College Bubble Update: Default Rates on Student Loans Soar to 15%

by | Sep 15, 2011 | Headline News | 197 comments

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    In 2010, as the buzz of economic recovery swept over the nation, we were warning of the unemployment crisis and how it would affect college graduates who were told that once out of college they’d be quickly absorbed into the job market where they’d make all of their wildest financial dreams come true.

    While unemployment for college grads is 15% according to Bloomberg, we know for a fact that the overall rate of unemployment, per economist John Williams of Shadow States, is actually at around 22%.

    It’s not just college students, it’s everybody – one in five able bodied Americans are out of work right now.

    There is a reason that these numbers, especially for college grads, are peaking at levels we have never seen before: it’s because our economy is shambles with no clear recovery in sight.

    For college grads, it gets even worse. Not only can they not find a job, but they are putting financial pressure on their parents, who will now have to continue providing a home, food, and utilities until such time that their boomerang kid can get some meaningful work and contribute financially to the household. On top of that, they are debt laden with an average debt of over $23,000 once they graduate college

    Those dreams of white picket fence success are now turning into nightmares, as massive default rates in the $1 Trillion college debt industry loom, according to a new report from the Department of Education:

    The U.S. Department of Education today released the official FY 2009 national student loan cohort default rate, which has risen to 8.8 percent, up from 7.0 percent in FY 2008. The cohort default rates increased for all sectors: from 6.0 percent to 7.2 percent for public institutions, from 4.0 percent to 4.6 percent for private institutions, and from 11.6 percent to 15 percent at for-profit schools.

    The millions of students who graduated in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 are now facing the toughest job market in U.S. history, with unemployment by some accounts equal to or exceeding the Great Depression. Some 85% of college graduates have plans to move back in with mom and dad in the hopes our economy will recover. But as we have seen over the last year, there has been no such recovery, and without an income, many college grads are finding it impossible to make good on their loans. The most recent data show that over 300,000 Americans from nearly 6,000 different schools defaulted on their loans in 2009.

    We seem to have entered an era of perpetual and unshakeable financial bubbles and the next ripe bubble to burst is in the student loan market.  Student loan debt has become the fastest growing debt sector throughout the economic recession.  Growth at for-profit colleges has been incredible and tactics used at these institutions reflects patterns seen with the subprime mortgage operators.  They target low income markets and exploit government backed loans and pump them through local area lenders.  It is a bubble of mammoth proportions and it is no surprise that data released by the Department of Education only a few days ago reflects a default pattern reminiscent of the subprime crisis.  Default rates on student loans at for-profit institutions are absolutely abysmal.

    This rate is horrifying.  The ways these are measured are reflected by two-year default cohorts so you have 15 percent of the entire group defaulting within two-years!  The real default rate is much worse if we tracked these out for the life of the loan.

    Source: My Budget 360

    Also see: College Education: The Largest Scam in U.S. History

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      197 Comments

      1. Well thats’ what they get for being so bought into Obama’s failure.

        • It is OUR failure, dont just blame obama here, What do you think we are bumb asses? Go away repubic shill!

          • Another Obama supporter, who let him in here???

            • I am not a obummer “supporter”. OUR failure by “electing him! OUR failure for allowing all this BULL$hit to go on through the years, Our parents are at fault also!(and probably more at fault then us)The “greatest” generation is about to get F#cked over, and then its OUR turn to get F#CKED!

            • I didn’t vote for him, did you???

          • LOL ok obamite….

            Fact is we don’t teach kids what they need we teach them what academia wants – a socialist indoctrination. I dare say if it wasn’t for technology and their innovations in it over the last 20 years capitalism would be dead already.

            • Daisy

              Well said and so agree

          • You have no class at all. You just proved what many suspected and that is the opposition to Obama is based on race not, intelligence. I hope I haven’t used words to big for you to understand.

          • SLUG? SLIME? The only thing I face, is the allmighty come judgement day, for my accountability for all my actions!

          • Holy cow! So naive and ignorant you are. The whole voting system is rigged you idiot! Lastly, it’s ooze NOT ozzz (this isn’t the wizard of oz) and it’s, “you’re slime” NOT your you Marine idiot. Go back to fighting a fake war that only profits the elite and risk your life not in the name of freedom and liberty but for making our politicians richer.

          • Richard, what intelligence does obummer have? Hell, as far as we know he fluncked every year of government indoctrination(school). vforge, show some respect to the marine core and others at war, they were sent to war by coward leaders! On behalf of them I say F*CK YOU!

          • Wow us marine you need a hug!

          • U S Marines is probably a Progressive Plant to make normal people look bad.

          • US Marine:

            There have been many points in the past that I have whole-heartedly agreed with you on.

            However when you use derogatory language about someone’s ethnicity, whatever point you are trying to make loses all validity with me. All I hear is “N-WORD blah blah blah N-WORD.”

            If you remarked on a lack of intelligence or integrity, I’d agree with you. But when you just vehemently make racist remarks, you totally lose me.

            You are more intelligent than that. Please post in a way that reflects it because I really want to read more of your insights.

        • Obama’s failure? Please Back in 2005 the republi-cons listened to their banker masters and removed bankruptcy protection from private student loans. This all under the bush era. And since I’m on it BUSH SPENT 5.4 trillion in his time in office. Obama has spent 1.44 trillion and that is a projection through his second term. So back to private loans. They are like any other unsecured debt and should not had this protection taken away. Why is it that a person irresponsibly rack up 200k in gambling and credit debt and get a fresh start but a student legitimately struggling can’t? Most recently and Republican Congressman is trying to settle on a 2.2 million dollar loan from the bank and his lawyer contests that it’s the banks fault for lending him the money they knew he could not pay back. Students are being duped into taking out large loans with the banks knowing they won’t be able to pay it back. hope they default cause they make more when a loan defaults. go to http://www.studentloanjustice.org to see the facts

          • OMG someone has a math problem. Yes Bush over spent by about as much as Obama already has. In fact Obama will have increased our debt in 3 years by more then Bush did in 8; and Bush had issues to deal with that Obama was suppose to end? Oops that didn’t happen huh. In fact he started a new war in Libya to make China, the brits and frenchies all happy.

            Yes Bush and the Republican Congress made it impossible for a “student” to borrow 10’s of thousands of dollars and wipe it out in bankruptcy….that is what happens when people abuse a system – it gets changed. Good for them, I’m glad students can’t borrow tons of money, party, and learn “academic” materials and then just wipe it out in 3 months of filing necessary forms and saying they are sorry…wa.

            Then in 06 the people got really mad and added a Pelosi and Reid to the mix….only took them 2 years to really mess things up. In fact if you look at Bushies largets debts they came in the last two years – shocking – huh. No coincidence there….not for the misinformed, math lost, Obamite that knows all.

            • “, I’m glad students can’t borrow tons of money, party, and learn “academic” materials and then just wipe it out in 3 months of filing necessary forms and saying they are sorry…wa.”

              You are absolutely correct on this. Now there are still a bunch of “schools” trying to convince today’s kids that for just $25,000 in tuition in six short months you can be making big bucks as a graphic artist / chef / marine mechanic or motorcycle repair technician.

              They will help you get the loan. Good luck on getting employed anywhere but Wal Mart or McDonalds…AND having a big debt that you can’t discharge thru a bankruptcy proceeding.

        • So what you are saying is that Obama caused increase in student loan defaults in 2009? You do know, right, that he did not come into office until 2009? He must be pretty powerful to have done that so quickly!

        • they were defaulting before obama was president, you douche

        • They started Defaulting in 08 Genius, Obama was not even president, You Moron!

      2. They voted for change, well all they get will be food stamps

        • go away, repubic shill!

          • How’s that hopey-changey thing workin’ out for ya, Kevin?

            • I was kinda hopey ron paul would win, BUT when you have a 2 party system that gets financed by the federal reserve and a$$holes in their party, you cant win! Electronic voting, give me a break. All the votes for all other candidates added together, to defeat paul in lousiana, what a scam. Every license plate at polling stations in conneticut are from other states, thats nice.Votes found in the trunk of a car in minnisota during frankins recount, after the election(what ever that ass clown from snl’s name is). How about that lady who was running against polosi? Well, lets see, her office was broken into, computers stolen, then her supporters were herrased, and then audited by the irs, and then the week of the election she got called in for jury duty. So to answer your question, the changey never happened. If you have faith in the “our form of democracy” voting system, you are a fool! Ideocracy(the movie) was making fun of us! Just think if Thomas Jefferson time traveled to the present, and tried to argue a point in court, that he is innocent until proven guilty, or pay a docter a dollar for his visit, and they wanted thousands(trillions in the movie) or looked at our president, and the house of representing and tried to explain liberty and personal responsibility. HE WOULD BE LAUGHED AT BY A BUNCH OF MORONS! “so what your saying is that you want us to put water, on the liberty tree???????

          • Hopefully Obumer will be the one that goes away with the 2012 election and hopefully someone more sane and small business friendly will take the helm and navigate us out of this disaster.

          • Hey, very little is as black and white as is being labeled here.

            Obummer (thanks whoever started that name) does not deserve all the blame, because he is worthless puppet of course. No different than Bush, or Clinton.

            I dropped out of school myself, what good will a formal education do anyone in the future?

            I self educate anyway, long before I ever started school. That is the way it should be, it is a human responsibility to educate ones self.

