Debt

Can Activists Turn The Bank Of Canada Back Into A Public Bank?

March 7, 2015 Matt Stannard, www.occupy.com Create! Canada, Debt, Public Banking

The Bank of Canada was nationalized in 1938 and is wholly owned by the Canadian people. Between 1938 and 1974, the federal government borrowed at low or no interest from the bank. But all that changed. In 1974, Canada turned to monetarism, a paradigm holding that expansion of the money supply is inflationary, and a partner to neoliberal economic policy. This shift compelled the federal government to borrow from private foreign banks to finance Canada’s pension plan and a whole host of public projects from transportation to health care, airports, seaports and more. In the 40 years since, Canada’s privatization of finance has led to an unprecedented level of public debt. It has commodified and effectively privatized the “human capital expenditures” originally articulated in the Bank of Canada’s charter.

#OccupyBanking #ReturnWithFreedom

March 5, 2015 RETORNENLIBERTAT, www.coopfunding.net Create! Banking, Debt, Democracy, Europe

We want to finance the team that is already working on the launch of the #OccupyBanking campaign with the intention of placing at the center of public debate the total lack of democracy of the European Central Bank (ECB) and large private banks who control the monetary system, and especially the creation of money. A perverse system based on debt with these institutions – who have never been voted in democratically – hijacking our sovereignty. The #OccupyBanking campaign also wants to be the spearhead for creating the conditions that allow the #ReturnWithFreedom of the activist Enric Duran. The current crisis / fraud perpetrated by the financial and banking system in recent years has uncovered one of the problems that have long been highlighted by many activist groups: from the anti-globalization demonstrations in Seattle up until today, the effects of globalized capitalism have been exposed around the world. . .

Four Reasons Young Americans Should Burn Student Loan Papers

March 3, 2015 Paul Buchheit, www.commondreams.org Resist! Debt, Student Activism, Student Loans

Fifty years ago students burned their draft cards to protest an immoral war against the people of Vietnam. Today it's a different kind of war, immoral in another way, waged against young Americans of approximately the same age, and threatening them in a manner that endangers not their lives but their livelihoods. There are at least four good reasons why America's young adults— and their parents—should take up the fight against financial firms who are holding high-interest student loans that total more than the nation's credit card debt, and more than the total income of the poorer half of America. Fifteen former students of for-profit Corinthian Colleges recently announced a debt strike against the company and its predatory loan practices.

Bankers Trump Greek Democracy In Europe

February 25, 2015 Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Austerity, Debt, Finance and the Economy, Greece, Syriza

The negotiations clarified what the Greek government (and any other who defies the Troika) is facing. it is only because we have now had the experience of an anti-austerity government go to the wall in an attempt to reverse austerity within the eurozone that we can now contemplate the emergence of a significant anti-euro constituency within Greece. Further, there will be opportunities to build this: every time the troika rejects a needed reform, this can and should be held up as an object lesson in what Europe means. So, Syriza helped more than the re-election of New Democracy would have to understand the true situation. This will result in a debate within Syriza: . . . there will now be a huge argument within Syriza over the acceptance of this deal, and the old slogan of 'not one sacrifice for the euro' will make a come back. Manolis Glezos, an iconic figure from the antifascist resistance and prominent within Syriza, is the first to have gone public with his dissent. He is calling for a campaign up and down the party not to accept this deal, and will vote against it. He will not be the last. Next week, there will be a rally in Syntagma Square, with the slogan 'We're not afraid of Grexit'. He concludes describing this moment as "a nodal point and not the end point in the process of Greek workers finding a solution to their dilemma."

The ‘Corinthian 15′ Take A Stand By Calling A Student Loan Strike

February 24, 2015 Debt Collective and Meghan Byrd, www.facebook.com Create! Debt, Education, Finance and the Economy, Student Activism

Many students graduating from universities face a mountain of student loans so large, escaping its shadow seems almost impossible. But a group of former students today is taking matters into their own hands. With the help of Rolling Jubilee, a campaign that purchases student loan debt and then forgives it, 15 graduates of Corinthian College are starting a student debt strike by refusing to pay their loans. The united former students, calling themselves the Corinthian 15, are fed up with colleges, especially for-profit colleges, that take advantage of students who are simply seeking an education. The strike is the first time a group has come together to collectively refuse to pay federal student loans.

