AP Source: Obama to seek changes in Pell Grants
 

Way to look out for this nation's future Mr President.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110213/...ma_pell_grants

I am sure all you supporters of our awesome President will say this is good for the future of this nation.

lol
'we need to cut spending'. then a suggestion is made by the evil obama, and it's an awful move. :rolleyes:

The first proposal would end the "year-round Pell" policy that let students collect two grants in a calendar year, with the second grant used for summer school. The official said the costs exceeded expectations and there was little evidence that students earn their degrees any faster.

The change would save $8 billion next year and $60 billion over a decade, the official said.

A second proposal would reduce loan subsidies for graduate and professional students. That would free $2 billion next year and save $29 billion over 10 years, according to the official.

The government currently pays the interest on student loans for some graduate and professional students as long as they stay in college. But the official said experts think the subsidy has failed to encourage more students to attend graduate school and it isn't well-matched to borrowers who have trouble repaying the loans.



i agree with their suggested changes.

What's the use in an education when there are no jobs?

Good for President Slapd.ick.

I think it's a good thing and appears to have no consequences since students don't graduate any faster with summer school/duplicate grants and graduate loans weren't appropriate. Using IRS information is especially encouraging as it surely will give a potential fraudster second thoughts.

BTW Why does everything have to be put into 10-decade quotes for Dems and yearly quotes for GOPers. For instance after an article outlining the recent GOP plan to cut the budget by 100 Billion for one year why isn't 'the cut has the potential to save a Trillion dollars over a decade' included?

a move needs to be made in encouraging kids to attend a trade school as well. college is one route to a good future, but we are facing a shortage of electricians, plumbers, hvac, auto mechanics, etc. it's all well and good to encourage kids to go to school, but some only end up racking up debt with a degree not worth the paper it's printed on. the papermill here in town has been trying for months to hire electrical/instrumentation techs. this is a highly paid position, especially for this area. they haven't found one candidate in months that qualified. and this is the same all over. people are out of work, but people are hiring-but the unemployed need to be qualified!

This is education we are talking about here. You dont think there are other programs that can be cut or eliminated? Yes I am in agreement with you that cuts do need to be made to reduce the deficit.

well, you can latch onto 'aahhh, it's education' or you can read and understand the article, and the fact that it only addresses pell grants, which is only one way to fund higher education. and yes, there are other budgetary items that can and should be cut. this is a good plan on his part. sorry you can't see that. it's a start, and one of many needed steps.


now, since you agree there must be cuts, surely you understand they might not all be palatable?


did you notice the highlighted areas? paying out all year didn't produce faster graduation rates, and wasn't worth the cost. it makes sense to cut this.

I agree with you. What is your view on Iraq and Afghanistan? Should we send the troops home or not. Imagine the money that would be saved if this country got out of there. Im still waiting for WMD'S to be found in Iraq. Correct me if im wrong but wasn't that one of the main reason's why Bush attacked Iraq.

Seems like a good way to cut out some costs without impacting students in a significant way. Isn't that what we want government to do? Cut the wasteful spending?

This seems similar to the good move of eliminating banks as middlemen for student loans - banks were getting a check for mailing in paperwork to the government, then passing out the check to the student when the government approved. Big waste. Now the student can deal directly with the government. Good thing.

Americans have a sense of entitlement. Being a plumber is beneath most of them. They won't bother with a trade school.

The 18-25 year old Americans are the biggest sissies in American history. Most of them never truly suffered defeat or faced adversity in school/athletics because the liberal pantywaists wouldn't allow them to fail.

In this area we have a crazy amount of HVAC techs, electricians and plumbers available largely because of the hault in construction, making every contractor and in some cases large developers delve into smaller jobs just to keep busy. Bartering and doing business 'off the books' has also taken off and will be a by-product of the unemployment situation for years to come. But for the first time in 4-5 years I finally see homes being sold (many on short sales) and foundations being dug.

We should bring all of the troops home and cut foreign aid completely. It is not our responsibility to save other countries from ruin.

You have hit it right on the money. How much aid did these countries give the US when Louisiana got hit by Katrina? Didnt this country give aid for the tsunami victims?

But, but, but ... you have to live in Alabama?

I think a number of folks remain unemployed because they can't sell their house quickly and and move to a new state.

