up enough money from families in you area to make up the difference, while you get to watch other families say to their kids, Sorry, our family business can not send them to school, maybe if we save up for a few more years and THEN we can have a dream to make our kids better off then us.
Obama kills every other hard working family trying to make better for their kids. And NOW their own kids voting for obama are driving the steak in the family business heart which is trying to (save up) put them (now) and their younger bother and sister in collage the upcoming few years?
I call them kids, be cause they don’t get it, How can we help others when Obama wont let us help ourselves, take away our dreams for bettering our kids educations. $250,000 taxed at 35% is much more then $5000 he will give you!
IF OBAMA takes from one family to give to another, he takes away the hopes and dreams of parents for their own kids.
Sorry obama there has to be a better way. I am for McNasty
im a full time student working towards my bachelors degree for my RN. i need help paying for my college tuition since FAFSA does not pay like $1000 that i have to pay plus books and gas. my husband’s job is on the brink of lay off. we have a truck payment, bank loan and utlities to pay. we barely make it by every 2 weeks on $200. i work 2 days a week on top of college. i feel that in this economy since we have no kids we get no assistance. i alone make too much on one job. in this economy everyone needs 2 jobs. plus look at tax return time people with kids get how much per kid. that is why people have kids every year. why do you think wealfare is being abused and also disability. so us normal people pay our hard earned tax money so they can sit on their butts popping out kids every year. the real people that deserve disablity feel they are being cheated. plus single moms going to college get everything payed for. that is not fair!! just because i chose to use B.C. if my husband loses his job i will have to work full time and there is no jobs for him inthe MTNS of rural PA near the border of NY. if i stop going to college i have to pay for the loans i have and as you can see that is impossible!! hey maybe i should start popping out kids so we can have the easy route!!!! plan and simple. i need assistance and extra cash to help pay for my tuition and to get by for the whole year until next april of 2010. OBAMA please help.!!!
I’m 19, work 45 hours a week at my job, and am a full time student, going for 2 Bachelor Degrees—Accounting and Floral Design, and I have no problem paying off my things. Not everyone gets the chance to work 2 days a week, and it’s possible that maybe if you were able to manage your time better, you’d have no problem going to school and only working 2 days a week. There are better ways to pay for school, rather then enrolling in a 4-year college.