Thursday, March 31, 2011

An article that should make us angry

Alan Collinge pointed this one out and he commented about it towards the bottom:

http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/an-alarming-picture-of-for-profit-higher-education/29040

Alan Collinge's tips on stopping wage garnishment

Hey folks,

For those of you having your wages garnished into a bottomless pit:

Stopping wage garnishment is easy if you have a decent relationship with your employer. Simply ask the payroll department to stop the garnishment, and tell the collection agency to produce a court order in order for the garnishments to continue. The collection companies may talk tough, but they probably will not,and in fact, you will in all likelihood never hear from them again.

You may need to explain a bit about the predatory nature of the loans, about the grassroots groundswell against this predatory system, etc...

But if you can make payroll understand, and do this, you will get to keep your pay. It worked for me. 4 years ago. And nothing has changed with the system since then.

This is no long term solution of course, but it may help you.

Another helpful piece of advice: Demand that your defaulted loan be transferred directly to the Department of Education. Again, this won't solve any problems, but it will cut the guarantor and its collection companies out of the process, which typically is a good thing.


Regards,

Alan

ps. please donate: http://www.studentloanjustice.org/pac.htm

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Some bad news from Alan Collinge

Great. I am now being told that another "leader" in this movement, Cryn Johansen, has also sold out to the lending industry. She is writing her blog now at:

http://www.edulender.com/blog/

The website name says it all. I knew there was something very wrong with her over a year ago when she wouldn't answer my very simple question, "Are you for or against the return of standard consumer protections like bankruptcy to student loans, or otherwise?". It took a weekends worth of email attempts to get her to simply answer this question, but she never did. Sad, sad, sad.

People: Where are the honest, uncorrupted leaders, here? Seriously...this issue is absolutely huge...far larger than one or two people can serve well, however good their leadership skills. I know there are honest, upright, well educated people reading this who could absolutely make stunning careers off of this issue without selling out to the lending industry, the Department of Education etc.

You need to step up. We support any and all honest, diligent efforts to fight the predatory student loan industry, and we NEED others to step up so we aren't the single target floating around out there to take the brunt of the attacks.

There will always be Cryn's, or Robert's popping up to suck the air out of things, but do not be intimidated by them, and by all means, do not trust that they are actually doing what they claim...particularly when their cashflow screams the opposite. These people need to be replaced by real people with heartfelt feelings on this issue. I know you are out there-

Think about that. You're country actually needs you, and I say that with no drama or exaggeration.

Be well,

Alan



In better news. Alan and his group put together enough funds to go to John Boehner's house and protest.

Friday, March 4, 2011

I'm back...and Alan Collinge needs help!

Sorry for my absence, a combination of the flu and life reflection have delayed me from here. But, I have returned. And right now, it seems that we are in an age of revolution once more. We saw it in 1914 with World War I...we saw it during the 1960s...and we saw it during 1989 when that Wall came down and once again...we are in that age. Protesters in Tunisia and Egypt have accomplished so much within the past few months and we're seeing it again in Libya and maybe more countries...I don't know where their future is headed but right now, they wanted change and they're getting it.
And I'm sure we've seen what's been going on in Wisconsin.
Well, now it can be our turn. This could be our stand to take the first steps to restore consumer rights to student loans and to expose Sallie Mae and every other creditor predator out there.
And Alan Collinge has a plan:

A road trip to John Boener's House:

We now have about a tenth of the money required to make this trip happen ($1500-$2000). We can't draw out the money raising until the trip happens. We have to get that settled before we can set any firm date, time, etc.

We have 10,000 people receiving these messages. People need to step up and kick in for once.

C'mon, guys-We can easily do this. We should be able to easily raise the minimum in nothing flat, with money left over to bus people in if necessary.

http://www.studentloanjustice.org/pac.htm


An Age of Revolution...so if you can, please donate whatever you can to the cause. Those who settle for mediocrity do nothing in life. Don't settle. Act.