Foreign aid is only about 1% or less of our budget.

That foreign aid did pay off when the army in Egypt took Obama's calls this past week.

Aid offered by foreign countries and groups to help the U.S. with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, according to the State Department:

* Afghanistan: $100,000
* Albania: $300,000 pledged
* Armenia: $200,000 pledged
* Australia: $7.6 million
* Austria: tarps, camp beds
* Azerbaijan: $500,000
* Bahamas: $50,000 pledged
* Bahrain: $5 million pledged
* Bangladesh: $1 million pledged
* Belgium: operations teams, generators, water pumps, nine-member logistical team to work with the Red Cross
* Bosnia/Herzegovina: $6,414 pledged
* Cambodia: $20,000 pledged
* Canada: $5 million pledged to the hurricane relief fund headed by former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, two Griffin helicopters, search and rescue teams, Air Canada evacuation flights, supplies, security team, three Canadian forces ships with three Sea King helicopters
* China: $5.1 million, 1,000 tents, 600 generators, bed sheets
* Cyprus: $50,000
* Djibouti: $50,000 pledged
* Equatorial Guinea: $500,000 pledged
* Eupropean Commission: Civil Protection Cooperative Mechanism activated
* France: 600 tents, supplies
* Gabon: $500,000 pledged
* Georgia: $50,000
* Germany: high-speed pumps, supplies
* Greece: two cruise ships
* Hungary: $5,000
* Iceland: $500,000 pledged to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund
* International Committee of the Red Cross: Web-based tracking system for displaced people
* India: $5 million; 3,000 each of personal-hygiene kits, blankets and sheets; 150 tarps
* Iraq: $1 million pledged to the Red Cross via the Red Crescent
* Ireland: $1 million euro (about $1.24 million U.S.)
* Italy: generators, water pumps and purifiers, tents, supplies
* Japan: $200,000, $844,000 in supplies and private pledges of more than $1 million
* Kenya: $100,000
* Kuwait: $100 million plus an additional $400 million in oil products
* Malaysia: $1 million to the Red Cross
* Maldives: $25,000 to the Red Cross
* Mauritania: $200,000 from the American Mauritania Business Council to the Red Cross
* Mexico: 45 truckloads of supplies, transport vehicles, two field kitchens, two helicopters
* Mongolia: $50,000 pledged
* Morocco: $500,000 pledged
* Nepal: $25,000 pledged
* Netherlands: Levee inspection team to assist Army Corps of Engineers, water pumps, frigate
* New Zealand: $1.4 million to the Red Cross
* Nigeria: $1 million pledged
* Norway: $1.54 million in cash and supplies
* Oman: $15 million
* Organization of American States: $25,000, created fund for donations from member states to the International Committee of the Red Cross
* Pakistan: $1 million pledged to the Red Cross, supplies
* Palau: $50,000 pledged plus $50,000 donor drive
* Papua New Guinea: $10,000 to the Red Cross
* Qatar: $100 million pledged
* Republic of Korea: $30 million, supplies
* Russia: air transport, generators, tents, blankets, water, water pumps, supplies
* Sao Tome and Principe: $18,000 pledged
* Saudi Arabia: $5 million from Aramco, $250,000 from AGFUND
* Singapore: four helicopters
* Spain: relief supplies
* Sri Lanka: $25,000 to the Red Cross
* Sweden: telecommunications equipment
* Taiwan: $2 million, supplies
* Thailand: blankets, supplies
* United Arab Emirates: $100 million pledged
* Uganda: $200,000 pledged
* United Kingdom: relief supplies
* Venezuela: up to $1 million to the Red Cross and state governments
* Vietnam: $100,000 to victims
* Yemen: $100,000 to the Red Cross

SOURCE: State Department

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9282598/...ong_road_back/

You might be right right. Consider this also some folks stay unemployed because they make more collecting unemployment.

Some countries did offer aid. Did all the countries the US helps offer aid? I dont see Egypt or Haiti on the list.

