debt

Even after adjusting for inflation, the average 2014 college graduate has twice as much debt as their 1994 counterparts. Just 20 years. This year's newest members of the work force (or slaves to more debt in grad school) wrestled the title of "Most Indebted Class in U.S. History" from last year's reigning champs. Yay school!

Some student loan borrowers who had a parent or grandparent co-sign the note are finding that they must immediately pay the loan in full if the relative dies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says lenders have clauses in their contract that explain this could happen, but many borrowers are not aware of them. The agency's ombudsman, Rohit Chopra, said complaints related to this issue are growing more common because the practice is catching so many consumers by surprise.

The millennials may be the first generation in American history to be worse off than their parents. Despite ever-growing improvements in technology and worker productivity, increasing numbers of college graduates in their 20's and 30's are returning home to live with mom and dad. They are drowning in a sea of red ink. The problem, of course, is college affordability. However, there is something that Congress can do to alleviate some of the pain.

World Acceptance Corp., one of the largest high-cost installment lenders in the United States, disclosed late last week that it is the target of an investigation by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Reports show that the company's loans are deceptively expensive and often trap low-income borrowers in a cycle of debt.

New Jersey is in the earliest stages of its 2015 fiscal budget, but a lot can be told from the excerpts released last night in anticipation of Gov. Chris Christie's address today. The main take: "We are sacrificing university research, support for K-12 education, funding for the environment and energy and infrastructure of all kinds on the altar of these three things: pensions, health, and debt."

Fix the Debt affiliate The Can Kicks Back, an astroturf austerity group backed by rich plutocrats, is hilariously in debt. Who better to tell the American people how to use its tax-generated dollars than an organization going broke?

Republicans believe that a bad economy works for them at election time. The thinking is that the public will turn on Democrats for not making things better. So they do what they can to make the economy bad. Maybe they went too far this time. This hostage-taking episode has done real, serious, lasting damage to the economy on top of the ongoing damage Republicans have been doing. Will the public still blame Democrats, or will they finally see what is going on here?

Paul Ryan’s Wall Street Journal op-ed is being treated as an “olive branch” to the President because it doesn’t demand any changes to Obamacare and emphasizes the importance of raising the debt limit. The shifting demands are certainly a sign of panic among the Republican leadership, but Ryan’s offer is still just that: demands. The Republicans are still incapable of offering a concession.

While the Treasury Department could prioritize interest payments after October 17 — the day the Treasury Department says it no longer has legal authority to pay the nation’s debts — and not pay Social Security and Medicare, this would buy a few days at most. Meanwhile, interest rates will soar, stock prices will plummet, the global economy will begin spiraling downward, and millions of Americans wouldn’t receive their Social Security and Medicare.

An insight seemed to strike Hill Republicans last week, if only briefly: Our government is made up of people helping other people. But don’t count on seeing a new era of conciliation or a new embrace of democratic processes. Instead, Republicans seemed to renew their commitment to the principle that only one branch of government — their branch – should control it. Call it the Imperial Congress.