Live: College For All Q+A

Alright, here we go inside Hello everybody and thank you for joining us and I'm here with Representative Omar and Representative Jayapal to talk about to my mind. One of the most important issues facing our country and what we have introduced today is a revolutionary proposal that says a few things number one It says that in America all of our people regardless of their income are entitled to get all of the education they need that means free public colleges and universities that means a major Expansion in pel grants and work study programs and in most cases, it means people coming out of school debt free number two What we are saying today is that at a time when 45 million Americans are struggling sometimes in just outrageous ways with oppressive student debt our legislation would end that student debt within six months That's it and our view is that at a time when this country bailed out the illegal A Wall Street to save their banks now is the time for Wall Street to pay a modest amount of money to protect the Middle class of this country So this is a revolutionary proposal that would transform education in this country and I think create the kind of economic growth that benefits working families not just the one percent representative alma We have 45 million people who are part of a generation that is burdened by student debt literally shackled by it and we are going to make sure that we are freeing From that shackle so that they can have the kind of prosperity that should be guaranteed by the education that they've received I myself m one of this 45 million so it is really important for us to make sure that when we're hearing the struggles that young people are going through particularly my generation that we can do everything that we can to make sure that we are freeing them from the shackles of student that dribble I am really excited to be here and I think there's 45 million people across the country that are excited to see this proposal and a whole generation of people that are struggling to even go to College. Let's understand the scale of the crisis We've got one point five trillion dollars in student loan debt today this bill would cancel all of that within six months It would say to people that you don't have to worry about whether you can buy a House or start a family or invest in a car You don't have to worry about giving up a home that you Have not being able to pay rent so that is a beautiful thing that is frankly what people deserve second This bill would say to everyone who is considering going to College or a two year vocational school a trade school with say to you you do not have to worry about coming out burdened with $40000 in debt You do not have to make a choice between getting a higher education which we all know we need today in this country to get a job that pays well and allows you to have a family You can be assured that you will be able to go to College Without tuitions without fees we expand work study programs, we expanded Pell grants we provide opportunity for what people deserve and that is the education that they need for their lives to be filled with Dignity Kingdom Some questions that came in from some of the Facebook feels so Donald on Facebook asks how will we pay for College for all Okay, we pay for it in a very simple way and that is we put a tax a small tax, a fraction of one percent on Wall Street Relations this is not a radical idea This is an idea actually that once existed in the United States and now exist in dozens of countries all over the world and here's the point 11 years ago I was in the Senate just when I came in and I remember all of the people on Wall Street coming to the Congress the people who cause the greatest economic downturn in modern American history and they came to Congress in the beg, then they controlled said please bail us out against my vote Today but now what you are hearing all over this country in the state of Washington in the state of Minnesota, the state of Vermont all over this country People are asking us to remember them and they are paid and it's not just the younger generation It is their parents. It is their grandparents who often have to assume this debt So what we are doing today is listening to people 45 million of them all over this country and say if we could bail out Wall Street you know what we're gonna help the working class in the Middle class of this country Joan on Facebook asks How would College for all affect our economy Joanne? That's an awesome question our study show that if we were to cancel debt for these 45 million people our economy would see a boost one trillion dollars over 10 years We would actually be able to have people invest in homes in cars and you know spending that allows them to take care of their families. So this would be an enormous boost to our economy but also by allowing people to invest in making that To go to College knowing that they're not gonna be burdened by debt in the future that is going to grow our economy. It's gonna allow people to be more innovative more creative start small businesses take care of their families This is a boost for our economy Andrew on Twitter Do you wanna add anything to that? Yeah. I mean I would say even in in home ownership. We know that A thousand dollars payment to your student that can have one to two percent Packed on on home ownership and so we are trying to literally we build the Middle class. We want to make sure that people have an opportunity to own homes. People have an opportunity to invest in business. People have an opportunity to start that family This is literally going to be revolutionary for 45 million Americans and for our economy you know 50 or 60 years ago College in many Was tuition free and pilgrims covered a much higher percentage of student needs than is the case today if we lift that burden and that's what Congresswoman are saying if we list lift that burden think about what people do instead of having to pay a thousand dollars a month student debt you can go out maybe slot that business that you dreamed of starting Maybe you can have thought having the children that you wanted to have or by the House