$1 Trillion!

Your generous contributions help keep AEM, Inc. alive and well. It also allows us to expose the truth about the student lending crisis. Without your support, our voices would disappear. So instead of simply being a reader, become a reader-contributor. Make a difference today and donate (you can contribute via Paypal or send checks/money orders to All Education Matters, P.O. Box 170232 Arlington, Texas 76003). Thanks to those of you who continue to donate on a regular basis!

$1 trillion.

You heard me.

I said $1 trillion.

But why is that number significant? 

Mark Kantrowitz recently stated that outstanding student loan debt (federal and private) will eventually hit a staggering $1 trillion. That's our new magic number, but it is certainly not worthy of celebration. So, people, put your damned champagne bottles away for now. This is serious business and stone-cold sobriety is necessary.

As of June 2010, Mr. Kantrowitz stated, "the seasonally adjusted revolving credit totaled $826.5 billion."

Most of you know that figure, the one in the billions. It's fast approaching $1 trillion. My guess is that outstanding student loan debt will surpass the $1 trillion mark.

And yet President Obama made absolutely no mention of the student lending crisis in his last State of the Union Address. I found that remarkably odd, considering how many times he referenced student loan debt in his previous address. In fact, I've added this quote to my email signature: "In the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college." 

How inspiring! But this time around, we got nothin' . . .

Now the administration is insisting that we educate more and more people, but they conveniently omit just how these folks will finance all this education that will lead us to a stronger and more innovative future. Future this. Future that. Bullshit talking points if you ask me, but then again President Obama is fast becoming Reagan-right (I stand corrected in asserting that he was simply Right-Right). Moreover, Roberto Rodriguez disappoints me and hundreds and hundreds of my readers. We have sent that guy letter after letter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it his duty as a public servant to respond to our concerns? I've even talked with him on the phone. He dodged my question about their plans to help current student loan debtors. Then you have Heather Higginbottom delivering the same dried up message, one that demonstrates just how tone deaf these folks in the White House are. Perhaps they're not tone deaf, but rather more concerned about an upcoming election, and are in severe denial about the severity of the situation. I can tell you one thing: they've lost the support of thousands and thousands of indentured educated citizens.

It is a funny thing, isn't it? President Obama fails to honestly discuss the fact that student loan debt is nearing $1 trillion. You know what that means when it comes to the increase in default rates? It's devastating. Just imagine the toll that that this debt is taking. Think of the families who have been ruined. Think of the families who will be ruined. Then think of how reckless the administration is being for suggesting that people take on more debt to go to school. But I don't have to tell you what this is doing to people, because most of you are the ones being ground into the dirt, and face first.

Here's another funny thing. Why the f--k aren't mainstream media outlets discussing this number? Is it not newsworthy? You tell me. I dunno. Maybe $1 trillion in outstanding debt is no biggie.

After I told Mr. Dollar our magic number, he said, "You gotta be f---in' sh--tin' me! One f--in' trillion of me!"