            • Wow. I am not sure that I have ever seen so much misinderstanding of what people are trying to say as there is in this thread so far. There’s some serious emoting going on, LOL.

              I am certainly not going to try and unravel this thing. Ya’ll are capable of doing that yourselves. I would say go back and READ what the first few posters were saying.

              I’ll give you a hint: Richard is the ONLY Obot here.

          • HHmmm,…

            Lets see.

            “I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the R E P U B L I C for which it stands…..”

            Hey, what you know,… it is a Republic,… who would of thought so?

            JD – US Marines – Defenders Of The US Constitution,…and our REPUBLIC.

            • WAS a republic. That went away in 1913 when the law was changeed and senators started getting elected from popular vote, and sound money was destroyed, with the federal reserve act. Did our lawmakers(is what they call themselves) listen to us about obbumer care? the bailouts? The clinton gun ban? no,no, and no. Defenders of the constitution, YES!! Alot of very good defenders of our rights out of country fighting endless wars while our country is being transformed YES!! God bless JD!

            • ALOT of what we have been taught to be history is bull$hit! They passed a law at the federal level in 1948 to make the stars and stripes our flag! Same law started the flag at half mast, and Alot of TAX laws. WHY?? pass a law??? in 1948??? Thats more than 150 years after our founding! With a little research, you realise just how much bread is with that $hit sandwich!

      3. I have two daughters in college. My primary hope is that they finish WITHOUT having to borrow. I, myself, borrowed almost $50K through my undergraduate and graduate education. I have a very secure and well-paying job, and so repayment is not an issue. But for my daughters’ generation, borrowing heavily is much more of a risk in the current economic climate. I wouldn’t wish debt slavery on anyone.

        • I think this is what the Government and banksters want all along is to enslave us all under a mound of debt.

          • I hopey you wrong!

          • That’s why there no running competition on the Democrats side against the Obummer machine, and the Republicans are fighting amongst themselves. We’re screwed either way, he will use the mass panic of the 2012 Doomsdayers and the flash mobs to declare Martial Law H.R. 645. Debt does not have anything to do with it anymore at this point they’re past that while we still focus on it, they want people broken in spirit, they want us soft, they want control, and your children. Be warned: the new era of slavery is here…hence the food stamp and welfare nation, death and taxes, F.E.M.A. camps and reeducation centers for our children

            • And eventually, enabling this, gun control/confiscation, at least for most.

            • @ JJ

              Agreed, I knew I forgot one….

        • Kenneth: With double digit inflation a certainty, it pays to borrow and repay with inflated dollars while getting education and or skills that would make a person more employable or able to create their own job.

          Obviously those need to be low fixed rate loans but they should be available. It is the uneducated and unskilled who will suffer the most in the new reality.

          A person with a college degree makes on average $2 million dollars more over a lifetime than someone with only a high school education. That disparity will likely widen over time, between the haves and have nots.

          One need not borrow astronomical sums to finance that education. Community college can consume two years of education without undue expense, and someone may as well go to school and get some education or skill if they cannot find a job now.

          May as well use the time to some adavantage.

          • Good advice.

            I would point out that the choice of a major is extremely critical at this time. The demand of the future will be different and one does not want to be one fish in a school.

            Be the shark.

          • If parents don’t have the means to pay for college, the best gift they can give their child is a place to stay while working their way through college. Many of us live close enough to a good college to commute.

            I do tire of hearing college grads whine about the dearth of opportunitiews “in my field”, after they spent their years in college pursuing a basically useless degree. The days of “any degree is good” are behind us.

            Good point about community college. Some schools will accept credits from community colleges toward the first two years of a four year degree, and the community college is much less expensive. As a bonus, you can at least have a two year degree if you “run out of gas” in school.

          • Some People just don’t know or don’t care to know:

            How Much Is That Bachelor’s Degree Really Worth?
            The Million Dollar Misunderstanding

            “Many claim that a college degree is worth a million dollars, but like so many other “facts” about higher education in the United States, it is not quite right. Indeed, using a set of reasonable assumptions that factors in school selectivity, the cost of a college education, and foregone wages, I show that the million dollar figure is grossly inflated, and may be three times too high.”

            http://www.aei.org/outlook/100034

            • Good post. Thanks.

              I used to teach history in VA. I was new to the profession, so they gave me the ‘rough kids’ aka ‘not-going-to-college types’. Most were good kids. They came from a blue collar family and they were going to be a blue collar worker one day as well. We got to talking about college one day and I ended up showing them how a master carpenter, electrician or plumber could end up being wealthier in retirement than a liberal arts major. (Invest early, invest young, and little to no school debt). They laughed their asses off at the ‘dumb college kids’ the rest of the day.
              On another note, my wife was an education major. We were able to keep her loans to a minimum. But many of her friends were graduating with $40k or more in loans and couldn’t find a job. They were waiting tables for $4/hr plus tips. And that was 10 years ago. I bet a few of them are still living in their parent’s basements.
              Sorry for the ramble, I could go on an on and on about this topic.
              Bottom line: College is too expensive and the ROI ain’t what it used to be. Government market distortions are to blame for most of it.

              Cheers,
              Mal

          • Ditto. Its the best way to pay off low interest loans. If they start having to pass out ten thousand dollar bills and your mortgage is still not finished, it will be alot easier. Especially at a fixed 4.3 percent.

          • “A person with a college degree makes on average $2 million dollars more over a lifetime than someone with only a high school education. That disparity will likely widen over time, between the haves and have nots.”

            That’s bull, DK. That unsubstantiated claim was an advertising tool for colleges to get people to be willing to take out loans as though they were “investments”.

            No college teaches what you need to be successful. They are training grounds for the corp and complete the indoctrination period by extending it into adulthood.

            If you want to learn a skill, find someone who knows it to teach it to you. Start learning it yourself by using the computer. A university degree will have about the same value in the post SHTF times as will a Federal Reserve Note.

            If you get a student loan, you can bet the deal will change and the loan transferred into whatever currency the corp tries to force on us. The loans are not for educational purposes and were never designed to be. They are tools of financial fraud that should be avoided at all cost.

            I you are dumb enough to take one out to attend the corporate colleges, you get what you deserve. Just be aware that your slavery will never be inflated away.

            • God’s Creation: I relayed the most recent figure that I read regarding the two million dollar number and cannot locate that particular article, which I read several weeks ago, because I read so much. But its a fair number.

              A Google search returned a lot of hits as you might imagine.

              Normally, and on average, a starting college grad makes about 20k more than a high school grad. If that disparity is static, then over 45 years there is a difference of one million dollars.

              It isn’t. It won’t be.

              College grads will get bigger raises than high school grads, and in a competitive marketplace the individual with the best education, and skills, with the most potential, will find a job before those with less education. That’s reality. Its always been that way and it will remain so in a competitive job market. Recessions don’t last forever. neither do depressions. Now is a good time to prepare for an eventual turnaround.

              The disparity in salary and wages will continue to widen and that is best exampled now, by managers and corporate officers who are receiving pay and benefit packages many hundreds of time higher than their average worker when that average historically, was 40 to 50 times the average wage of their workers. (And in some cases today that can be thousands of times the average wage.)

              There are exceptions to every rule as everyone is different and every situation is different. But as a general statement my comment is true and not BS. More than that it is a fact of life in the new economy.

              The fact is, the corp wanted people in America with education and skills until they were able to transfer their factories offshore. Now they do not want kids going to college in America. The best place to see this new propaganda from the corp is to read Forbes take on the value of a college education. LMAO!

              They want them to remain in the dark and accept the BS from the corp, and accept the wages (and no benefits) from the corp, that the corp wants them to get: read “no minimum wage”, and health benefits that are subsidized by the middle class instead of a company paid benefit. (More money for salary and bonuses no doubt.)

              So you are sadly mistaken about the commercial value of a college degree. I doubt that you have one so you wouldn’t know as it appears that you have spent your life hiding from the corp for fear of being discovered.

              Yes it is not necessary for a successful life and everyone must make their own life choices; but that doesn’t negate the reality in the corp.

            • durango kidd wrote, “I relayed the most recent figure that I read regarding the two million dollar number and cannot locate that particular article, which I read several weeks ago, because I read so much. But its a fair number.”

              It is Not a fair number and as a general statement your comment is False and complete BS. You should read,

              How Much Is That Bachelor’s Degree Really Worth?
              The Million Dollar Misunderstanding

              Do you always rely on a rabbit you pull out of your hat when you say things like, “College grads will get bigger raises than high school grads”?

              Where’s your proof?

              Now Isn’t a good time to prepare for an eventual turnaround, it’s a time to prepare for more of the same, only worse.

              “It is reasonable to conclude that a college degree is not as valuable as has been claimed.” – Charles Miller, former head of U.S. secretary of education Margaret Spellings’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education.

      4. It is not “what they get” or “what they deserve” — people do things based on trust. They trusted that their degrees would have some value because they were being told that they needed to have them to get ahead in the world…another trusted remark. If people would stop lying to our children, maybe people would actually receive what they “should get.”

      5. When the bubble bursts, they will just print a trillion or two “dollars”(frn) There is buzz about 50 year treasuries being offered soon(followed by the 100 year), sign me up! Wow, with a 100 year bond, my childrens, childrens, childrens, children can make 2%, Lets see, a loaf of bread was 10 cents a 100 years ago, bread now is 4 “dollars” in a hundred years bread will be 4,000 “dollars” SOOOOO if I “invested” 70,000 now, my cildrens,childrens,childrens,children can get 25 loafes of bread! SIGHN ME UP, NOW!!! ALL OUR PROBLEMS SOLVED!

