We listed another bill but by all means comment on other bills languishing in committee that do similar things. Here is govtrack for H.R. 4170, which gives it a 3% chance of passing.

Seems this bill will defer as well as plain forgive student debt.

The bill we mention is H.R.2028 and according to govtrack has a 1% chance of passing, even worse.

I'm updating the post to add the site at the bottom. We're a macro economics, nonpartisan site for the most part, although helping people lobby Congress for good causes, sure we can do that.

I am currently under extreme economic financial hardship and unable to pay the total of over $50,000 on a NYSHESC (New York State Higher Education Services Corporation) Guaranteed Student Loan from the Spring of 1984 to the Fall of 1986 while attending the SUNY Binghamton Watson School of Engineering Graduate School attempting to get a Master's Degree in Computer Science. This Guaranteed Student Loan has ruined my Life. The New York State Higher Education Services Corporation sold this Guaranteed Student Loan to the Educational Credit Management Corporation in November, 2009. In the Spring, 1984 Semester, I asked the Chairman of the SUNY Binghamton Mathematics Department, Shelemyahu Zacks, to admit me into their Undergraduate Bachelors Degree Program in Computer Science because I had a 3.60 GPA as a Part-Time non-matricuate Undergraduate at Binghamton from the Fall, 1982 to Spring, 1984 Semester; but I was unfairly denied by both Binghamton University and the New York State Higher Educational Services Corporation. One Undergraduate Computer Science College Professor named James Ryder even wrote on my last program in my very first Undergraduate Level Introduction to Computer Programming class (CS 130) in the Summer of 1982 Semester, “This is probably the best program I graded all semester and I am saying so after looking at about 150 programs. If you keep this pace up you’ll be out with a 4.0!” I still have this Final Computer Program that I wrote in Computer Science 130 in the Summer, 1982 Semester. Binghamton University Mathematics Chairman, Shelemyahu Zacks, told me that I didn’t qualify to pursue a 2nd Bachelors Degree in Computer Science at the SUNY Binghamton Mathematics because I already possessed a Bachelors Degree in General Studies Liberal Arts from Oneonta State College Of New York in 1977. I just wanted to get a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science; but the Binghamton University Mathematics Department said I had to get a Master's Degree in Computer Science even though I had never taken 1 class in Computer Science while I attended Oneonta State College from the Fall of 1973 to the Spring of 1977 and just received a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies. I didn't think I was qualified to pursue a Master's Degree at Binghamton University; but was told that this was my only option by both Binghamton University Mathematics Department and the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation. I told several of my Watson School of Engineering Professors that I didn't think I was qualified to pursue a Master's Degree in Computer Science; but they all told Me not to give up. After 2 years of studying Computer Science at the Graduate School Level I was told that I didn't meet their minimum standards and was discharged by their program. I even requested an Incomplete Grade in my final 2 classes at the Watson School of Engineering in the Spring, 1986 Semester and the Teachers agreed to let Me do that in order to have more time to catch up; but the Chairman of the Watson School of Engineering, Thomas Piatkowski, refused it. In retrospect, I think that Binghamton University and the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation just wanted Me to spend twice as much money as a Graduate Student to get a Computer Science Degree rather than allow Me to get a Bachelor's Degree. As a result of never being able to receive a Computer Science College Degree, I have never been able to obtain an entry level job as a Computer Programmer. I currently earn only $10.20/Hour working a 40 Hour Full-Time Work Week (and sometimes less than that) for a Total Annual Average Salary of $21,216 working for Apex Systems, Inc. as a Technical Support Specialist sub-contracting for Unisys Technical Services as a Dell Computer Systems Expert Computer Field Repair Technician Contractor. I don't receive any Employee Benefits like Vacation Pay, Sick Pay, Standby Pay, or Paid Time Off. I have to drive my own Automobile at my own expense (gasoline, repairs) while averaging driving over 1,000 Miles/Week. The Educational Credit Management Corporation is now garnishing my Wages at 15% which reduces my Hourly Wage from $10.20/Hour to only $8.67/Hour to pay back a Guaranteed Student Loan of over $50,000 from over 25 years ago. I don't have a 2nd form of Income and my Wife left Me on November 26, 2011. Because of the passage of Time of 2 Years that has occurred since I attended the SUNY Binghamton Watson School of Engineering as a Masters Degree Candidate in Computer Science back in 1984-86, the inability to find a Good Paying Job with Benefits, Deceased Parents, my Economic Undue Hardship, my current Age of 57 Years Old, Slim Prospects of ever paying back the Guaranteed Student Loan of over $50,000 in this Lifetime, I request that this Guaranteed Student Loan be forgiven so that I can have a second fresh start chance in Life. It now appears hopeless that I will ever be able to pay back this Guaranteed Student Loan. I never intended to abuse the US Federal Guaranteed Student Loan Program. I also really don't think that the US Federal Guaranteed Student Loan Program was really designed to financially ruin economically poor College Students who were just trying to better educate himself to get a better Job for the rest of his/her Life? Some form of Relief has to be necessary for Honest Debtors who are unable to service their Student Loan Debt in order to free hard working debtors to once again become responsible and productive members of Society. Despite the fact that I will ever have any chance of repaying this Guaranteed Student Loan from over 28 years ago, no lawyer will even attempt to help Me declare Bankruptcy on this loan. I think that this is a violation Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution which says, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." In my opinion, the bar to qualify for Bankruptcy Protection shouldn't be higher for College Students on a Government Secured Loan than it is for any other US Citizens on a Private Unsecured Loan. This is a discriminatory practice on students. A pre-eminent bankruptcy scholar made precisely this argument under oath before Congress. In December 1975, when Congress was debating the first law that made student loans non-dischargeable in bankruptcy, University of Connecticut law professor Philip Shuchman testified that students:"should not be singled out for special and discriminatory treatment. I have the further very literal feeling that this is almost a denial of their right to equal protection of the laws … Nor do I think has any evidence been presented that these people, these young people just beginning their years on the whole should be singled out for special and as I view it discriminatory treatment. I suggest to you that this may at least in spirit be a denial of their right to equal protection with the virtual pole star of our constitutional ambit." By 1977 even the American Bankers Association had joined the conference of bankruptcy judges in lobbying - formally, anyway - against the cruel and unusual punishment of making student debt non-dischargeable. As James O'Harra, the congressman who had commissioned the GAO study, pointed out in his testimony, to enact such a law would be tantamount to "treating students, all students, as though they were suspected frauds and felons" while according arbitrary second-class creditor status to "the grocery store, the tailor or the doctor to whom the same student may also owe money." In 1978 the House of Representatives voted to pass a bankruptcy reform bill that specifically restored student loans to their original status as equivalent to any other form of unsecured debt.
By the way, I just lost my job on July 31, 2012 and am collecting $301/week unemployment insurance and $200/month in food stamps.

