Political Quotes

“Well, then you're one of these students--ex-students. $1 trillion, this number, the total student loan, is well over $1 trillion today. This is greater than the total credit card debt of every American. So we're looking at a situation where student debt is now larger than the credit card debts of all Americans. This is an enormous burden. But what this also does--and perhaps you have not only personal experience, but other--is that when a student graduates, their first obligation is to pay off this debt. You can't go into bankruptcy. This debt is going to follow you. With or without bankruptcy, you've got to make these payments. Now, last year we passed a bill that tends to modify how much you can pay. I think it's no more than 10 percent. The President's proposal takes that further and applies the 10 percent not just to the new loans that are taken out, but to all existing loans. So as your income from a teacher, you would be required to pay no more than 10 percent of your income to pay down this debt. But if this debt has an interest rate of 3.4 percent, well, you can get it paid off more quickly. But if it's 6.8 percent, it's going to take longer and be more difficult.”