        • Kevin, the bubble burst a couple of years ago. The downward trek just slowed a few times as we caught some branches (Tarp, QE). We’re still heading down. Hopefully we can make our own “change” at the voting booth in’12. I too an still paying on a low interest loan for my daughter’s college education. With the dollars continuing slide, her education costs get less and less.

          • God, I hope you are right about the “change” you speak of! I have lost ALL of my faith, when it comes to the voting “booth”! To much evidence of fraud (in my eyes)! Obummer “won” colorado(according to cnn on election night) with 10% of the vote in, A tv station in california said that boxer was the “declared the winner” on election night, with the vote totals showing she was losing by a large margin(the reaction of the teleprompter readers was hillarious) thats just 2 quick examples off the top of my head! I am tired of the “vote for less of the 2 evils, when both are satan and both are picted by some unseen group! Just look at the ass clowns in the senate and house, boxer, feinstein,polosi,reid,and frank(and many,many more)! Those 5 words should say it all! The corruption, immorality, and the greed of just these 5 individual “leaders” is mind blowing!!

            • Wow–you caught the fraud, did you??

              The machines are compromised—word is they have been for years—I will NEVER vote again until paper ballots return…NEVER SAY NEVER??? I know myself–I will NEVER vote again…and don’t mind telling any idiot voting just ‘why’!!!

          • Ron Paul is the only person in 2012 that would make any changes to help bring America up out of the hole dug by the Status Quo (people in both parties done it)Everyone knows what Obamas agenda is and how much farther he took us in the hole.Romney,Perry are just more of the same saying what the people want to hear and wearing a phoney smile all the time.

            Bachmann said that 2012 is the last chance to repeal Obama care, but there is a lot more at stake in 2012 than Obama care, if people think 17% unemployment is high and 47 million people on food stamps is high, just wait til about the end of 2013 and 2014 if some drastic changes aren’t made.people will be fighting each other for a piece of road kill to eat.

            • IMHO Dr. Paul is the best of the Rep. candidates; however, if Patrick Buchanan decided to throw his hat in the ring, I’d vote for him in a heartbeat.

            • you are not “just me” YOU ARE US! good post my brother!

          • “we caught some branches” LOL The fiat ugly currency tree!

      6. Students have been conned into a lifetime of slavery and bad credit. The result will be automatic deductions from future paychecks earned in the Social Security franchise.

        Will the youngsters of today have what it takes to leave the system? It looks as though the system will force that on them.

        In the end, they will forget their education and learn to be more self sufficient and earn a living outside the corp.

        A bad fraud with potentially good unintended results.

        • Right on GC!

        • Good point,GC.

      7. There is a college cost bubble. The price is kept high by, (drum roll) government interference. The feds are seeing to it that students are getting into colleges, even if their grades should’ve kept them out. The feds actually pay foreign students substantial grants, not loans, to go to school in the US. The usual offenders to look for when there is suspect funding from the feds is the lobbyists from the teachers union. Knowing what I know now, I would probably default on a student loan in the blink of an eye and never look back. Employers are saying they can’t get new employees from the US, so they are allowed to import cheap, educated labor from India and China, but we have zillions of unemployed graduates looking for work. It’s just another case of employers unable or unwilling to pay Amercian standards of pay.

        • Everything in this country is disfunctional because of the destruction of the currency.

          • Everything in this country is dysfunctional because of our government!!

            • Everything in this country is dysfunctional because it is NOT our government.

            • Daddy drinks because mommy cries…..

        • I read a couple years ago that big businessmen like Gates supported that cheap, educated labor from India…because, they win several ways.
          One, cheap labor; two, no insurance/benefits; three, they are trained for that job and more and return to their country to train more, but cheaper labor for those positions ‘we Americans won’t do’.

          • JJ: Actually the high tech jobs as programmes and engineers recruited from abroad by MS, are jobs that Americans WILL do, but they serve MS best when they go home to their native country to manage the start-ups, expansions, transfer of those high tech jobs to lower paid workers offshore, and outscource the jobs.

      8. I occasionally help out a family member/friend in his shop. A large % of his customers are students from the five major universities nearby. I hear the talking amongst themselves. Many have already finished their undergraduate degrees. Since they can’t find a job in this economy; most are back for their post graduate degrees, masters & PHD; incurring more student loan debt. They don’t seem to understand that even a post graduate degree won’t GUARANTEE them a job. Most are praying that ‘something gives’ before they finish their education and that they are able to find a job once they graduate.. None of them have a chance in hell of ever paying back these student loans. Since they don’t go away, can’t be discharged by bankruptcy ….. they’re fucked. Many of their parents have also cosigned on these loans. Now they are also fucked financially.

        You couldn’t afford to buy a ticket to the ‘show’ that we have going on right before us for free.

        • You watch, many will relocate and leave that debt to rot, and I don’t mean across country I mean out of the country.

          • that’s because of student visas and illegal immigrants, the libtards created this debt that is forced on natural Americans, I’m sorry our American born children can get a college loan unless they are poor or have parents who are illegal, this was to be expected. This is just like sub-prime home loans, illegal farm workers getting loans for home they cant afford, then refinancing, then leaving the country with the money they made of the refi, surprised not really

      9. Back in my day, if you signed for a loan, you would have paid it back job or no job by washing dishes or any odd jobs, because your word meant something back then. I have 2 kids in college, and we are lucky enough to be blessed to pay cash each semester, because they both work…. but if they ever signed for loans, I would make damn sure they paid it back, because no matter what the world believes, I want them to know and do better

        • Then teach the fraudulent nature of the banking system and make sure they know if they borrow from a bank the bank puts up nothing and gets the asset based on THEIR signature.

          Make sure they know that when they do sign a bank note, that is the act that creates the “money” the bank gives them. In other words, make sure they know they created the thing they borrow from the bank. If it is never paid back, the bank loses nothing because it put up the same.

          A Mans word to another Man is his most valuable possession. A signature that inadvertently furthers a fraud creates no debt.

      10. Walk thru any large company in America and you will see hoards of Indian IT workers. Saw the change in the years leading up to Year2K. American IT staff was being laid off and Indians were being hired. This was facilitated by corporate America and it was done with zero apologies.

        • Read above reply to HS.

      11. Hey, they don’t have to fret over that. Dipshit and chief has all this in hand. If they default they just go to work for obama and his nitwits for 10 years and they will FORGIVE the loans.
        Shit, don’t anybody see this coming? This is Obama 101. DUGHHHHHH!!!

        • Yoot squad

      12. Not only has Government intervention with student loans caused tuition to skyrocket, but the quality of the education has also gone down substantially. Professors are afraid to fail too many students because if they do, word will get out that the instructor is too difficult and enrollments in their class will dwindle. I’ve seen first hand the caliber of these fresh outta college grads and it’s almost insulting to their prospective professions. Welcome to the college lie.

        • I had a small business for about ten years. After looking at hundreds of applications and tests I came to the conclusion that most people were getting screwed in college.

          In more ways than one.

      13. I flew to California over 10 years ago to meet with some like minded people. One of them was an IT guy, who was just hired by a large corporation. He was hired by the Indian HR boss who told him straight up, you’re the last American we’re hiring, your job is not IT now, but rather you will screen new hires from overseas to make sure they have the skills they say they do. Another part of the scam is for foreigners to gain H1 visas claiming skills they don’t have. Once they are here they don’t get deported. Go to SJC, Ca. They work everywhere. Restaurants, airport, motels. I thought I landed in Mumbai, when I got off the plane. Fly to Seattle. You’ll think you landed in China. Canadians call Vancouver: Hong-couver, because their governemnt flooded them with Chinese. We have unemployment because of deliberate government policy of displacement by foreigners.

        • Hi Homeland,

          What you observed and stated is all to true I’m afraid.

          What moronic Americans REFUSE to understand or accept, is that America is being DESTROYED intentionally, from within, by public and secret organzations (like the our own Congress, The Fed, CIA, FBI, NSA, TSA, IMF, WB, NWO, etc, etc, etc).

          What you just described is just ONE of the methods they are using to reduce Americans to supplicants and slaves.

          There is only one viable option left if we wish to save this once-upon-a-time Republic.

          ABOLISH THE TREASONOUS US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT and ALL IT CRIMINAL AGENCY TO THE LAST!

          Of course we DON’T have to do that,… we can always just lay back and keep taking the fuckin they are dealing us, which is of course just fine with liberals, Marxists, Commies, Democrats, and every other variation of those same basic themes.

          My solution: Fire Congress, Burn Washington DC to the ground, and “Provide new guards for our future security” as Jefferson instructed us to do when a government becomes despotic.

          Q: Why burn Washington DC to the ground?

          A: To destroy the disease called Washington and sterlize the ground on which that infected den of traitors sickened the body of the Republic.

          Then: LEAVE IT THERE, in a burned and ruined shambles as a reminder to all future generations to NEVER let your government become Treasonous or Despotic again!

          But what do I know,… I only crawled through mine-fields while being shot at for the Rights & Liberties that our Constitution is suppose to preserve, only to see complete Tyranny replacing basic Freedoms.

          JD – US Marines – Defenders Of The US Constitution

          • US Marines, something I have noticed about your posts. You really do need to open up and not hold anything back. If you keep this crap inside you, it will eat you alive.:-)LOL

            Love it man, glad you are here, keep it up!