that you wanted to have So no question into my mind that this is a significant economic stimulus a stimulus Will help working families lower income people rather than just the people on top without costing a single dollar to the taxpayer and by the way you know it also helps our older generation There are more and more grandparents, people over 60 who are rating their pensions who are literally suffering because they're either paying off the debt of a kid or Grand kid that is a fastest growing group of people with student debt. So across the board we're gonna see dignity return for people to be able to get what they need and you mentioned earlier the fears of many people who are worried that their Security that's right. Checks will be gone wish in order to pay off the student debt that's happening right now and I've got people writing to me and saying that this is what's happening we have our office has been working with people who have had that happen but I also have on the other side people who are 30 who write to me and say I'm still living with my parents There is no way I can afford an apartment I have put off marriage I can't think of having kids that just can't be what we're doing and that is one of the reasons and this is maybe underlying everything we're saying today your For the first time in modern American history everything being equal unless we change it right can have a lower standard of living than the generation on top of you exactly So it's the wealthiest country in the history of the world. The economy is doing reasonably well today and yet millions of people are gonna have a lower standard of living than their parents. They're gonna be more in depth unable to buy a home The wages that they're earning will be lower in real dollars than people 20 years ago So that's what we're dealing with now helping that generation among other things Okay Andrew on Twitter asks forgive it all If we can spend billions to bomb people we can bail out our kids want higher education precisely at Andrew is is right We spend 57 cents on the dollar in in funding our defense budget we have a real opportunity. We really to make sure that we are investing in Americans were putting them first There's so much conversation about the forgotten people who are the forgotten people. The forgotten people are the people who don't have enough I need to put food on the table people who don't have enough money to be to to shelter their own families people who don't have enough money to pay for for health care so we're saying that we wanna put you first. We wanna make sure that you are set up for the kind of proper prosperity that our country is supposed to guarantee the people many of the countries around the world whether it's European countries whether it's countries in Africa South American Central America in Asia many of these countries understand the importance of education they invest In education in many places there is an incentive given to young people who go to College I learned about the story and how you were speaking once to a group of young people from some European countries and in feeling you said you know it's the education is free in feeling and the young person responded to you and said we get paid to go to that right and so I mean it. This is the and I said you know there are many African countries that I know where that is a reality people understand how important it is to our Economy to have an educated population and in order for us to compete in a world stage, we have to make sure that we have people who not only have a fouryear College but have a master's degree and professional degrees This is how we get ahead. Exactly sure that I know that some out there our critics will say this is a radical proposal This is not a radical proposal I would represent that if Obama is saying is pretty simple the future of Country the future of the working class of this country depends upon quality education and we are determined to make sure that everybody who has the ability and the desire will be able to get that education regardless of their income. That's not a particularly radical idea right? And it's actually I mean Andrew's question was about the military budget and you have to think about education as a National security issue The United States will never be able to move forward and achieve our potential for everybody if we don't Address these basic things that people deserve these basic things that are right healthcare education These are the things that allow us to be secure as a country So let's talk about National security the right way instead of the wrong way. Let's not 733 billion dollars into our defense budget and instead have decades of austerity spending that cuts spending on education and what one of speaking of of the military weight, one of the greatest incentives for people joining the military is that they're able to get free education and Let's understand how important it is for many people that they are literally signing on to possibly losing their lives just for that opportunity and we wanna make sure that people are not making that kind of address of choice addressing decision just to get an education. It's a right Our country needs it and our young people are desperate for that's a great point about people So many people go into the military some dude because I wanna but many do because they want that free education and military provides me but what we're saying here is The time is kind of long overdue for us in this country to make certain that all people understand that they are entitled to certain rights That's not just the right to vote and freedom of speech and freedom of religion That's all important but the right to health care is a human right The right to all of the education you need to fulfill your dreams that is a human right The right to decent housing is what should be guaranteed to every American That's what we're talking about right here and This is a concept that most Americans appreciate and I'm gonna join us in fighting form senator you know you've also said that this isn't a revolutionary idea in the sense that the United States has done this before. We did it in New York