I recall that you opposed H.R. 5043 on the grounds that returning standard consumer protections (bankruptcy discharge) would discourage banks from lending & thus cause a sharp decline in student loan availability.

 

    You are on record as being an honest Congressman who gave a straight answer, and your honesty & answer are memorialised in the permanent archives of The Resister's research paper on Higher Education, as listed in the front-page news ('Skyrocketing Tuition' headline).

    However, I recall that I told you that I thought you were wrong on 2 fronts:

    * 1) A recent study found that bankruptcy protections had *little* effect on availability of student loans.

    * 2) History records that in the 1950's, there WERE no widespread student financial aide (loans, grants, guarantee of loans by Federal Government, etc.), and colleges still ran well -actually Institutions of Higher Education were *both* lower in tuition (vastly lower) and higher in quality (America once had the best colleges in the world BEFORE the Federal Government started monkeying with them with it's liberal Dept of Education). (That's why I support 'Less Government' as a rule.)

 

Therefore, I asked you to change your views -and represent me, since MY method worked, and *yours* has *not* worked --and I wanted legislation to get Federal Funds out of Higher Ed (maybe even de-funding the DOE, saving tax dollars --and stopping the distortion of the Free Market tuition increases).

 

But I also hoped you would change your views on H.R. 5043, a 2010 Bill. According to http://www.studentloanbilltracker.com/ ii appears that H.R. 2028 (Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2011) was formerly H.R. 5043 (Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2010) which passed Commercial and Administrative Law subcommittee but got stuck in House Judiciary committee, and now has this status: 5/26/2011 - "Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary."

 

Since 2028 is the same bill as 5043, you are faced with the same decision --and I point out that your opposition to this bill did not work: American Higher Education continues to 'not work,' so I ask if you would reconsider your views here, and join with Democrats who see the value in the Free Market pressure that would result from students' ability to declare bankruptcy --and thus have a Free Market motive on banks to *not* overcharge students.

 

3 Questions:

 

1 -- What is your position on H.R. 2028 (Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2011)?

2 -- What is your position on my request to defund ALL unnecessary things (stopping Federal tax dollars from funding the USPS, the DOE, Pell Grants, Federal Student Loans, etc.)?

 --- Notes: By stopping Federal Funds from these things, we can save precious tax dollars, balance the budge, and stop the distortion of the Free Market increase of college tuition.

3 -- What do you think are the reason or reasons for the skyrocketing increases in college tuition & the declining quality of American Higher Education?

 

Thank you for your time and efforts here.

 

PS: I sent a Facebook friend request to your legislative aid, Elise Gately, as I had done with you, and she not only declined my request, but she blocked me as well.

 

At first, I thought that was rude, but my policy analysts all uniformly informed me that close Facebook relations between constituents and Congressional staff is against policy --and, I infer that it would be due to a conflict of interest or appearance thereof.

 

So, since it is the 'right' thing to do, I will let you know I accept the explanation by my policy experts, and I am not any longer mad or hold it against Elise for her actions here: She was just following the regulations of her job's policy --e.g., 'following the rules' & obeying her bosses.

 

However, it would be remising of my duty if I didn't point out to you that not all people are as intelligent, perceptive, or open-minded as me: Many others might get angry and/or not know about your office's policy, so, you might want to let constituents know about this --to prevent misunderstandings or anger over trivial matters. My observation and understanding is the least I can do as a Christian; I hope this helps.

 

Thank you for the your representation of my concerns & 3 questions above.