            • Ditto what AZ Ready said!!!

          • I agree with everything you say. I’d like to see some of the other posters get past the Rep. and Dem. pony show. They all have to go.

            • Us marine must not have been loved as a child. You sound like a fool using the N word and act so tough. Most guys who have to speak in such a way are real insecure and need a nap.

            • It is my most humble opinion that the idea of self government, of individual liberty of freedom is as good an idea today as it was 235 years ago.

              What we need to do is to destroy the government indoctrination system, aka public schools, and teach our children the American values of the second half of the 18th century. We need to point out how the 17th amendment made the states simply subsidiaries of the federal government.

              Education needs to be a family and personal responsibility. It is far too important to be left to professional change agents. (See Gramsci)

            • Bilbo, why do you have to come on here and flame the posts and posters??

              We may not agree with everything everyone says, but at least we can have respect for their opinions. This site is for like minded people that see through the garbage being thrown at us everyday. Many of us are angry at where our Republic has gone and some make their voices heard in ways that may offend others, but that does not make them wrong and should not open the opportunity up for other to call name or make derogotory remarks, especially here.

            • Bilbo is an idiot.

          • You read the above post and I am the idiot, anony you are a lemming following the crowd. Have your own original thoughts and try to formulate a complete sentence…Wow!!

      14. I’m encouraging my daughters to go to trade school instead of university. It’s less expensive, they won’t have to borrow money to do it, and they are more likely to be employable than they would with a university degree.

        • Daisy I don’t know how the education system is set up where you are, but here you can go to a 2 year state “junior college” and be working in the health care field in the 3rd year as a nurse. Nurses and soem other medical \ health care service techs are in high demand still and the cost of that education is less then $6k ($3k a year). Most of the jobs start in the 40’s and 50’s. You can retire that kind of debt easy with that kind of job. Those employers will then pay continuing education costs and you can advance. I met a lot of nurses working 2 full times jobs earning over 150k a year. They retire in 5 to 7 years happy. Sometimes they return for a PT gig or a per diem job to protect their savings.

          • Very true. I plan to be back in the US when the girls are ready for higher education. Nursing is a fabulous field, as well as other trades like welding, electronics, dental tech, even cooking or hairdressing will get them a job, whereas a degree in literature (my youthful folly) will get them squat.

            • Rockwell has good training on their PLCs which happen to be the most used in the country. There is an old saying: “No one ever got fired for buying Allen Braldey.” A solid knowledge of programming and the “mechanics” of their control systems plus adjustable frequency controls will provide them an opportunity to excel.

      15. WARNING We are months away from the floor falling out.

        • Well if the sky comes with it, whatever will my little chickens do?

          • The Little Red Hen will take care of them 🙂

      16. Folks, everything is designed to bring this country down to third world status. Whether; college loans, Nafta, immigration (illegal) bail-outs, food stamps, out sourcing American jobs, to even the illegal election of the present president, etc..
        What is ironic, is how 1/3 of college courses are nothing more than liberal courses, that soak up funding/money, that have nothing to do with degree plans.
        I proof read a lot of my son’s papers and am amazed out how even in his chemistry degree plan, they infuse liberal garbage. Thank God he only has 3 more classes to finish.
        Arm yourselves with truth and keep on prepping. The socialist’s day of judgement is a coming.

      17. How do you default on a debt that, by law, is not dischargealbe in bankruptcy court?

        • Knowing how this government works, there is probably a loop hole for minorities.

          • Homeland Security says:
            “…Knowing how this government works, there is probably a loop hole for minorities…”

            Wasn’t a problem, Homeland Security, when the loop holes were for white males, was it? Up until the 1970’s the majority of the public institutions of higher learning were for white males, as were the private institutions. The well equipped and funded public elementary schools, whites only.

            Union and trade jobs including housing and road construction- white males. Police and Fire- white males. Transportation and transit– white males. The professional fields, doctors, lawyers, financiers, realtors, bankers, architects including their support positions -white males.

            Businesses like manufacturing, steel plants to hotels and restaurants and down to the corner grocer and hardware store -white males. Government contracts awarded to white males.

            For a hundred years after the Civil War and into the 1970’s, white males received preferential treatment when it came to education, jobs, housing, loans, grants, contracting, business opportunities and voting to name a few.

            Barriers were raised including laws enacted by whites prohibiting blacks from owning property (land covenants) -thus the ghetto’s and clusters of black communities (under red lining), competing for anything but menial jobs with sub par educations. Then there was Jim Crow laws – we were getting screwed royally.

            A question I had in the 1970’s was when was the white man going to allow for a equal playing field??? Right. That was why there was a Civil Rights movement. If blacks waited for the white man to do the right thing, it would have been another hundred years.

            Ah, what’s the point in trying to explain on why we are where we are today, the only thing that matters to Homeland Security is that he believes he now is getting the doo doo end of the stick.

            Well, welcome aboard. It won’t matter soon, with 30 million illegals invading the country – maybe we can put the race thing aside for a common cause and deal as citizens versus illegals- which I’m beginning to think is a loss cause – as you can’t beat a birth rate.

            • Am with you on that, LH. Those 30 million illegals are popping out babies like Pez dispensers. Something has to be done – and SOON. If Obama is indeed bringing some of the troops home, why not extend their “tour of duty” and put them at our southwestern border? They would be protecting the actual country they live in. These guys and gals are TRUE PATRIOTS that know how to fight, know how to shoot and, unlike Border Patrol agents, they have REAL GUNS with REAL BULLETS!

            • That kind of racism/sexixm/bias always suggests insecurity to me, LadyHawk. It’s a shame, because, as I mentioned earlier, any valid point the person might have is utterly lost in the offensiveness of the person’s language and bigotry.

              It’s much nicer to have conversations with people who legitimately want to debate and discuss issues.

            • Daisy says:

              “…That kind of racism/sexixm/bias always suggests insecurity to me, LadyHawk. It’s a shame, because, as I mentioned earlier, any valid point the person might have is utterly lost in the offensiveness of the person’s language and bigotry…”

              We just may have to agree to disagree here Daisy, like we did on illegals in previous posts. My history and experiences are different then yours and living a minority life, one is not sheltered from life’s realities.

              Homeland Security throughout articles and his/her postings do stealth comments that denigrates and targets the black community, like the back handed one liner I referenced here.

              Their big bitch is affirmative action and if you review their comments on this and previous posts, they portray themselves as the aggrieved victims of targeted white male discrimination. This has gone unchallenged.

              What I reported was facts and a reminder of a hundred years of historical affirmative action policies which benefited white males and their prodigy. That is not racism, sexism or bias, but a statement of fact.

              There are white male posters here today receiving pensions and benefits that blacks were prohibited from partaking of, because of laws and policies executed on behalf of white males, that excluded blacks. If you need websites in support of my comments, I can provide it.

              I used the term of white male to identify who benefited and I was talking about – was this offensive? White male was not one of the words I was told was derogatory, as I had asked in a previous post what would be. I had no desire to be disrespectful to the community here.

              And no, I’m not insecure about speaking the truth. The truth is the truth and the facts are the facts. I’m not into political correct speech. What was done, was done, don’t re-write it. And to Homeland Security, loopholes for minorities? All I was asking, was for white folks to look in mirror. Affirmative action didn’t begin with blacks.

            • You read me wrong, LadyHawk. I wasn’t talking about you at all. I was in agreement with you. When I mentioned derogatory terms I was referring to the terms used here that promote bias and bigotry.

              While I am not a minority racially, I work in a male dominated industry in a supervisory role. At my current workplace I work with 24 men and one other woman. And the other woman answers the phone. Unfortunately I don’t see myself going much higher in the industry because I keep bonking my head on the “glass ceiling”.

              We’re on the same page on this one. 🙂

        • That’s a very good question rafterman. I was thinking the exact same thing. I watch Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey all the time. They tell you that there is no way out of student loan debt.

          The only way I know to get out of it is to agree to take a public service (i.e. govt) job. I believe this new obama plan allows those folks to have their loans totally wiped out.

          • Whew!

        • You tell them to stick it up their butt because it is a fraud. Live without the corps credit and numbers. Create your own job and work for cash or commodities. The only way they can collect anything is if it is tied to a Social Security Number. The only one who can tie anything to one of those numbers is YOU. If you choose not to do that, there is nothing they can take.

          That is the key to breaking the system. If everyone just stopped using those numbers, the corp would die.

          It’s that simple.

      18. One reason for this is because college student are taking worthless majors like:
        Dancing
        Liberal Arts
        Communications
        Political Science
        Pre-Law
        Business
        Accounting
        Finance
        Psychology

        There is no jobs for these degrees in the future. The only industry that is growing is the medical field. I am studying hard to be a Podiatrist(yes foot doctor) the reason is because good times or bad you will always find a job in the medical field. If you majored in Law,come out of law school with $180,000 student loan on your head but you cannot find job. Of course you will default. Taking a loan is not bad unless you have the MEANS to pay it off in the future. My half second cousin five years ago took his doctorate in physical therapy. He took loans since college,had a large student loan debt. However he since had no problems paying his loan back.

        Most college students do not want to touch math or science and take shity majors that will give them no job prospect in the future. Being a lawyer is overrated and there is too many people wanting to be lawyers in the country so they will find no jobs.I read a statistic that 70% of the law school graduating class of 2010 still have not found no jobs.

