A Plebe's Site

Quam bene vivas referre, non quam diu.

Student Loan Debt

Posted on 21 February 2018 by eehines

This is appalling, and it says a lot (albeit it’s not the only thing able to be said) about the morals of those we’re “graduating” from college and university these days.

A study released Friday by the Brookings Institution finds that most borrowers who left school owing at least $50,000 in student loans in 2010 had failed to pay down any of their debt four years later.

Scofflaws. They need their wages garnished. If they’re unemployed, they need to be put into work programs–there are always highway rights of way that need cleanup, and ditches that need digging. They also can be put into AmeriCorps VISTA.

But no bailouts.

Quid Pro Quo?

Posted on 21 February 2018 by eehines

Recall that the Veterans Administration’s Inspector General had written a damning report of its investigation into the fraudulent behavior of the VA Secretary and of the Secretary’s Chief of Staff. The IG even had referred the matter to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. DoJ then declined to prosecute.

Now that chief of staff, Vivieca Wright Simpson, has announced her retirement, and the VA has opened its own investigation into her actions, an investigation that might lead to civil action, but it’s not a criminal investigation. I have to ask, then: was this a quid pro quo? Did DoJ agree not to prosecute if Simpson agreed to leave?

Veteranos Administratio delende est.

TANSTAAFL

2 + 2 must always = 4
–Polish proverb

Be not intimidated… nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery and cowardice.
–John Adams

Nothing in the universe has a shorter half-life than a politician’s memory for inconvenient facts.
–Admiral Hamish Alexander, RMN

Dawn is nature’s way of telling you to go to bed.
And to just stay there until the evil yellow disk is gone again.
–Anonymous

In a polity, each citizen is to possess his own arms, which are not supplied or owned by the state.
–Aristotle

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.
–Chief Justice John Roberts.

A yawn is a silent scream for coffee.
–Shane Mclean

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my ax.
–Abraham Lincoln

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