All attempts so far to create economic policies to stimulate the economy have failed. The economic stimulus act of 2008 proved to be a partial success or absolute failure depending on whose opinion you agree with. Regardless of how this act affected banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, the American people only noticed their economic standings continue to spiral downward.
It's time to try something new. In reviewing the Tumblr blog for We Are The 99% there are a few themes that appear. People feel that they are mostly hurting because of the lack of job opportunities, the low wages of being underemployed, rising food costs, unaffordable health care and trying to pay off student loans.
What would happen if criteria was created by which Federal student loan debts could be forgiven in a fashion similar to how we have forgiven the debts of Third World Countries? As of June 2010, Americans owed $826.5 billion in student loans. This was the magic number that put student loan debt at the top of the debt mountain with the distinction of surpassing American credit card debt.
Most of the people I know with student loans do not expect to be able to pay them off in less than 30 years. Some of them do not know if they will be able to pay off their student loan debt in their lifetime.
Compound interest has many adults owing more than twice the amount they started with upon graduation. Not to mention the scores of people who have declared bankruptcy to eliminate debt and get a fresh start only to find that student loans cannot be included in bankruptcy claims, even if that debt is higher than all of your other debts.
If Federal student loan debt was forgiven to every American citizen wouldn't the economy be stimulated?
While the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow and spread, there is no common call to action. I propose that the first call to action be to help ease the economic stress of Americans is to forgive student loan debt. What do you say?