        • I agree completely. I’m considering going to school at night to prepare for a second career as a midwife for the very same reason.

          No matter what, babies happen.

          • Good for you! Midwives are much needed these days – less expensive than med centers and care is more personal.

          • Daisy

            Smart move – very smart move

        • You got that right. A friends just graduated with a degree in music.

          Now he’s selling cars (at least he’s employed). He could have done that without a degree!

          • meant to say a friends son

            • I studied literature. You can imagine how useful that is in day to day life. I’m just blessed that I have sales ability so that I can feed my family.

        • MA: You missed “Art History” and “Recreation. 🙂 But I have to disagree with you about Accounting, Business, and Finance. These degrees are STAPLES.

          There will always be an economy, even if many are not participating in it. The economy is business; business is accounting, finance, and law.

          Medical facilities are managed by people with this education and these skills.

          As always, a degree or skill is not a guarantee of a job as each individual is different and is responsible for what they do with the education or skill that they acquire.

          People can be unemployable or less desireable as an employee for a number of personal reasons, having nothing to do with their education or skills.

          Does jonny or jane play well with others?

          People should always follow their personal inclinations as it is most important to do what you love to do. Chances are if you enjoy what you do you will be good at it and successful with it.

        • A former friend (you’ll see why shortly) is an R.N. She works long hours and overtime to pay for her 19-year old son to study at a liberal arts college somewhere in New York State. His classes include Studies in Social Protest, Roots of the Black Panther Movement, Alternative Music, etc. etc. As M*A*S*H’s Col. Potter would say, “Horse pucky!” I had lunch with her several months ago. She was complaining about her schedule, complaining about son’s tuition, complaining about not having any $$$. I listened without commenting. Suddenly she looked at me and asked if I knew the REAL problem with society today. No, I said, what? She said (and I quote): “There are people out there with MONEY – and they’re not SHARING.” I almost dropped my fork. Haven’t heard from her since. Just as well.

          • That is the programming of the left shinning thru. Seriously, class warfare, soak the rich, and ignore how much they pay already it’s not enough to them.

      19. The feds require IT companies to advertise for workers in the US before they hire foreigners. To get around this requirement, some companies will advertise in papers far from the place of probable employment, in communities unlikely to have large numbers of potential IT recruits.

        • yea like the ghetto of Atlanta and New York, oh and don’t forget South Central or Oakland CA

        • It wouldn’t matter if there were recruits…I disgustingly watched a video of attorneys teaching seminars to HR personell teaching how to turn down applicants…
          Someone on the blog wrote now she understool why, after 500 resumes, whe was turned down at every interview she attended..and she said she was more than qualified for half.

          • @ JJ

            no, it was because she spoke English and did not wear a Hijab I thought?

      20. I like that Daisy. Going to school to learn any trade that would be helpful for after the shtf is a good investment. You may be delivering babies in exchange for food/supplies one day!

      21. Greetings Everyone!!!
        NEWSFLASH!!!
        We are now in a full-blown DEPRESSION!!
        In the 1930’s even Ivy-league grads had to bus tables to get by.
        Our current problems for grads are NOT Obama’s fault(though he really hasn’t helped much by giving tax money to banks that should have FAILED)GWB before him sped up and shortened the arrival time of the DEPRESSION with his “wars” and “no child left behind” type antics(that’s what happens when you elect a FAILED Texas OILMAN)and such.Too many people sent their children to so-called “universities” that were in their recent past lives had been “jr. colleges” and “missionary bible schools” and private “trade schools”(see de-vrys).Add to this the “free trade treaties” that allowed other countries to have 20-40 trade tariffs against US products and counterfeited American products at will while the US lowered our own tariffs to nearly ZERO.The Feds also failed to aggressively attack the counterfeiters in China and elsewhere.Dwell on the fact that Chinese companies are selling airplane nuts and bolts marked as top grade(I.E. the kind that keep the planes together)that are a inferior metal.And the Chinese selling building materials made from TOXIC chemicals at low cost to American builders to under-cut American companies.Don’t forget Toxic Dog food and the list goes on.Let’s add the massive influx of ILLEGALS(with only a small percentage caught and returned)AND allowing foreign nationals(see homeland comments)by their “naturalized” fellow foreigners to remain past their visa dates.Is there any wonder why the job problem for Americans?But we argue about the depth of the water the Titanic sits in as it sinks.The Roman Empire had much the same problems(trade deficit with China and Eastern Asia,debasement of the currency,a bloated military budget,and corrupt Government officials in-fighting over the spoils of a too-massive EMPIRE.)America is going away,CHANGE is coming and even the CHINESE are going to feel it and have massive numbers of irate hungry citizens,JUST LIKE US!!
        Things will get better,but they WILL be very different from today,U Betcha!!
        Best to All
        GFG

      22. I live in a medium sized city in the upper mid-west. There is a huge demand for IT workers here. The problem is that the universities aren’t turning out folks with IT degrees. Accountants are also in huge demand, but again, no one seems to want to go into that.

        • My son is an accountant. When he went to take the CPA exams, there was a huge turnout for the tests. I’ve known IT people who have been laid off. I don’t know where the shortage is. I suspect the shortage is IT people who are willing to work for 50% less pay.

      23. When is the O admin. going to officially announce their “Serve in AmeriCorp” plan? Remember his suggestion of 2 years service and the fed. govt. will pay off your debt??? I know that was a federal loan plan…but never let a good crisis go to waste!

        Gotta finalize indoctrination of these 20somethings!

      24. College is for suckas! Learn a trade! The world needs diesel mechanics, heavy equipment operators, ditch diggers, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers.

        • Thats why 30 million illegals have been encouraged to invade America: to suppress the wages for those fields and lower the costs to corporations.

          Incorporate. Become a capitalist.

        • Hi KY Mom – ( your question from a previous thread, answered ) yes, I bought one. It arrives tomorrow.. A couple of replies the other day mentioned that some reviews report a “plastic” taste to food.. I don’t know yet. I paid $241.99 which included FedEx shipping cost ( no charge for shipping ). I bought it from disasterstuff DOT com . Just go to their main page, on the left side in alphabetical order you’ll see “solar oven”. I also bought a Berkey Water filter from them quite some time ago.. good price, shipped quick..

          • Thank you Sam not sam!!! 🙂

            I have ordered it and I am looking forward to using my solar oven!

            KY Mom

        • What I’d like to know is…who applied and used that # for it to be ‘unverified’??

          • JJ,

            Hi! I found another article with scanned copies of the documents. Most of the MMS don’t want to discuss this…much less even look into it. Here is the link:

            E-Verify ‘flags’ Obama’s Social Security Number
            Determines his SSN to be ‘likely fraudulent’.
            http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=344461

            I wouldn’t be surprised if TPTB correct the problem soon – no worries!

            KY Mom

      25. There is nohwere to hide now. Not even in college.

        I’m not afraid anymore!

        The Revolution has started –
        Read “Common Sense 3.1” at ( http://www.revolution2.osixs.org )

        FIGHT THE CAUSE – NOT THE SYMPTOM

        • Mad Max: Your “Revolution” is the Tyranny of the Proletarit. Communism doesn’t work. WE want an American Revolution.

      26. and so what……the shit isnt going to hit the fan any time soon ! alot of doom and gloom and no action just alot of donations and sponsors !!!

        • How rich are you RICH?

      27. URP ( but potentially useful )

        My son had his appendix taken out recently. The Drs were unsure if his issue really was the appendix. Lot’s of tests, no firm answers. The surgeon came in and pressed around his abdomen; pressing in slowly, then releasing the pressure even slower asking it it hurt each time. He did this about 3 times, near the appendix area. My son answered the surgeons question with, yes it hurts, but it hurts MORE when you slowly quit pushing in. The surgeon said that was an almost fool proof way to tell if the problem was the appendix. He was right it needed to come out.. early stages. I won’t forget that test.. it might save a life someday. Press in with 2-3 fingers, deep; release the pressure slowly. If it hurts more while releasing the pressure than when you first press in.. more than likely, its the appendix.

        • Thanks, SNS – like the Heimlich Maneuver, never know when you might need it.

        • I use the same procedure when I give free tests for breast polyps.

          • On college campuses & Hooters only? They put the serial numbers on the back don’t they?

      28. SNS: Left side or right?

        • are you asking where he pressed ? If so, he pressed about the pant line below the navel, then to his left ( the DRs left ) and again left along the same line about two inches, then up higher, on a “line” to the left of the navel ( patients right side ). The appendix is on the lower right side of the patient; at least on a male; slightly above and to the left of the hipbone. I assume it’s in the same place on a female ? Don’t really know.. I’m not a DR and don’t even play one on TV. 😉

          • Basically, he was pressing 2-3 inches away from where the appendix is.. to the patients left and then 2-3 inches directly above where the appendix is ( patients right side )and then once again, sort of right on top or just below where the appendix is; again, at least on a male.

      29. so your kid is up to his eyeballs in student loans and cannot find a job that pays enought to keep him/her outta your house….and they wanna move back in with ma and pa…..well, ma and pa-if you are gonna let the kiddos move back into the family home best to lay down the law real good before the first suitcase comes over the threshhold…now is your opportunity to teach them what they should have learned before they went to that school that does not teach them anything about life or living to sustain themselves. now they gotta keep a clean and tidy room, and they need to help out with the chores…teach them how to do the “family laundry” and the “family meals” and how to grow food for the “family”. teach them that showers everyday is wasteful. challenge them to being above your expectations. if you think they will just move in and not do anything but lay around in their room on the computer/tv/stereo smoking or drinking than do not let them in the door.. are you expecting to have to pay their bills while they live with you…shame on you if you do this without taking it in trade…for room and board.. now personally, i do not feel sorry one little bit for these kids and their financial woes..or their parents either. they knew exactly what they were getting into when they signed the dotted line on those student loans.