Corporate Debt To Society: $10,000 Per Household, Per Year

February 24, 2015 Paul Buchheit, www.commondreams.org Educate! Banking, Debt, Finance and the Economy, Jobs, Technology

Over half (57 percent) of basic research is paid for by our tax dollars. Corporations don't want to pay for this. It's easier for them to allow public money to do the startup work, and then, when profit potential is evident, to take over with applied R&D, often with patents that take the rights away from the rest of us. All the technology in our phones and computers started this way, and continues to the present day. Pharmaceutical companies have depended on the National Institutes of Health. The quadrillion-dollar trading capacity of the financial industry was made possible by government-funded Internet technology, and the big banks survived because of a $7 trillion public bailout. A particularly outrageous example of a company turning public research into a patent-protected private monopoly is the sordid tale (here) of the drug company Gilead Sciences.

United States Student Association Spring Tool Kits

February 24, 2015 USSA, www.usstudents.org Organize! Debt, Higher Education, Student Activism

USSA is happy to announce that Campaign Toolkits are ready for two of USSA’s big campaigns: Fund The Future and State of Emergency. These toolkits are ready-to-go manuals for running these campaigns, containing everything from sample petitions and student government resolutions to tips on how to plan rallies and meet with legislators. The Fund The Future campaign is part of USSA’s efforts to move towards FREE Higher Education in the United States, by doubling the Pell Grant and making it available to more students. The State of Emergency campaign seeks to pass federal legislation to end racial profiling and restore voting rights, while sharing best practices and campaign frameworks used by students of color organizing for racial justice on campuses across the country! Click the graphics below to get your Campaign Toolkit today!

Angry Romanians Call For Debt Relief

February 22, 2015 Teodor Fleseru, www.occupy.com Resist! Debt, Romania, Switzerland

Billions of people are squirming in sordid poverty trying to make ends meet; everybody is scaling down, giving up or away whatever they acquired out of greed or pride. And sometimes they give up things they need the most – or rather, it’s taken away from them, like a car, a house, their home, their life. Why? Because they’ve got a loan or mortgage they can’t pay back – usually a Swiss Franc loan. This is the drama now consuming over 75,000 Romanians who have been baited by the banks with hoopla and big promises based on the unchangeable course of the mighty Franc. It's said that at the time, the banks borrowed billions to appeal to people's subconscious, subliminal resistance and their unbridled temptations: no need for a steady job, low interest rates, hasty approval, trendy deal - stuff that made one feel differently cool, Swiss cool. And to top it off, this was the sole crediting option at that particular time in history. Go figure. The banks had no qualms about it; they scored big time. Now the fight is on. Two thousand protesters gathered on Jan. 25 in Constitution Plaza in Bucharest . . .

First We Take Athens: Europe’s Debt Colony Revolts

January 30, 2015 Heathcote Ruthven, www.roarmag.org Resist! Debt, Europe, Germany, Greece, Spain

In the past four years Greece’s economy has shrunk by a quarter. Child poverty is at 40%. A quarter of a million people are without electricity. Unemployment stands at 26%, and most of these people do not receive benefits. For those in work, job security and wages have been cut and 33% of the population has no health insurance. The list goes on. The story is a familiar one. The Greek state was lent huge amounts by the IMF and Eurozone countries — it is 175% of it’s GDP in debt — in exchange for brutal austerity conditions to be imposed. Syriza want to stop all of this. The newFinance Minister described the bailout deals, with characteristic Greek flair, as “fiscal waterboarding policies that have turned Greece into a debt colony.” He is now aiming to negotiate 50% of their debt to be wiped off (such a thing has happened many times before, including to Germany in 1953).

US Government Could End Student Debt Crisis Today

November 14, 2014 Raúl Carrillo, www.yesmagazine.org Organize! Debt, Education, Student Loans

At a basic level, the U.S. federal government doesn’t need to scrimp and save to fully fund higher education. It can just spend money rather than lend it, without incurring any significant negative economic consequences. Although I’d love to reduce spending on, say, prisons, the federal government doesn’t even need to take money out of other programs in order to alleviate student debt. You may find this argument hard to believe. The way most politicians and journalists talk about the national debt and deficit spending makes free higher education sound impossible. But there’s another way of looking at the problem, a vision advocated by a growing movement of economists, lawyers, students, and financial practitioners who deal with the institutional nuts and bolts of the economy on a day-to-day basis.

