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Obama Taps Taxpayers For Student Stimulus

By Chris Stirewalt

Published October 26, 2011 | FoxNews.com

Obama Taps Taxpayers For Student Stimulus; Romney’s Nuance Doesn’t Thrill on Hill

Obama Looks to Wring Stimulus From Saturated Student Loan Market

“$1 Trillion”

-- Estimated amount of student loan debt owed by Americans.

In keeping with his new campaign theme of “we can’t wait,” President Obama today will roll out a plan to put more money in the pockets of some of the nation’s 36 million student loan recipients.

Obama has broad latitude in this area – certainly broader than the first two parts of his western campaign trip, underwater mortgages and subsidies for hiring veterans – because one of his early legislative initiatives was to have the federal government take over the student lending business in America.

Obama argued for the measure in 2009 as a cost-savings initiative, saying that the old system of privately issued, government secured loans reduced the amount of available money for needy students and also prevented the feds from making the system more efficient.

But Obama is now seeking to use that new power to obtain a taxpayer-financed stimulus that Congress won’t approve. The idea is to cap student loan repayment rates at 10 percent of a debtor’s income that goes above the poverty line, and then limiting the life of a loan to 20 years.

Take this example: If Suzy Creamcheese gets into George Washington University and borrows from the government the requisite $212,000 to obtain an undergraduate degree, her repayment schedule will be based on what she earns. If Suzy opts to heed the president’s call for public service, and takes a job as a city social worker earning $25,000, her payments would be limited to $1,411 a year after the $10,890 of poverty-level income is subtracted from her total exposure.

Twenty years at that rate would have taxpayers recoup only $28,220 of their $212,000 loan to Suzy.

The president will also allow student debtors to refinance and consolidate loans on more favorable terms, further decreasing the payoff for taxpayers.

Obama’s move comes at a moment when many economists are warning of a college debt bubble that is distorting college tuition rates and threatening to further damage credit markets. The president’s move is intended to make college more affordable for more people, which will, in turn allow universities to jack up their rates.

As in the housing bubble, cheap credit on easy terms increases the amount of money chasing the product (in this case a diploma) allowing schools to increase prices. This inflation makes it harder for middle-class families to afford paying their own tuitions, driving them into the government financing program, which, you guessed it, drives up costs further still.

Obama’s goals, aside from continuing to encourage young people to spurn the private sector in favor of service jobs, is to try to juice the economy. Those who participate in the program could see their monthly incomes rise by hundreds of dollars, thereby increasing the money they have to buy stuff and try to juice the economy.

A more modest program already in place has been a bit of a bust with only 1.25 percent of debtors signing up, likely because of the unpleasant notion of additional paperwork and government reporting hassles. But by sweetening the deal and putting a big PR push behind it, Obama is betting that he can get people spending in time to help shore up his re-election chances.

The best part for Obama is that he can obligate the Treasury without Congressional approval thanks to the passage of what he described as a cost-saving measure in 2009.

Update: White House Responds

A White House official responds to Power Play, saying that the president's student loan action will "almost certainly reduce" deficit spending because of the savings the administration says will be achieved by a 2010 federal college lending takeover and what the administration believes will be a lower rate of default among student debtors due to lower lending rates.

The official also stressed that the loan program is only an expedited version of the forgiveness and refinancing rules enacted by President Obama and congressional Democrats in 2010. The original law calls for the end of participants’ obligations after 25 years and caps payments at 15 percent of a debtor’s income above the poverty line.

That legislation, passed in the Senate as a rider on the president’s health law in order to use the reconciliation process that requires 50 votes instead of the usual 60 votes due to bipartisan opposition, was promised to reduce federal outlays by $68 billion over the next decade, monies which were earmarked for cost savings and an expansion of the Pell Grant program for needy college students. The funds for the stimulus endeavor announced by the president in Denver on Wednesday are said to be drawn from that cache.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/26/obama-taps-taxpayers-for-student-stimulus/print#ixzz1bwW1KwTa

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Yes I still have an Apple II

It's a sad day today!

