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1. Scott M. | May 12, 2012 at 10:03 am

   I think this cartoon pretty much nails it.

   http://anticap.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/120502_cartoon_600_605.jpg
2. Sandi Saunders | May 12, 2012 at 5:36 pm

   Yes Scott, it sure does!
3. Brian Lindholm | May 12, 2012 at 9:49 pm

   Yet another good article on student loans: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1. Key quote:

   Mr. Date [deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] likened excessive student borrowing to risky mortgages. And as with the housing bubble before the economic collapse, the extraordinary growth in student loans has caught many by surprise. But its roots are in fact deep, and the cast of contributing characters — including college marketing officers, state lawmakers wielding a budget ax and wide-eyed students and families — has been enabled by a basic economic dynamic: an insatiable demand for a college education, at almost any price, and plenty of easy-to-secure loans, primarily from the federal government.

   Ah, the joys of easy credit, given to wide-eyed 18 year-old kids… Have we learned nothing? At least this time we won’t have to bail out the banks, but the financial damage to these borrowers will be tremendous. [Not to mention the taxpayers whose tax dollars will have been sent on a one-way trip out the door to colleges with highly effective marketing officers.]
4. Scott M. | May 12, 2012 at 10:55 pm

   @3 Brian, I remember at the start of the housing bubble, the sense that you had to get into a house NOW or you’d never be able to afford one.

   My impression is this is going on now with a college education. People are hoping to make it in, under the wire, of affordability.

   That’s the part that scares me. That sense of desperation. That tells me something is wrong.
5. BUD | May 13, 2012 at 7:31 am

   You guys can look at cartoons….

   I’ll look at numbers:

   California vs Virginia…

   Cal’s income taxrate..9.55%max on amounts over $46,350
   Va income taxrate… 5.75%max on amounts $17,000+

   Cal’s gas tax…48.6 cents a gallon
   Va. gas tax…..18.8 cents /gallon

   Cal’s cigarette tax….87 cents a pack
   Va. cigarette tax…30 cents a pack

   Cal’s sales tax… 7.25%
   Va. sales tax…. 5.0%

   STATE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE as of Mar. 2012
   Cal 11.0%
   Va. 5.6%

   Roughly 17% of California employees are union members.
   Roughly 4.5% of Virginia employees are union members.

   Yesterday, Gov Jerry Brown’s office announced the state budget shortfall projected to be $9.2 Billion last January has increased to $16 billion.

   Which state government looks more like DC? Which state is/has been run by democrats or republicans?
6. Brian Lindholm | May 13, 2012 at 9:06 am

   To #4 (Scott M.): You have an excellent point there. You logic makes perfect sense. Because tuition rates are climbing so rapidly, there is undoubtedly pressure to get your degree NOW, lest it become unaffordable later. [I too remember hearing similar "buy now!!" arguments during the housing boom.]

   This is unfortunate, as people who wait a few years before entering college typically make better decisions on what major to pursue, and they’re often better focused on their studies.