Since the onset of the recession and the implementation of President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, a plethora of companies have received bailouts costing hundreds of billions of dollars. Of all those being stimulated during this attempt to spur the faltering American economy it has been the automobile manufacturers, investment corporations and banks who have benefited the most.
The feds have succeeded in stimulating the economy in its own way, somewhat, but leave many college graduates and current students drowning in debt. They have to bail these students out. Many have been working for years and have not been able to really enjoy the fruits of their labor — at least not as much as they would like.
Why? Because the majority of their wages go to buying textbooks, paying rent or housing, and coughing-up never-ending increases in tuition. Most people read about things like this, find it sort of interesting then turn the page.
But some are taking it to Washington, D.C. Robert Applebaum, a New York attorney and the father of a proposal to forgive student loans, started a Facebook group “Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy.”
The group is determined to show the White House that after bailing out irresponsible CEOs with trillions, it is time to help “real people with real hardships.” They proudly boast more than 200,000 members and are soliciting more to join the cause.
It is almost like a petition, the more people that join and work on getting this proposal passed, the more attention it will get, and sooner or later Washington, D.C will have to address the issue of student loan debt.
Some students have to cut down on how they spend because they never know when they will next receive an e-mail announcing yet another fee increase. Some graduates have had to postpone their American dreams because they cannot seem to pay off the ridiculous amount of loan bills they are buried under.
One of the primary reasons students attend college is to claim a brighter future, but the beginnings of an often lifelong indebtedness only serve to obscure, depress and limit the futures students imagine at their outset.
Bailing out students sounds like it would cost a lot right? Wrong. It is going to cost relatively less than the trillions already given in bailouts.
For example, students usually find themselves taking out about $3,500 each year in loans. $3,500 multiplied by four years equals $14,000 — plus interest.
The $440,000 in bailout money American International Group (AIG) squandered spoiling its executives in October 2008 could have bailed out nearly 32 struggling students or debt-plagued graduates.
One of the problems in the economy today is consumerism. There are still people who do not have faith in the future of the economy, so they sock more away. If the government bails out students, this will create a new set of consumers. This can stimulate the economy because they will have money to spend.
If obtaining a job isn’t getting any easier, tuitions aren’t decreasing and textbooks aren’t getting any less expensive, the only way to get a student to spend money on anything other than a computer would be to give them a bailout.
We are the future, but the future is just too expensive. It’s not a very rewarding accomplishment knowing you are graduating only to face the three-headed dragon of debt.

This editorial was originally published in Daily 49er at California State University: Long-Beach. Please send comments to letters@mndaily.com.