Student Loans Are A Bridge To Nowhere

November 14, 2014 Robert Shetterly, www.commondreams.org Organize! Debt, Education, Student Loans

As you know, that debt burden of student loans has nearly quadrupled in the past 10 years. Today it stands at $1.18 trillion. The average liability per student—whether they earn a degree or not—is nearly $30,000. The poorest 25% of the student population—people with less than $8,000 in assets—own 60% of that debt. How does that debt shape—or should we say engineer?—the direction and quality of their lives, their ability to contribute as citizens and creators of culture? How does that debt narrow the choices available to them, making their young lives into a burden rather than an adventure? College and advanced degrees have always been promoted as the key to advancement, good jobs, and upward mobility. Today, college education is still promoted with those claims, but the key has been thrown away. The student graduates into a lock box of debt.

Rolling Jubilee: This Debt Fairy Has A Big Plan

October 5, 2014 Sheryl Harris, www.cleveland.com Resist! Debt, Strike Debt, Student Debt

Last month, CFPB sued Corinthian in an effort to force the school to forgive or refund $569 million to students for what the bureau says were predatory private loans. Rolling Jubilee forgave about $3.5 million in private Corinthian loan debt. Gokey acknowledges that's a drop in the bucket considering Americans collectively owe more than $1 trillion on student loans. But the group has a bigger end game. Strike Debt is wrapping up the Rolling Jubilee project. Gokey estimates it has enough money left to buy two or three more debt portfolios before it exhausts its funds. And then ..... the debt fairy morphs into a debt demon.

This Country Just Abolished College Tuition Fees

October 4, 2014 Joaquim Moreira Salles, www.thinkprogress.com Educate! Debt, Education, Germany

Prospective students in the United States who can’t afford to pay for college or don’t want to rack up tens of thousands in student debt should try their luck in Germany. Higher education is now free throughout the country, even for international students. Yesterday, Lower Saxony became the last of seven German states to abolish tuition fees, which were already extremely low compared to those paid in the United States. German universities only began charging for tuition in 2006, when the German Constitutional Court ruled that limited fees, combined with loans, were not in conflict the country’s commitment to universal education.

Rolling Jubilee Abolishes $3.85 Million In Student Debt

September 17, 2014 Nona Willis Aronowitz, www.nbcnews.com Organize! Debt, Rolling Jubilee, Strike Debt, Student Debt

Starting today, Rolling Jubilee is pivoting to the student loan crisis. On the third anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, Rolling Jubilee has announced its purchase of $3.85 million worth of student debt from Everest Colleges, a portfolio they bought for only $100,000. Everest is part of the troubled for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges, which effectively went out of business this summer after the Department of Education withheld federal loan funds for 21 days. The company has been the subject of numerous investigations from attorneys general across the country and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which announced a $500 million lawsuit against Corinthian on Tuesday. This past week was a happy one for Goldman and the more than 2,700 students whose debt was erased by Rolling Jubilee. But for the group’s members, these tactics are less a solution to student debt, which reached $1.2 trillion this year, and more an opportunity to raise consciousness about the crisis and politicize student debtors to rally around a common cause. “This isn’t just a stunt or a spectacle,” said Astra Taylor, 34, a member of Rolling Jubilee who has $45,000 in student loans. “This isn’t a long-term plan, either. The point is to touch people where they are, and try to create a political awareness out of that.”

College Loans Forcing Seniors Into Poverty

September 13, 2014 Shahein Nasiripour, www.facebook.com Educate! Debt, Education, Law

The Education Department is demanding so much money from seniors with defaulted student loans that it's forcing tens of thousands of them into poverty, according to a government audit. At least 22,000 Americans aged 65 and older had a part of their Social Security benefits garnished last year to the point that their monthly benefits were below federal poverty thresholds, according to the Government Accountability Office. Education Department-initiated collections on defaulted federal student loans left at least another 83,000 Americans aged 64 and younger with poverty-level Social Security payments, GAO data show. Federal auditors cautioned that the number of Americans forced to accept poverty-level benefits because of past defaults on federal student loans are surely higher.

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