Maybe if the illegals didnt get thier freebies there would less of a deficit.

we should never have gone into iraq. never, ever, ever in a million years. we'd be thru in afganistan by now had we not taken men and money away from afganistan. then again, i don't know that we should have gone into that pissant country either. look at every other country that has invaded afganistan and where it got them. no-freaking-where. think back to gulf '91 and the aftermath. we had never stood higher in many peoples' estimation. now, fast forward over the years....we got attack on 9-11-look at the worlds reaction. for the most part, shock, horror and a lot of support. what did we do? think about all that. what should we have done? not what ended up happening, that's for damn sure. universal good will evaporated with our push to invade iraq. iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. nothing.

a war should be justified, your cause should be right, and you have to be able to win the thing. can we win in afganistan? i don't know that we can.
like sherman said, "War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is the sooner it will be over." but we want to fight a ''civilized' war, which is why that joker is dragging on and on...and on.


bush was a fool. his push to war in iraq was the cruellest act of his presidency. i wish like hell we could go back to those dark days and redo all that. what a mess he's gotten us into. the deficit is what it is due to those two misbegotten wars. and for what? where has it gotten us? what has been gained? nothing. there were other ways to attack terrorism. what a bill of goods we were sold.


three things are needed to fight a war.
money, money, and yet more money.

Bush should of been impeached if you ask me.

we heard yesterday about the teacher in cali who was suspended because of remarks she made on facebook. one of her students was interviewed, and made a remark about her not showing the class enough respect. what?!?! these are kids, they expect the teacher to respect them? holy crap, where are we going as a country?? parents, for gods sake, quit telling your kids how special they are. support your teachers, or you'll be supporting your kids for life!

and that's funny, they don't want to be plumbers. plumbers make damn good money.

home ownership has become a huge issue, with people unable to move to a job because they can't sell their house. honestly, i don't think it's employment that's the issue, it's geography.

yeah, you really need to let that go. that's a red herring you've latched onto for sure, and is not one of the big problems this country is facing.

Its not one of the problems this country faces? Why dont we just open the borders up and let everyone come here then. Including all the terrorists who hate this country.

Nobody really "makes more" collecting unemployment. The most you can make, even if you had a rather high salary, is about $300-350 a week. Before taxes. That's minimum wage. If you had a minimum wage job, you make far less. And you pay income taxes on unemployment.

Nobody chooses bare survival over a better paying job. Would someone choose to net $300 a week, if they were a lawyer or an auto line worker, over working at McDonalds for $250 a week? I'm sure they might. And they are entitled, as long as they are using their time to actively looking for work as a lawyer or auto line worker (and yes, unemployment double checks that you have been looking for work)

So Egypt donated $0? He's regretting that now. All those years of playing squirrel with our nuts has caught up with him.

Kuwait, Qatar, UAE made the right offer. Very savvy on their part.

The Saudis. That's going to be the real turning point in the Middle East. If the House of Saud falls it could change everything for the better. Give the youth a voice and we'll see if they want a Benz with a trophy wife or a camel and a bee-keeper wife.


Never met an Australian I didn't like. Yahoo Serious, excluded.




We should side with Taiwan but will we?

I'd say a good 30% of them just want to stay home and watch porn all day.

He can't travel:

That news is a little old don't you think!!!!!!

It's from last week.

I guess you didnt read the post about someone collecting unemployment turning down a job at a car dealership.

Very well put.

My purpose of starting this thread was to see everyone's view on it. Whether in agreement or disagreement.

There's one. What are the other 8 million doing?

I've no doubt there is the rare abuse. The acts of one don't reflect the acts of millions**

(**unless you are a Muslim, I guess)

why don't we let them all in? saying you're overstating a problem doesn't mean i think we should 'let them all in'. you're being silly about that part. i'm saying you're overstating the issue, or listening to someone else who is overstating it. the state and fed budgets aren't busting because of undocumented workers. if they were the cause of money isses, the fed would have run them out of this country a while ago. do you really, truly think the govt would choose to lose money by ignoring a real problem? or is there a distinct reason to think they've done nothing because it's not worth doing something about?? i choose the latter. there are very pressing issues facing us-it's a gross oversimplification to blame it on 'illegals'. but they are such a convenient scapegoat. i'm sorry you've chosen to ignore all the evidence put on here lately to the contrary, and instead wish to continue parroting that line.

tee hee

Haiti is a very poor country. Egypt is a very poor country, except for their ousted President who is worth 70 billion.

More telling... where is Israel on that list?

Is that really why you started this thread?

I knew this was going to come up some time on here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020503752.html