        • Caryn: They should have learned those things long before they left home the first time.

        • Good night John-Boy, Jim-Bob, Mary Ellen,etc.

          • We left the light on for ya…

        • My five and three year olds (I’ll give the baby a break…for now) are already learning these things. They are also learning about responsibility and debt, as mommy and daddy paid for their useless education in advance by serving in the Army. The whole idea of taking out a loan for the liberal garbage being taught today is a joke. My wife homeschools with a Christian curriculum from the 19th century.

        • My oldest daughter has been responsible for paying the monthly bills online (with supervision, of course) since she was 11. This year my other daughter turns 11 and will take over that task.

          I’m a single mama and I never have an issue with my kids pleading for expensive shoes or designer jeans. They truly understand what it takes to run a household financially. Both kids also have a job to earn their spending money. If they don’t work, they don’t have spending money.

          Other parents think I’m really mean but I wish my folks had taught me these lessons before I plunged out into the world.

      30. Looks like all those “Yes we can/Yes we have no bananas” chanters et chanteuses got what they deserve (with apologies to the conservative students, who are also getting screwed by the leftists)

      31. You all got exactly what you wanted and more importantly, what you deserved.

        The political machine feeds off greed and as long as the majority has a hand out the game will go on. That includes student loans. A lot of people have no business going to college, yet the loan is there calling. The same goes for a single family home. Government is always waiting to help enslave you, but you have to slip on your own chains. Sadly many brothers and sister can’t wait to try them own.

      32. carynwrote, “they knew exactly what they were getting into when they signed the dotted line on those student loans.”

        I think one of the main points of the SHTFPLAN article was – they Didn’t Know – bankers and friends of bankers such as DK are running around telling young People they’ll make a million Dollars, when it just ain’t so. With so much propaganda flooding them, How could they know, without Herculean efforts?
        They were bamboozled by a scam while surrounded by scammers.

        How Much Is That Bachelor’s Degree Really Worth?
        The Million Dollar Misunderstanding

        “Many claim that a college degree is worth a million dollars, but like so many other “facts” about higher education in the United States, it is not quite right. Indeed, using a set of reasonable assumptions that factors in school selectivity, the cost of a college education, and foregone wages, I show that the million dollar figure is grossly inflated, and may be three times too high.”

        http://www.aei.org/outlook/100034

        • Clark says: bankers and friends of bankers such as DK are running around telling young People they’ll make a million Dollars, when it just ain’t so.

          Maybe this was true 10 years ago…or even 5…but now if an 18 year old can’t see his older sibling, or friend, or relative working at Shoney’s to pay debt…WITH a degree…or standing in lines for McDonald’s jobw, he has blinders on or is ‘stupid’!!!

          • JJ: I have done many menial jobs in my lifetime, both before and after college. You do what you have to do to survive and pay the bills while you pursue your dreams.

            Education, degrees, skills, and certifications are for a lifetime, not five or ten years. So any kid who wants to make something of themselves should not be deterred by anything, including a bad economy.

            Bad economies come and go, but life goes on.

        • Clark: Please don’t misquote me. I have never said that young people will make a million dollars by getting an education: with either college or skills of some kind.

          What people achieve in life, or not, is usually determined by them, with or without education or other family benefits.

          Young people need to get an education or skills if they want to become employable, or if they want to create their own job or develop their own business.

          Now is the time to do that on a rational basis, even borrowing some money if necessary to make it happen, as the dollars that are paid back are going to be work far less than the dollars that are borrowed. That is how the average young person takes advantage of double digit inflation.

          But yes, Clark,a bright kid CAN make a million dollars, ten million or more. A little education will go a long way for a motivated person with the right attitude, perseverence, and determination, who is willing to apply themselves.

          It won’t happen for a skinny, whimply, limp wristed kid, with a bad, blonde Justin Bieber haircut, and black horned rimmed glasses who is still living at home sitting on his hands, suckling at his Momma’s breasts.
          🙂

          Good luck Clark. You’ll need it with that attitude.

        • Clark: The American Enterprise Institute is a shill; founded, bought, and paid for by the NWO globalists that do not want you and other young people in your age group to get a degree and a profession to liberate themselves from their control.

          They want your generation to be ignorant slugs without education who will acept whatever job and handouts the NWO crony capitalists will give them, and then be grateful for it.

          Education is the opportunity to escape the menial jobs that the US Chamber of Commerce want your generation to do, and do for peanuts; so that the managers of the multi national corproations that control the economy can make bigger salaries and bonuses.

          Education is liberation. Look what it did for that twit Obummer.

      33. Perhaps if these students took courses that would get them a job it would not be so bad. There is not much work out there for 14th. century English literature majors or any of the other “feel good” subjects. My daughter has a BS in nursing and is payed 70+K per year, and there are just not enough nurses to fill the need. Here is my advice to students entering college…forget art history and major in something there is a need for.Here is my advice for those posting on this page,enough with the personal attacks. We are here to assist each with ideas to help in the difficult times ahead. If some idiot posts a foolish or insulting remark, ignore it…you have done nothing when you have bested a fool!

        • “If some idiot posts a foolish or insulting remark, ignore it…you have done nothing when you have bested a fool”!

          Exactly!

          • AZR says: “…This site is for like minded people that see through the garbage being thrown at us everyday. (Amen!) Many of us are angry at where our Republic has gone and some make their voices heard in ways that may offend others…”

            May offend? Just how far can they go? I’ve seen posts where the community has come together and said that’s enough. There are all kinds of derogatory words that can describe the BS of the government and the people running it. In this day and age do we really need to use the “n” word to describe our displeasure at someone? Really?

            I too may not always agree with posts, but being offended over beliefs and positions is different then a virtual attack on one’s ethnicity. The “n” word is over the top. There is nothing comparable that a black can call a white to the “n” word.

            Ignore??? When those that drop the “n” bomb are welcomed and encouraged with open arms? Those using the “n” word only do it because no one speaks out against it. Saying nothing says it is okay and damn it – it’s not. Thought we were beyond this crap.

            tom says: “…We are here to assist each with ideas to help in the difficult times ahead…” I have thirty years of prepping experience, skills and supplies, that’s why I’m here, not to put up with someone’s need to express their hatred because of someone’s else skin color.

            • If ignorance is bliss there are quite a few happy people posting here.

              I’m here to partake in some intelligent discussions. There are certain folks that make the intelligent part of that rather difficult.

        • yeah, right, for now, but where will health care be in 3 years, or 5 years??
          With what’s going on now, the healthcare field is gonna take a licking…will it keep on ticking?
          Ask GM..Chrysler..other industries. And they had unions!!!

          • JJ: The AMA and BIG Pharma are major contributors to Congress. they will be protected.

        • Believe it or not, the 2 guys that sat in front of me in 5th grade, eventually went on to become professors of medieval English at good universities. I knew I should have looked over their shoulders more.

      34. Here we go the Joke of the day 🙂

        Fast sex

        Eddie wanted desperately to have sex with this really cute, really hot girl in his office… But she was dating someone else.

        One day Eddie got so frustrated that he went to her and said, ‘I’ll give you $100 if you let me have sex with you…

        The girl looked at him, and then said, ‘NO!’

        Eddie said, ‘I’ll be real fast. I’ll throw the money on the floor, you bend down and I’ll finish by the time you’ve picked it up.’

        She thought for a moment and said that she would consult with her boyfriend…So she called him and explained the situation.

        Her boy friend says, ‘Ask him for $200, and pick up the money really fast. He won’t even be able to get his pants down.’

        She agreed and accepts the proposal.

        Over half an hour goes by and the boyfriend is still waiting for his girlfriend’s call. Finally, after 45 minutes the boyfriend calls and asks, ‘What happened…?’ Still breathing hard, she managed to reply,

        ‘The bastard had all dimes!’

        Management lesson: Always consider a business proposition in it’s entirety before agreeing to it and getting screwed.

        • Now that’s fuuny!!!!

        • Only a half hour?

      35. US “Day of Rage” – organized by founders of Acorn and Unions set for tomorrow. They have plans for a number of large cities around the country.

        Planners website – USDayofRage.org

        “Protesters training to incite violence.”

        http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=345321

      36. what advantage does a college drgree give you if everyone has one. and today? 90% of grads go to college for an assoc. degree.

        this lowers the value of the degree even more. then in order to have that advantage you must go for a higher level degree. therefor making an assoc degree nothing more than a high school diploma.

        the true value of the degree is how marketable are you. not how much you spend or what level degree you have.

        as to unemployment one thing we are forgetting to factor in. in the great depression it was the men who worked. most women stayed home. toda we have dual incomes. thus, twice as many employees as before. (not to mention more people). if we simply went back to single income families we would actually have a employee shortage.

        • Yes, but the communist goal was to break down the family institution, so in the 70’s the movement began that wives were only sex objects, unpaid servants…get out and get that degree, you’re more than a nanny…and women let somebody else raise their children…and then wonder where they went wrong when litle Johnny is breaking into cars at age 11??