As long as companies keep barring the unemployed or independent contractors from getting hired and our corporate government is okay with that, there's really no hope. We need a jobs program, a massive one for profession after profession, but that's not planned by anyone (and I'm not talking only about the kind along the highway with signs). People suffered from plant closings; outsourcing; have to wait months or several years for contracts; they wanted to better themselves in school (and we are always told to do that); had to take care of sick relatives, etc. Guess what, miss one day of any job, and you're doomed to permanent underclass status. Those are garbage policies and we suffer because of them and society is suffering because of them too. No country can have this many people not using their skills and education without terrible consequences for everyone. Companies that follow such policies or aren't actively hiring the unemployed because of their status should suffer tax consequences and be treated as social pariahs. How can people complain about the economy and "lazy unemployed" when they are a main cause of so many problems? Millions of idle hands, brilliant minds, and the 1% prosper - can't last too much longer.

The companies out to destroy the U.S., who could care less about the deficit, the U.S. worker or the U.S. economy, beyond making sure consumers buy their products are U.S. MNCs. That's multi-national corporations and global finance. They are the ones pushing for these bad deals, they offshore outsource, move money around the globe for the purposes of profit, exchange rates, tax evasion (legal), and are the ones running the trade policy and really the WTO in practice.

I know plenty of people, all with the necessary degrees, years of experience, that would never qualify (legitimately, of course, not bankster liar loans) to buy homes. And they're not in their 20s, but what used to be prime earning years, 30+. Years of experience, but unemployed, long-term unemployed, or simply contract workers that are invisible (they aren't officially "unemployed," but that doesn't stop them from starving and never collecting one unemployment check - you hear that moronic politicians and their nonquestioning followers, not one check). So how could these people every buy a house? And the other thing is in USA 2012 aka "Bankster Thunderdome," how could anyone trust they would keep a decent job that they could pay monthly rent from, let alone mortgages. The writing is on the wall - we are all expendable for a CEO bonus. Companies could sh*tcan you at any moment, force you to become a temp, an intern to train an H-1B, tell you to move across the country within 2 days or get fired, or just fire you. In 2012, shacks and huts and tents and mobile homes are seriously housing considerations for those who never dreamt of them - and when I say that and people who aren't CEO levels or purposely ignore the middle class devastation (i.e., those watching MSM and never read economic and non-D+R run political blogs) know that is a real possibility, our country is officially in the crapper (brought to you by multinationals and their puppets). A home? Long-term thoughts like marriage or kids for most? Even a dog (who knows, you might have to move overseas within 60 days or move to an apartment in a new city within 1 month - goodbye Rex)? A job people can survive on, use their skills and education in, and plan on keeping for more than 1 year? Fantasy at this point. Even if they had the money, who could trust Bank of America or Wells Fargo (brought to you by Mexican cartels) or HSBC (brought to you by Iran) to handle any paperwork or be honest for 20-30 years? Trust banksters with long-term contracts and not to forge signatures? Maybe 10 years ago. No more.

What's amusing is I've heard several people claiming that these artificially increased property and home values are the 'new normal'. I was looking at one 70 year old house in Long Beach, not a bad place in a so-so neighborhood and decided after running the numbers the mortgage payment would be too much of my take-home pay and the realtor asked me if I would consider taking in a room mate to help with the expenses. Excuse me? Are you f'ing joking? I make a decent living (in the old days I would be considered 'middle class') and have no huge debts and a 790 credit score and a solid work history and I almost feel entitled to be able to BUY A DAMN STARTER HOME in a decent neighborhood LIKE MILLIONS OF OTHERS in the recent past.

Take in a room mate. Sell drugs. Steal cars, open a chop shop. Sell my body on the streets. Any more helpful hints?

This is what happens when Americans that care and have experience + education + skills are purposely not hired and screwed in application processes so cheaper laboroverseas can be hired.
Type in "ID theft" and "outsourcing" and you'll see stories coming up with warnings years ago, so it's been raised under all sorts of Presidents, both parties, and Americans who gave a sh*t and could predict the problems were ignored.
Sample: Filipino security 5+ years ago handling Chase "Jamie Dimon rules our politicians" accounts. After US employees were aware of someone repeatedly trying to steal money and unable to come up with correct ID info., (US employees had access to Lexis-Nexis) they repeatedly told Filipino center to leave account blocked. Filipinos working for Chase weren't trusted with Lexis-Nexis. Thief gets blocked by US employees, gets into Filipino outsourced security employees at a different time, and he gets the information he needs from them. He then gets cleared and steals $40,000 from account! 5+ years ago and it was raised. The writer says Chase was a revolving door and seniority came if you had more than one year!
So the victim suffers for the rest of his life because his SSN and everything else was compromised due to outsourcing. Does Chase pay law enforcement for the wasted time and effort they will now spend dealing with this ID theft? Possible false arrests of the victim? The victims time and wasted $ for the rest of his life? These are all very real issues - others will spend $ and their time until they die fixing the issues Chase and Dimon don't care about because they want short-term profits and massive bonuses. They are shifting the entire cost onto the customers (all fines and fees are always shifted to customers) and the govt. that has to clean up the mess. That is not capitalism at all, nor is it just.

REITs could collapse with another global recession. That said, at this time there is no other investment paying north of 10%. Forget gold, unless GOP gold bugs take over. Gold is high by historic standards, commercial real estate is low. More important, rents are still high. Forget stocks for 5 years (according to Warren). Bonds and all debt instruments pay nothing. In a global slow down, commodities are bad bets.
We called oil price softness at the beginning of 2012.

Disclosure. When my favorite VP Dickster Cheney started Iraqi
Fever in 2002, I bought gold. A no-brainer.

I'm always impressed by our government's willingness to help other countries at the expense of its own citizens. Sure, China is killing us in trade and with the cooperation of "American" (incorporation only, not in loyalty) corporations, but let's help China even more with IMF loans and World Banks loans, both of which the USA is the biggest donor nation. So, if China doesn't have it easy enough, let's have American citizens directly finance the competition and the "American" corporations also. I think same goes for India.

So, this government is of us, by us, and for us? Really? Because helping out the competition when it's already killing us doesn't sound like something I'd do.
Same with the IMF helping out the Euro. I'm guessing USD could be better spent in the US, but that wouldn't help the Goldman Sachs/Eurozone stay alive for a few more months and austerity to be forced down on the populations over there with Goldman Sachs' central bankers' mandates.

China has many ethnic issues that aren't covered by the Kardashian press here but aren't so easily resolved. Also has huge corruption issues that can't be resolved because one-party rule depends on it, to say nothing of ghost cities that can be seen from space (just like the Great Wall). Sit back and watch, just keep my tax $ away from that mess, I'm tired of helping competitors. I say watch as the Chinese steal all the Apple IP and Apple stores they can and the bigshots scratch their heads and say, "Duh, who could have guessed? And can my US Government help me fight to keep Apple making billions in China - I don't care about American workers, but can the US Government protect my profits in China?" And the USG will do it.