Dolores Hope, wife of Bob Hope, Has Died at 102

Published September 20, 2011  Associated Press

Hollywood royalty remembered Dolores Hope, the sultry-voiced songstress who was married to Bob Hope for 69 years and sometimes sang on his shows for U.S. troops and on his television specials, who died at age 102.

Hope family spokesman Harlan Boll said Hope died Monday of natural causes at home in Los Angeles. He did not elaborate.
"Both the entertainment world and the church have lost a woman of profound faith, gifted musical talent and dedication," said Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez. "The death of Dolores Hope leaves a huge void in Southern California."
Bob Hope died at age 100 on July 27, 2003.

At her 100th birthday party, Dolores Hope appeared little changed: Her white hair was richly coiffed, her skin smooth and her voice deep and warm. She was brought to the party in a wheelchair but was alert and happy as she greeted old friends and posed for photographs.

Hope mused, "I thought it was going to be just another birthday."

In 1933, when Bob Hope was appearing in his first Broadway show, "Roberta," his friend and fellow cast member George Murphy persuaded him to visit the Vogue Club to "hear a pretty girl sing." She was Dolores Reade, a dark beauty whose singing of "It's Only a Paper Moon" entranced the young comedian.

"I'll never forget what a wonderful singer she was," said Rip Taylor. "In fact, that's how Bob and Dolores met. It seems to me that they were always laughing."

Hope returned every night and soon he was escorting her to her hotel after her shows. They married Feb. 19, 1934, and she quit nightclubs to join his vaudeville act. Then she retired.

"Bob was the hot thing in New York then," she recalled in 1997. "I thought I'd better stay home and take care of Bob."
When they moved to Hollywood in 1938 for the beginning of his film career, Dolores stayed home and devoted her time to raising the four children the Hopes adopted: Linda, Anthony, Kelly and Nora.

"I had such a huge admiration for both of them," said Julie Newmar. "The quality it takes to get just one year older, says a lot about that fact that she lived to 102."

She continued singing at parties, and in the 1940s she began accompanying Hope on his Christmas trips to entertain U.S. troops. In 1966 she sang "Silent Night" to hushed thousands of GI's who then rose and gave her a thunderous ovation, many with tears in their eyes.

"Dolores was a good friend and a good person," said Nancy Reagan. "She was an extraordinary partner to Bob throughout his entire life, supporting both their family at home and Bob's selfless cause to entertain U.S. troops abroad. Together, they brought countless hours of laughter and cheer to Americans everywhere."

In 1990, Mrs. Hope accompanied Bob on his last Christmas visit to American forces, visiting troops who were in Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm. Marie Osmond, Ann Jillian and the Pointer Sisters did not perform, to avoid offending Saudi sensibilities about women entertainers. But Dolores was approved and sang "White Christmas" to a rapt audience.
"She was the first lady of the USO," said Carol Channing. "They didn't come any more patriotic, caring or talented than Dolores."

She was born Dolores DeFina in 1909 in New York's Harlem to an Italian father and Irish mother, and grew up in the Bronx. Her diction faintly echoed the Bronx upbringing.

"My father died when I was very young, and there was just my mother, my sister and me," she remarked in 1982. "Were we a needy family? I always like what General Eisenhower said: 'We were poor and didn't know it.'"

She began singing early, worked as a model and a Ziegfeld showgirl and at 20 sang with George Olson's band. She adopted the name Dolores Reade, borrowed from stage actress Florence Reed. In her 80s, Dolores revived her singing career, recording three albums of old and new standards and appearing at New York's Rainbow and Stars as guest with Rosemary Clooney.

Aside from overseeing two homes— the 18,000 square-foot mansion in North Hollywood and the 25,000 square-foot hilltop home in Palm Springs — Dolores worked indefatigably for numerous charities. From 1969 to 1976 she served as president of the Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Desert, Calif., then becoming chairwoman.

In 1982, she explained her philosophy: "I like being with people, but I also need to have my time alone. I think it's terribly important to have some time during the day when you stop and take all the energy that you have given out and pull it back in, find the source of your energy. Then you work from there.

It's Friday, and I need a good laugh!

Ten Years Ago Today

What were you doing when you heard about it?

From the party that gives us Tolerance and Civility!

Let's not forget the new "Tea Party Zombies Must Die!" video game.

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