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Poor little Melissa Horton – she took to the opinion pages of the Washington Post to let the world know that she borrowed money to pay for college, and now she doesn’t want to have to pay it back.  Not only is she whining about that, but she has the audacity to insinuate that her parents are liars who are dumber than a sack of rocks.

I am a second-generation U.S.-born Latina. Growing up in the suburbs of Fort Worth, I was a straight-A student in Advanced Placement classes, with many civic activities on my resume.

At 17, I never could have dreamed that my parents’ promises were lies.

A decade-plus later, I, like many millennials, have more than $100,000 in student loan debt, most of which can be directly attributed to my parents’ unfortunate placement smack in the middle of the middle class and the fact that our family was uneducated about financing higher education.
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Looking back, it’s easy to say that my parents failed. They should have asked more questions and sought counsel. More important, they should never have co-signed the loans or allowed their financial information in our aid applications because they had no intention, nor means, of paying for our pricey educations.

Nice kid you guys raised there.
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Not only that, Ms. Horton wants us all to lend our support to a bill that is being introduced in Congress that will allow students who take out too much student debt to have it forgiven after 10 years:

This month Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.) introduced the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012. It holds that an educated populace benefits all of society, not just the individual student.

Clarke’s bill proposes forgiving as much as $45,520 of eligible student-loan debt after new borrowers have made 120 payments — equivalent to 10 percent of their discretionary income for 10 years — or would forgive any outstanding debt for those whose loans predate enactment if the borrower has already made 120 payments in the past 10 years. Even better, the forgiven amount will not count as income, so debtors need not fear paying higher income taxes for 2012.
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It might also help parents of young professionals sleep better at night, knowing that they would not lose their home should their child’s student loan default.

Cry me a river, sweetheart. My husband and I both took out student loans over 30 years ago when we were attending college, and back then we understood that we were expected to pay EVERY PENNY back.
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We attended state colleges – and you were certainly smart enough to know that Texas has many excellent state colleges – because we knew that we couldn’t afford anything more. It took us 10 years, but we repaid every last cent of those loans.  (I left school in my senior year, but I made darn sure that I repaid all that I had borrowed)

It never would have occurred to us to think of defaulting on those loans – we made a promise to the people who loaned us that money.  Now, thanks to Obamacare, the Federal Government has taken over the student loan industry.

Guess where that money comes from? TAXPAYERS.

If you don’t repay your loan, then you are cheating the American taxpayer. That money was taken out of every working American’s paycheck to allow you to go to college, and if you don’t pay that money back, then you are guilty of stealing tax dollars.
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My guess is that you are one of those people who thinks that the “richest” among us should be paying “their fair share”.  And yet, you aren’t willing to pay back what you took from the system.  In other words, you expect taxpayers to front the money for your college costs, and then you expect to be able to walk out on the bill.

I’m sorry that your parents didn’t teach you the importance of honoring your promises.  Forgive me if I’m not willing to have my taxes raised to pay for something that will never be repaid.

You have a law degree, correct? And yet, as a lawyer, you don’t want to have to follow the law. This is basic first-year Contract Law stuff, sweetheart. Our country operates on a system of trust – you should know this (and if SMU didn’t teach you that, shame on them). When that trust is violated – e.g., someone doesn’t pay back a loan – our system of law breaks down.

It’s time to grow up.

Like the rest of us, you are going to have to give up some of your luxuries in order to honor a promise that you made.  You can set up an extended payment plan with most Federal student loans – at 8% interest over 25 years, you’re going to have to pay back $771/month. You may have to live in a less expensive house, drive a cheaper car, and bring your lunch to work for the next few years.

If you renege on your student loan, just remember that any amount that you don’t pay back is money that won’t be available for the next student who comes along.

What is it with you law school students/graduates, anyway?

Just a couple of weeks ago an earnest law school student told the country that you guys want us to pay $1000 per co-ed per year for birth control.  Since that will end up being “included” as part of a student’s health insurance fee, future students will need to borrow even MORE money to pay for a college education.
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So now you want our tax dollars to pay for you guys and gals to go to college, get educated, AND put off having kids.

And when you finally DO decide that you want to have kids, you will no doubt discover that your most “productive” years are behind you.  I would not be a bit surprised to discover yet another law student getting in front of the public in a few years, demanding that taxpayers foot the bill for fertility treatments (at a cost of between $10,000-$15,000 per treatment, with an average of 6 treatments needed per child) for the same students whose birth control we paid for just a few years earlier.

After all, having a baby is a “right” too.  Right?

And while all of you and your highly-educated friends put off producing future taxpayers who could shoulder the cost of all of these goodies that you expect the rest of us to pay for, the people that you and your ilk consider the “ignorant unwashed masses” will be busy cranking out more kids who will grow up ignorant, unwashed, and unable to make enough money to replace the amount that you think you shouldn’t have to repay.

Let me guess – when Muffy and Skippy graduate (from a posh private school, which I am sure you will happily pay for), you’re going to expect the ignorant and unwashed to pay “their fair share” so that your coddled little darlings can attend the finest, most expensive colleges that other peoples’ money can buy, right?

Somehow I have a feeling that you are going to expect the rest of us to look the other way when your children decide they don’t want to have to repay their loans either.
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Here’s a thought – how about you and your well-educated friends start cranking out some kids/future taxpayers of your own? At $45,000 of “forgiven” debt for each one of you and your friends, your kids are going to have to earn some serious green to make up the amount that you poor dears are unwilling to repay.

After all, smart people have smart kids, right? Your offspring should be good for some serious dough – no doubt when they grow up they will be making enough money to be paying the highest tax rates.

Don’t ask the rest of us to keep paying our “fair share” – we did that when we loaned you the money to attend college in the first place. It’s time for you to start contributing your  fair share.

The way I see it, YOU owe US.
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Time to "Pay it Forward", kids....

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[Cross-posted at Red State]