          I am an educator—and I helped raise several–because that classroom was the only instruction for that child for far too many.
          JayJay.

        • Rachel: Some people look for an excuse to fail. Then they do and wonder why, and blame everyone for their failure but themselves.

          Winners look for a way to succeed. And they don’t quit with “failure” they use it as a stepping stone.

          Life is an adventure. Take a risk. Extend yourself. Life is full of surprises; which is why Sarah Palin is in the news so often.

      37. Hey Mac –

        If you can find some good info / article about it, I’d really like to see a discussion about the EU announcing that their banks will be able to bid on UNLIMITED anmounts of dollars at fixed interest rates in order to provide “liquidity” to their markets.. this makes my “spidey” senses tingle.. for several reasons..
        My questions, among others: they have their own currency? do they not want to inflate the Euro, are they concerned about it’s perceived value? is it as I have posted several times that only the dollar has the depth of liquidity needed ? what will this do to the value of the dollar short and long term ? Is this a stealth US bailout or are they using their own dollar reserves ?( the word “unlimited” being reported in all related news items is troubling ) Given their arrogance, I find it odd that they would openly jump back to the dollar in this way… + tons of others.. This just FEELS wrong..

      38. From modernsurvivalblog DOT com

        The following list is meant to illustrate that to start prepping does not have to take lots of money. For $100 you may be surprised what you can get.

        Prices and quantity will vary a little bit in other areas, but not much as of the date of this post.

        •200 cans of vegetables.
        •150 cans of fruit.
        •100 cans of soup.
        •101 jars of peanut butter at 99 cents each.
        •144 cans of light tuna (12 cases) at 69 cents each.
        •50 cans of chicken or other meats, or stew.
        •126 protein bars at 79 cents each.
        •169 cans of beans at 59 cents each.
        •80 pounds of dry beans, one variety, or 50 packages of a mixture of 15 different types of dry beans.
        •40 pounds of honey.
        •170 pounds of rice.
        •60 cans or bottles of fruit juices 48 oz. can or 64 oz. bottle.
        •115 pounds of quick cooking oats for oatmeal or oat flour ground up.
        •40 boxes of cereal, 14 oz. size.
        •31 cans of red salmon, one month supply.
        •175 pounds of whole wheat flour.
        •183 pounds of white sugar.
        •20 gallons of safflower cooking oil.
        •12 boxes of powdered dry milk.
        •149 cans of tomato sauce at 67 cents each.
        •30 pounds of nuts.
        •45 pounds of dried fruit, such as raisins, dates, apricots.
        •60 pounds of iodized salt.
        •200 pounds of pasta.
        •67 jars of spaghetti sauce.
        •Case of MRE (meals ready to eat) packs.
        •4 bottles (180 count) “Survival Food Tablets” emergency food rations.
        •28 cases of bottled water, 24 pack at $3.49 a case.
        •30-50 excellent quality seed packets or Survival Seed Vault minus shipping.
        •Garden tools (weeder, shovels both small and larger, hoe, metal rake) and a mini greenhouse seed starter.
        •5 or 6 fruit trees, wonderful investment, years later pays back ten folds.
        •2 Earth Boxes, soil, plant food for those with limited growing space or a limited growing season, take in to warm garage when freezes at night.
        •Precision Garden Seeder for easy seed spreading.
        •Large pressure cooker.
        •50 jars for canning.
        •1 and 1/2 gallon fermentation crock pot for pickling of vegetables.
        •Bread machine (dough maker), many people don’t have this for bread making.
        •A smaller manual grain mill.
        •Food dehydrator.
        •Manual 10 and 1/2 inch meat grinder.
        •Home alert, carbon monoxide detector,fire detectors, and fire extinguishers.
        •Dead bolt locks that prevent key bumping for doors to the outside.
        •Light activated motion detectors for added home security.
        •Fire safe for important documents and other valuables.
        •Cheap .22 caliber rifle or a good used .22 caliber rifle.
        •High velocity air pellet or BB rifle.
        •Ultra high voltage stun gun or stun baton.
        •2 canisters of bear pepper spray and one smaller personal pepper spray.
        •Extra ammunition such as 6 boxes of 500 .22 caliber bullets.
        •2 LED lanterns and 2 LED flashlights.
        •303 candles at 33 cents each that burn about 6 hours each.
        •Hepa air cleaner for the home.
        •Potassium iodide tablets for 10 days for whole family, friends, neighbors- about 18 people total.
        •Deluxe advanced first aid kit, triage type.
        •9 (25 gram) packets Quikclot hemostat agent to stop severe bleeding.
        •10 (5oz.) bottles deet free insect spray- 8 hour protection, can’t have enough if stuck in the great outdoors.
        •100 N95 protective masks, or 10 N100 (100% of air filtered) disposable respiratory masks.
        •4-6 months worth of vitamins and minerals at discount health food outlet.
        •Good quality rain jacket or coat.
        •Sturdy hiking boots.
        •6 pairs of thermal underwear, one pair possibly for each family member.
        •Uberlight drysacks, waterproof ultralight storage. 2 of the 1100 cubic inch size, or 3 of the 425 cubic inch size.
        •Hand clothes wringer when there is no washing machine to use.
        •Portable flushable (loo) toilet with extra chemical breakdown waste bottle.
        •200 rolls of toilet paper.
        •150 rolls of paper towels.
        •30 bath towels.
        •Deluxe 4 person emergency kit “honey bucket” in which the bucket doubles as an emergency toilet with toilet seat included.
        •Very good durable sleeping bag, rated many degrees below zero.
        •4 good warm military blankets.
        •450 pound capacity and extra wide camping cot to sleep off the ground.
        •4 comfortable lightweight but strong fold up outdoor camping chairs.
        •A nice size bug out backpack and enough left over for a bug out tool bag.
        •15-20 plastic storage boxes with lids, depending on size and color.
        •2000 feet paracord and 24 piece bungee cords.
        •A couple of 20 gallon heavy duty food storage vaults.
        •2 portable water containers with wheels, 16 gallons together.
        •2 (30 gallon) barrels for catching rainwater from drain pipes or other sources and a barrel pump to get water towards the bottom of the barrel.
        •Water filter, purification device, marginal quality.
        •Shallow manual well water pump, to 22 feet down.
        •An excellent quality emergency compact portable jump starter and combination 12 volt power supply.
        •Solar battery charger for AAA. AA. D, C, 9 volt rechargeable batteries.
        •2 Pocket Socket hand crank generators (up to 10 watts), or a pedal power generator for more power. Wonderful for smaller devices such as cell phones.
        •20 gallons of gasoline with four 5 gallon plastic containers to hold gas.
        •Portable Buddy Heater with 8 disposable fuel containers.
        •Propane camp cooker with 20 pound filled up propane tank.
        •Multi-fuel lantern, will give light with many different kinds of fuel.
        •Multi-fuel stove.
        •Jet boil flash heating, 2 cups of water to boil in 2 minutes.
        •3 piece, with lids, various sized outdoor cookware and a dutch oven.
        •250 pounds of charcoal for emergency cooking.
        •2 five gallon buckets of Insta Fire Starter, works well in wet conditions.
        •Chopping and digging tools; ax, hatchet, flat and spade shovels.
        •Cutting tools; 2 kinds of survival knives one folding and one straight and a larger size machete.
        •One of the best Leatherman multi survival tool on the market.
        •3 or 4 prime instructional survival and food storage and preparation books.
        •Binoculars, 10X50, see what is going on at a distance.
        •A decent shortwave radio to monitor world news.
        •A really nice emergency alert weather radio.
        •Pro Eclipse compass, measures declinations, graduations, has inclinometer.

        • Just don’t forget the manual clamp-on can opener!

          • P38s work better.

        • How much popcorn can I get for 100 frn’s? It is going to be a long, drawn out collapse!!

          • Diet popcorn or theatre heart attack buttered?

        • darn, Sam, I got 10 –30 gallon water drums for $100…

      39. “There is a reason that these numbers, especially for college grads, are peaking at levels we have never seen before”

        Peaking? How optimistic.

      40. I have a BS in Business administration and it has only helped me as far as “Must have college degree” type of occupations (e.g. stock broker for 15 years)

        What I have always preached to kids, for years and years and years, is HAVE A VOCATION, be able to do something for which thee is a demand. Kids sometimes say blah blah blah, like what? … and I reply… my best idea “become an electrician”.. it is usually cleaner than being a plumber and pays very very well… and when people need you… THEY NEED YOU NOW.

        Both women and men can become master electriancians and they will always be needed on both a small and large scale, and they usually earn 70-100k per year…. AND you dont go to college to learn it… you beocme an apprentice. Spne 4 years as an apprentice as opposed to 4 years in college.

        It is sad that we have lost the lost art of apprentices to masters….. it can wokr for wedding photographer , car mechanics, plumbers, etc etc etc.

        College is a waste of time unless one graduates with a marketable skill.

        When I graudated a 4 years degree at a state school cost about $25,000… today I think it is more like $100,000. That is a disgrace. The punk ass bitches teaching college course are WAAAAAAAAAY OVER PAID…. They are college teachers, why the hell should they make $150,000?

        Which brings up another point…. why should ANY governement worker, paper pusher, police officer etc etc make more than $60,000 per year? They are governement workers they push papers…. why should a county manager would make $250,000? It is waaaaaay beyond me.

