Lockhart Line 1.21 - WSJ Money News: Obama Moves to Restrict Big Banks

Does this move by the president move us in the right direction? 

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Obama banking on the middle class

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Economic challenges

In these tough economic times, to pay or not to pay student loans, is one of the tougher calls that 2009 college students have to make.

President Obama suggested during his campaign, that the United States needed to make college more affordable and help students who are taking on high levels of debt. Graduating from college with large amounts of loans, he said, deters students from pursuing some careers. He pitched his plan to provide students a tax credit of up to $4,000 for tuition in exchange for performing community service.

The volatile stock market continues fluctuating upward and downward daily like a pinball on steroids. Rainy day funds and 401K's are in the toilet. Your parents have probably decided that making the first or second mortgage payments on time this month is a better idea than buying a new iPod or cell phone. Now, more than ever, college students are faced with very tough financial decisions which is having an affect on enrollment and delaying completion of degree plans.

Few students can afford to pay for college without some form of educational financing. Two-thirds of 4-year undergraduate students graduate with some debt, and the average student loan debt among graduating seniors is $19,237 (excluding PLUS Loans but including Stafford, Perkins, state, college and private loans), according to the 2003-2004 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). The median is $17,120.


One quarter of undergraduate students borrow $24,936 or more, and one tenth borrow $35,213 or more. For federal student loan debt (excluding PLUS Loans), the figures are 62.2% and $17,036. Average cumulative debt increases by about 3percent, or approximately $550 a year. When one includes PLUS loans in the total, the average cumulative debt incurred is $21,899. Approximately one in 10 parents borrow PLUS loans for their children's college education, with a cumulative PLUS loan debt of $16,317.

So far, the only positive for Main Street to come out of the recent economic slowdown had been the drop in the price of oil. At first glance, the drop has equated to a slight decrease in price at the pump but, if the economy continues in this downward spiral the low price of oil could mean delays in moving to alternative energy sources. Besides, those meager savings alone won't be enough to change the pessimistic minds of Wall Street investors and many others.

Economists say that the credit markets are thawing but they are still frozen overall. The financial department of Richland College, where I am currently taking classes, reports only a 1% increase (14%) in the amount of financial aid loans that have defaulted this year. In an recent interview, (former) Richland Financial Aid Director Bill McMullen commented on the economy, education and some of the programs that are available on campus to assist students with financial needs.

Q. What are some of the financial aid challenges that you see for students who will be attending classes next semester?

McMullen: If the student wishes to participate in the Federal Student Loan program, finding a lender that still participates in the program can be challenging.

Q. President Obama has proposed legislation to increase the amount of Pell Grants that are available to college students. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?

McMullen: If we can give students more money in grant programs, this reduces the amount they need to borrow. I support reducing students debt.

Q. What are some of the financial aid support sources offered by the Financial Aid department? What criteria if any do students have to meet to qualify for these programs?

McMullen: We offer several federal and state programs. The student will need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. (FAFSA)
Traditionally, college students have always had to do more with less but students attending courses now or making plans to attend a secondary school in the future have enormous financial decisions that may hinder or halt their educational dreams.
Third-year Business Marketing major, Grant Nash said he was hopeful that the economy would correct itself over time and continue to grow.

"Thankfully, I'm not using any student loans right now to pay for school but I will be using them when I transfer to the University of Texas at Dallas in the spring."



The recent steps taken by the White House and Congress to bail out banks was supposed to improve the economic outlook and keep the markets moving. So far their moves have had little affect on the troublesome financial challenges that we all are facing.

What were you thinking??...SUBWAY BANDIT CAUGHT ON TAPE

I saw this video posted on the MSNBC.com website last week. Hopeful to make a difference, I had to post something about this type of lunacy. The bold and brazen hold up by a young black man of a Subway restaurant down Boca Raton, FL struck me as disturbing and depressing.

In the wake of the monumental inauguration of the nation's first African American president, I wanted to send a clear message to the segments of the country that seek to do harm to others to advance their own selfish motives. STOP THE MADNESS!! YOU ARE ONLY HURTING YOURSELF!! THE LIFE YOU SAVE JUST MAY BE YOUR OWN!! Americans are tired of your blatant disrespect of our values and our pursuit of happiness. We are all facing a tough time in this economy but resorting to armed robbery is not the way to recovery. In fact only that armed robbery leads to is a one-way to jail or the morgue!!

Wake up people!! Like 7-up cola never had any caffiene, crime never has and never will pay!!!

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THERE AINT NO FUTURE IN YA FRONTIN!! OBAMA 338- McCAIN155

DALLAS- At precisely 11 pm eastern time it was announced to the world that Democratic nominee Barack Obama would be the winner of the 2008 United States presidential election. For the first time in modern American history, an African-American (bi-racial, whatever we know what colors the coffee) will take the highest office in the land. The face of America has changed forever.

Mama, we made it!!

Everyone in the world take notice, the world is not coming to an end

CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!!!!

His opponent Republican nominee Senator John McCain had just finished up his concession speech to a live Republican audience when the feelings of being a part of something truly historic struck me. Not since the re-election of Bill Clinton in 1996 have I been so involved and personally connected to a presidential election. Euphoria is the best way to describe the compulsive emotion that is driving my fingers in their fevered typing spree. The next chapters of this country's majestic fantasy of the American dream will be lived out in live and living color.

"YES WE CAN!!"

A black man is going to lead the United States of America the leader of the free world. He will face enormous pressures starting first with the bleak economy. We will all be watching with so many watchful and hopeful eyes as he takes the reins of the country on inauguration day. In what has been depicted by many noted economists as the worst economic period since the Great Depression (remember "when America sneezes the world gets a cold") we will send in the youngest American president to bring about the promise of change that got him elected. But we must practice patience. Rome wasn't built in day. Only burnt in one day!!


YES WE DID!!Going against the grain won't be easy. Together, we will take many steps as a society over the next few years as the barriers of color, race, religion, and sex all began to break and be reborn. This pleasant sensation that is overwhelmingly swinging throughout me is fantastically significant as President-elect Obama, prepares to lead the greatest country in the world.


YES WE DID!!The reaction and emotion to this historic night will last a lifetime and will be written by many for ages the to come. This feeling of pride will be felt by the greater many of us Americans great and small, as we begin the real transition forward into the future. The "city on the hill" that Ronald Reagan spoke so eloquently about in the past has returned to it's greater history and chosen this time to be a "maverick".

YES WE DID!!The chains of slavery have officially been broken and the sourness of Jim Crow turned bittersweet. No longer will those old hateful images which portrayed an America, still in it's infancy during the turbulent 1960s, define this country. On this historic night, I am the proudest that I have ever been of my country. Get ready world, at this very moment we all are confidently stepping into the next millennium of life.


President-elect Barack Obama addresses the nation: