AEM has been reporting about the threat to Pell Grants since mid-May. It is on the chopping block, and some members of the GOP have described the program as being akin to welfare. Pell has helped many low-income and minority students pay for college. In the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, politicians have no business trying to slash such an important program. With the wealth gap between whites and minorities at its worst in decades, this is not a smart move. It's un-American. Tell your representatives, the ones who wish to cut Pell, that they are being anti-American. And while you're at it, tell them that if they don't raise the damned debt ceiling, that they are acting like economic terrorists and inflicting pain upon their own consitutents. It's time to boot these folks out of office and get DC back in working order. The level of dysfunction is straight from an Onion article!
Take action immediately! Sign the petition here to help save Pell. You can also send out tweets to your representatives, and tell them to stay away from Pell (use the hashtag #SavePell) or support saving it!
Related Links
"More Threats To Pell," AEM (July 20, 2011)
"Save Pell!" AEM (July 16, 2011)
"Point/Counterpoint: Pell Grants," AEM (May 25, 2011)
A non-profit organization dedicated to the eradication of all student loan debt through activism, education, and legislation; because student loan debt is dangerous to the US economy and to the health and well-being of individual Americans and their families. CRYN JOHANNSEN, Founder & Executive Director
10 comments:
Money taken from others and given to special interest groups is theft. It is not within the powers of government to mandate such things. Suggested read....The Constitution of the united States of America for the rules.
That is an astonishing interpretation of such an issue, and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I encourage you to read the Constitution. Thanks!
@Anonymous
I assume you're aware of the irony of posting a comment like that on an Internet message board. Seriously, how do strict constructionists such as yourself step outside (assuming you don't live in a cabin deep in the woods, with no electricity or running water) without your heads exploding? You must see theft EVERYWHERE you look. I don't envy you, sir/madam, though I do suggest trying to understand that our reality is a historically-rendered construct. There are few, if any, absolutes, including our Constitution, as beautiful as it is. As Cryn suggested, perhaps you should read it again yourself, especially the part after Article VII. If you don't like or want all the benefits that accrue to society as a result of the extra-constitutional powers the government wields (and granted, there are many that I'd like to take away, but that's a different discussion), fine, I don't really care, but get the f*** off my Internet.
I don't support Pell grants or any other form of government "aide" towards higher education because, at the end of day, these programs provide the lifeblood for a fraudulent higher education system.
I used to believe that the role of gov. was a positive one for higher education, but I have come to realize that, when there is no strong regulation of what those dollars do (i.e., how much academia charges), then those gov. dollars merely support fraud and tuition increases year after year.
Can the gov. regulate its "aide" to higher education? Maybe, but there is so much corruption that I highly doubt. In the meantime, no more taxpayers dollars to support the higher education pigs.
@Anonymous,
Although you missed the point of the article and have a very narrow view of reality, perhaps you could explain "oil" subsidies.
@Anonymous 12:36 PM - you make a good point about how it is used in a bad way, and that is something I addressed in my piece, "Point/CounterPoint." I don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. That's why I am in support of Pell, and know several people who have benefited from the program.
(I am not the Anon. of 12:06.) Mr. Crankypants, I pay my income taxes through payroll deduction. The federal government takes as much as they want of it before I ever get it, then they expect me to support my family on the rest. When they spend my taxes on Pell Grants, they're forcing me to deny my family things to pay for other people's higher education. I don't see the justice of that.
It's interesting that "welfare" has become an epithet and is used in reference to Pell Grants or anything that might help the poor and working classes improve their lot in life. However, the term isn't used in reference to bank bailouts, subsidies to defense contractors and the monetary favors afforded to those who don't need them.
Just sayin'.
Dona - that's just ridiculous! Ha.
The Good Book says, "There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, it is enough:
the grave, and the barren womb, the earth that is not filled with water, and the fire that saith not, it is enough.
But Solomon might have added just one more little item. He might have just made his little list complete, and added, the politician who never stops saying, Gimme.
"Gimme, Gimme, my name's Jimmie!"
Robert Penn Warren - All The King's Men.
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