I just participated in a Web event where Elizabeth Warren talked about her Bank on Student Loans Fairness Act that she has introduced in Congress.  There were over 10,000 people participating in this event.

Elizabeth Warren promised that keeping the interest rate low on government Stafford Student Loans is just a first step in solving the crisis of student debt.  When we are talking about student debt, we are not just talking about 20-something-year-olds.  Many people are carrying student debt into their 50s and beyond.

Here are Senator Warren’s remarks when she introduced her bill to the Senate.

When I started my career in 1967, it was a policy of all companies to pay for the advanced degrees of their employees.  My Master of Science in Electrical Engineering was paid for  by Texas Instruments, RCA, and Digital Equipment Corporation.

In today’s world of high unemployment and international competition for jobs, companies have discovered that they don’t have to pay for their employees’ educations.  They can always find somebody who has already earned their advanced degree.  The corporations are saving huge amounts of money by not having to pay for this expense.

The same set of circumstances that has let the companies off the hook for this expense is causing governments to cut back on their support for higher education.  High unemployment stresses government budgets at all levels of government.

It is probably true that we never should have depended on corporations to shoulder the burden that government should have borne.  Now that there are no corporations willing to take on this burden, who should take up the slack?

Now the private citizens must individually bear the burden.  This is an untenable situation.  Bearing this burden puts people into a lifetime of debt.  They cannot buy houses while they owe the cost of a house for their education.  They cannot save for retirement.  They will not be able to help their children pay for college.  They cannot buy the goods and services that provide the demand stimulus to keep our economy out of depression.  They will not be able to support their parents when their parents, you and me, become too old to take care of themselves.

What about this big picture is too big for our citizens to comprehend?

You can sign a petition at BankOnStudents.org to let your Congress people know how upset you are about their failure to act for the best interests of the country.

Another place to keep track of this issue is StudentDebtCrisis.org.

We must raise our voices in support of Elizabeth Warren’s efforts because she cannot accomplish our goals by herself.