        These people know they are overpaid, they are taking more than they deserve, usually because beof yearly % increases and theior fat asses stay there 20 years… it hurts the whole system… esp when the cost of them is not offset by a benefit.

        I have never had a salary job… I have always been 100% commission, it was required that I bring in more money that I cost… and I like that.

      41. If you are in Human Resources, you need to test all applicants. Too many schools are passing students, in order to comply with “No Child Left Behind”. Some schools are so bad they need to have their accreditation revoked. H.S. diplomas and GEDs aren’t worth anything anymore. Every inner city student is now an “honor student”. Equality=mediacrity.

      42. I think the part about this that bothers me the most is that even many grads who come out of college WITHOUT any debt are struggling to find jobs. Many people who are applying for jobs are told in a covert way, “You are overqualified for this job” or “You do not have enough exerience” I find many people who are frustrated in their attempts to gain experience (and thus employment)in the current state of affairs. It is a sad state of things. I really don’t think everyone should be a nurse, there are plenty who would probably be better as executioners with the “bedside manners” they have. Also, skilled trades are essentially a dead end right now. Many many many people who are welders, carpenters, mechanics etc. cannot find work -these folks are just as SOL as any other. People are simply not hiring, and when they do, they have a few HUNDRED applicants to choose from, at a minimum. Lets stop blambing the college students for not being able to find a job. Plenty of folks here are unemployed and have written about their frustrations in looking for a job -and they certainly have experience! The job market just isn’t good, and hasn’t been.

      43. Know a real problem noone talks about??
        Dh went to apply/test for a coal driving job…I know, I know, but we were at the last of our savings and spending waaay too much for gas searching..and he noticed at the test, only 1/4 of the applicants showed.
        Asked why??
        Failed drug test—you want that driving same roads as you??
        Didn’t think so.
        Dh failed…eye test…only has vision in one.

        • Drug testing is a way to penalize those who smoke the magic herb. A drug test does not detect recent use, but it is stored in the fat for up to weeks.

          Why all the wasted efforts to stop the use of a product that has proven to be harmless for centuries?

          Simple, it helps the brain to filter out propaganda and promotes creativity and free thought. The two things the corp hates most of all.

          Pot smokers are no threat to you, on the road or off. They are a threat to the corporations ability to persuade the masses.

          • GC: Its not just about underworld cigarettes. Its also about meth, crack, etc. Individuals under the influence of drugs in a workplace are very dangerous for everyone, especially for the business itself, which provides the jobs for the workers who use that job to support their families.

            Accidents hurt people. They cost a business money and it opens up a business to a potential lawsuit. A marginal small business can be destroyed by a single lawsuit and all of its jobs lost.

            Drugs, alcohol, and other substances, and the workplace do not mix.

      44. As a dual citizen who grew up abroad and returned to the good ol’ USA years ago, the main thing I have noticed about Americans is an unfounded sense of entitlement. Everyday I read the posts on this site and others like it, and all I hear is people blaming other people for this predicament. Every person on here has lived WAY above their means, and probably grew up in families living way above their means. How does anyone rationalize making 30, 40, 50k a year and “owing” 350k houses, and multiple new cars, and boats, and vacations, and buying expensive shit online/at the mall ect. All levels of american government, all private businesses and all american households have spent WAY out of their league for decades and no one accepts responsibility. It sucks that the elite are getting rich while the majority of us take it in the ass but 99% of people on here did their share. When you make 30k/year you can only afford an apartment and 1 used car and no designer clothes. Its simple math. This demotion in living standard is needed and it puts us on par with the rest of the world, that for some reason Americans think they are better than.

        • I must be a 1 per center. The more stuff you own, the more worries you have. I live well within my modest means and I’ve got free time that a lot of folks don’t have. Gives me peace. But, if you got it, spend it, or save it, it’s yours.

        • DRJ: A Dual Citizen huh? Why not leave the USA totally? WE don’t need any more Dual Fucking Citizens in America.

          That’s OUR problem now.

          The Dual Citizens have infiltrated OUR politics, defense and national security apparatus and have stymied energy production in the USA to keep US focused on the middle east and the protection of Israel.

          If America was self sufficient in energy, as it could EASILY be, Americans wouldn’t give a shit about the middle east or Israeli. Then OUR military wouldn’t be engaged in wars to extend unfettered crony capitalism.

          Pushing a global agenda JUST LIKE YOU, the GB’s, who have stolen OUR economy, transfered it offshore under the banner of Free Trade, (which is a fucking LIE) when it is a managed trade system that is managed to their benefit and to the disadvantage of the American middle class;

          the NWO Globalist Dual Citizens have used American depositor funds to build factories offshore under a Great Conspiracy between the GB’s, their lobbyists, Congress, GWB, and the Chinese Communist Party to steal the American economy.

          42,400 factories left this country under the GWB Presidency taking with them, many hundreds of thousands of jobs, and trillions of dollars that will never again circulate in the American economy.

          The debt Americans face is not because We believe We are entitled to those things, it is because the means of production and the wealth of America to pay for those things, has been transferred offshore, in a scheme designed to make the NWO Global Fascists richer at OUR expense. They have been very successful in selling that fucking bullshit to Americans as a FREEDOM when it is not.

          Not any more. After 30 years Americans are aware.

          You are either an American or you are not. Every Dual Fucking Citizen should be allowed to leave America on their own or shown the fucking door. Dual Citizens are fucking TRAITORS and shills for the NWO. I have never met one that wasn’t.

          You haven’t said anything that would convince me otherwise. Death to Traitors. Thats the penalty allowed by law for convicted traitors and I believe that day will eventually come when Dual Citizens are rounded up in America and dealt with appropriately.

          • Dual Citizens are traitors? You really are out of your mind durango kidd

            • sickofit: Maybe, Maybe not. There was a long list of Dual Citizens in the Defense and National Security apparatus that petitioned GWB to invade Iraq when the hijackers and 911 terrorists were primarily from Saudi Arabia, not Iraq; and it was the MOSSAD who brought the WTC down. Check the link and o some homework.

              http://shtfamerica.blogspot.com

              There is no legitimate reason for Dual Citizenship. An individual cannot swear and bear alleigence to two countries; anymore than MAN can serve both God and Mammon,

      45. Scary data indeed. What the article fails to mention are the consequences of defaulting on student debt. It isn’t like walking away from your mortgage.
        Here’s what could happen if you default:

        Tax Refund Offsets
        The IRS can intercept any income tax refund you may be entitled to until your student loans are paid in full. This is one of the most popular methods of collecting on defaulted loans, and the Department of Education annually collects hundreds of millions of dollars this way.

        Your Paycheck Garnished
        The government can take (“garnish”) a limited portion of the wages of a student loan debtor who is in default. It can take up to 15% of your disposable income. However, it cannot take more than the equivalent of 30 times the current federal minimum wages.

        Your Federal Benefits Taken
        The government can take some federal benefit payments (including Social Security retirement benefits and Social Security disability benefits, but not Supplemental Security Income) as reimbursement for student loans.
        The government cannot take any amount that would leave you with benefits less than $9,000 per year or $750 per month. And, it cannot take more than 15% of your total benefit.

        You Get Sued
        The government and private lenders can sue you to collect defaulted student loans. Unlike other debts, there is no time limit on suing to collect student loans — you can be sued indefinitely.

        It is a travesty that this burden will be upon millions of unemployed students. Truly a shame.

      46. The Indians and Chinese are just feeding on the carcuss. They add no value but they take none a way either. The American model of over-consumption is dead. It doesn’t work and most people are living a lie.

        The American model of consumption will not, ironically, work in India or China either. You get to laugh when they fall on their faces.

        • FT: The idea that India and/or China do not take value away from America is just plain stupid or its propaganda to support the globalists.

          The facts are in: 42,400 factories have been transferred offshore in the past ten years. Now 45 million Americans are living on food stamps; and 16% of Americans are unemployed.

          What the fuck are you smoking?

      47. To say India and/or China take value away from America is what’s stupid, they only make up a very small portion of trade with the united states, an insignificant amount really. The real trouble is from too many government restrictions.

        • sickofit: That is typical Globalist garbage and propaganda. Typical NWO bullshit! China and India are just the poster children for FREE TRADE that is neither free nor fair; but managed trade that is managed to the benefit of the gangster banksters.

          And I would say that a $300 billion trade deficit with China for example, is not an “insignificant amount”. That’s REAL money and its $300 billion every year, year after year.

          Need I remind you that China imposes a 25% import tax on ALL American manufactured products? Or that China manipulates its currency down by 20-25% to protect its exporters?

          That money from just ONE source would pay for SSI and health care for Americans, and it would put alot of Americans back to work paying taxes instead of collecting UI and food stamps.

          Thats $300 billion from just ONE source that isn’t moving through OUR economy. Suggest you check the Dylan Ratigan link at SHTF America for all of the numbers.

          NAFTA has been a disaster for America and the system is GAMED to transfer wealth from the USA to everyone else in the Third World.

          It is deliberately designed to gut and impoverish the American middle class.

          Its a total redistribution of wealth that allows the gangster banksters, PTB, and corporate fascists to skim the cream off of the top, and siphon the wealth of the middle class in America and Europe while its transfers global production to low wage nations to increase their profits by exploiting foreign nationals for $.50 an hour.

          Check with Dylan. Get the facts. You don’t know squat.

      48. College was one big party. Now its all OVER for the dumbass, enslaved zombies.

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