Unbreaking America: Drowning in Student Debt

00:02 - And if you’re a student, umm, well, well, enjoy your ramen because you’re broke.

00:07 - Yeah. They re taking all your money.

00:09 - I’m sorry, that’s not funny… But how bad is this problem, actually? Ya know, those of us who aren’t students are like, c’mon is it that bad? YES.

00:21 - It’ s that bad. It’s extremely bad.

00:24 - So today, think of me as your professor, and I’m going to walk you through exactly why student debt is a major crisis, why it continues to get worse, and what we can do to actually fix it.

00:36 - Whoa! Hey! Big mysterious number! Right? What is that? Well, I’m going to tell you, and You’re gonna love it, it’s hilarious, but hang on.

00:47 - Now, this is America’s personal debt visualized in 2005 in trillions, naturally.

00:53 - There’s your cars, your credit cards, and down here is student debt.

00:59 - But over time, by 2010, student loan debt has eclipsed the others and by 2019 it has skyrocketed past them all.

01:09 - Just for comparison, here’s what the increase in wages looks like over that same time period.

01:14 - Yeah, adjusted for inflation, it’s flat. You’re welcome.

01:19 - Sorry, I said that wrong. You’re screwed.

01:23 - You’re extremely screwed. And it’s getting worse.

01:26 - How much student debt are we actually talking about? Well, the amount is kinda staggering.

01:31 - Think of it this way. Here’s a briefcase of cash, that’s a million bucks.

01:37 - Here’s a billion dollars. And this is the $1. 6 Trillion in student loan debt, to scale.

01:45 - 1 in 8 of us are shouldering student debt. That’s over 44 million Americans.

01:52 - It’s forcing young people to move back in with their parents, delay buying a house or delay getting married, maybe not even retire until they’re 75.

02:00 - That’s an entire generation, NOT buying homes, NOT buying cars, NOT saving for their families.

02:06 - What’s that doing to our economy? To our workforce? To our country? Not now, number, I love you and you’re hilarious, but I’m on a roll.

02:15 - Look, a bachelor’s degree can increase your lifetime earnings by half a million dollars or more.

02:20 - And students need to be able to take out loans.

02:23 - But they should be fair. The average student leaves college $37,000 in debt.

02:28 - At 7% interest, over 25 years, that costs $78,000 dollars.

02:32 - And they’re the lucky ones. In some cases loans cost more than 4x the amount borrowed.

02:39 - That’s not a good deal. No wonder a million people a year default on their student loans.

02:45 - And that doesn’t mean the loan just goes away, it means your life gets worse.

02:49 - Your wages can be taken, tax refunds withheld, your credit score shattered.

02:54 - Even the IRS can come after you. All because banks, lenders, and special interests have rigged the system to make it functionally impossible even if you’re forced into bankruptcy to get out from under your student loans.

03:07 - These are special laws just for student loans.

03:10 - Congress could fix these laws and make student loans more like regular loans, but they’re not going to do that, and for a very good reason.

03:17 - Congress doesn’t work for you. They work for them. The loan companies.

03:24 - Executives from student loan companies flew the Chairman of the House Education Committee 4 times in their private jet to speak with them.

03:32 - Do you know what the Chairman told them? And this is a quote: “Know that I have all of you in my two trusted hands. ” I dunno if he actually did this hand gesture.

03:41 - But he said those words. That’s insane.

03:44 - That’s called corruption. And right now, it’s completely legal. It shouldn’t be happening.

03:53 - You know who doesn’t get that kind of access? You.

04:05 - So we have two options. Do nothing, and quietly savor our ramen noodles, in a deep state of depression.

04:12 - Or we can get pissed off and fight back. To fix the student debt crisis, we have to fix the corruption crisis.

04:18 - And fixing corruption? Well, I ugh- I actually have no idea how to do that… but Nora does. Hi Nora.

04:26 - Hi, thanks Ed. Cool sneakers. Thank you. Do you really like em or are you just saying that? They’re fine.

04:37 - We have to make corruption illegal. And we can do that with a new law called The American Anti-Corruption Act.

04:43 - It puts power back in the hands of the people, where it belongs.

04:47 - It would ban gifts from lobbyists to politicians, as well as close what s commonly called the revolving door – the tactic of lobbying firms hiring former congressional representatives and staff.

04:58 - It makes our leaders listen to us, the people.

05:02 - And here’s the best thing, the American Anti-Corruption Act is incredibly popular with both conservatives and progressives.

05:09 - But asking Congress to pass it isn’t going to work.

05:13 - Because right now Congress can’t seem to do anything, let alone bite the hand that feeds them.

05:18 - So we have to go around Congress, a tried and true way of moving America forward.

05:24 - Throughout American history, passing state laws has paved the way for federal laws.

05:28 - We have a law to fix politics, and a proven strategy to get it passed.

05:32 - There’s just one more thing we need. Professor Helms, wanna take it from here? Yes I do! Thank you, Nora.

05:38 - Wait sorry, quick question for you. Do you like my shoes or not? They’re fine! They’re great.

05:41 - Ok. Don’t worry about it. You can be honest.

05:44 - I love em. I love em. Ok. Don’t believe you, but…

05:49 - Nora and I are part of a movement that believes the government should work for you and your family, not a handful of billionaires and special interests.

05:58 - Millions of people are already involved and working across party lines to pass anti-corruption laws.

06:03 - Together, we’ve racked up more than 100 victories in cities and states across America.

06:07 - And in 2018 we passed the most anti-corruption laws in American history.

06:12 - But we have so much more to do. And we need millions more people like you to get involved.

06:20 - So right now, like, right now, go to www. Represent. us and sign up to be part of the next anti-corruption victory in your state.

06:30 - There are people in your community dedicated to this fight, and they need your help.

06:34 - If that’s not for you, join The Common Wealth, a community of people giving whatever amount they can every month to support local anti-corruption campaigns.

06:43 - Every single dollar goes to the front lines of the fight, not to overhead or organizational expenses.

06:49 - And sadly, we don’t have time to wait. Ready for the big reveal? That number? That’s the amount that collective student loan debt has grown just since you started watching this video.

07:01 - It’s a pretty big number. Over $1 million. That’s the rising, crushing debt of everyday people trying to get a better education, a better job, a better life.

07:12 - I told you the number was gonna be funny, and, well that was a lie.

07:16 - I just wanted to get you to stick around and watch the whole video.

07:18 - The truth is, and I’m very sorry to say this, that number is horrifying, and it is the direct result of corruption.

07:28 - We have to end corruption now. Join us. .