City. We did it with the University of California for how it colleges I know I have family members who benefited from that moved all the way across from the East Coast to the West Coast so that they could go to the University of California colleges for free. So we know that this can be done and we Have a responsibility now to make sure that our future generations have the same opportunities for builders saying is exactly right You know, 50 years ago people went to some of the great universities in the world in New York City in California and elsewhere virtually tuition freeze Pell grants covered 70 percent of the cost today that is down to 30 percent So this is not a radical idea. It exist many pots of the world it used to exist in the United States and if we're gonna The disappearing Middle class this is something that has to be implemented King Chris on Twitter has a story to share I lost my husband to cancer and I knew it would be hard to earn enough money to support my teenage girls and myself Now $50000 in student loans I'm fearful that my social security checks will be garnished if I'm unable to pay off my student loan How pathetic is that kind of situation is allowed to exist? There is a woman who was trying to bring up your kids have to deal with this serious and death illness of a husband and the death of her husband and now she's left what a future having to pay $50000 off in student debt I mean frankly that is not what this country is supposed to be about and that is why we are introducing the proposals that we are today Yeah I mean we also today at the press conference had a young man who spoke to him and his wife have a student debt They have young children and he was saying that their tax return was garnished you know they're Child income tax credit This is supposed to help write uplift the Middle class and we were just having people really struggling throughout our country and we have an opportunity really to end the the stress, the pain that that Associated with this this crisis in Chris. I just wanna say I'm sorry for what's happened to you what's happening to millions of people and to tell you that not only shouldn't happen but we've been getting more and more of these stories and it is horrifying It is absolutely horrifying because people were counting on a certain amount of income to barely make ends meet and now what's happening is they're getting checks that are completely different from what they expected and you know we have talked about the senator. You've been such a a strong champion of expanding social security social security by the way is not an entitlement It is an earned benefit and so we have to make sure that this does not happen and our proposal gets us to that place where people aren't gonna be in the situation that you're in Chris Viola on Facebook has a question Forgive my student loans if I get a master's degree Yes I will not forget it right in this room a couple of months ago we had a bunch of young people from Howard University and they were all in school trying to earn graduate degrees in order to be teachers Now, we desperately need good teachers in this country to educate the future generation and they are sitting here prepared to work in poverty stricken schools which is a Very difficult job for teacher prepared to do exactly the right thing and at the same time they are struggling in some cases with the death of over A hundred thousand dollars for the crime of wanting to be a teacher a great teacher and work with kids who desperately need that help that is insane and I also here's another point to be made We have the health care crisis in this country We have a dental crisis in this country We need more doctors We need more nurses. We need more dentists and we need them to go to underserved areas in America Rural areas urban areas now how Is it that you're gonna go to a poor rural area as a primary care physician If you lease a medical school $400000 in debt you're not gonna do that So this touches on so many of the aspects of life The need for good teachers that need to be doctors, nurses, dentists and yes to answer your question violated We will forgive that I mean and this is why really it is important for us to emphasize the forgive it all by complete cancellation because once you put a number to how much you're going to forgive you leave somebody out We want to make sure that everybody Has the opportunity to be free of of of this burden the shackles We want complete freedom for people to be able to teach where they their their passion is for them to give back to their communities if they are a nurse a doctor, a dentist in in whatever way that they want to we want to make sure that people have an opportunity to not wake up Worried about this and go to sleep worried about this, as as one of the people who spoke at the press conferences. Well, Randy Wine Garden, who's the President of the American Federation of Teachers just spoke at the press conference. We came from and I was struck by how she said. In almost every single meeting, she has teachers are saying to her What are you going to do either? They have student debt themselves or and they're trying to exist on salaries where we have an increased teacher salaries what's led to these courageous strikes across the country by teachers but either they have debt themselves or They have kids who have debt or they're dealing with students who are struggling with whether or not they're gonna go forward spouse because or spouses that have dead and you know I think about this whole issue when I think about how crazy it is that the richest country in the world is actually incentivizing people not to go get a higher education Right We are actually saying to people no don't go get a higher education cuz you might come up $50000 in debt and by the way because we haven't raised the minimum wage because people's real wages have decreased and because the cost of College that's covered by the government has decreed We are putting people in these impossible situations where they're making trade offs that are good for them for the future and aren't good for the country. This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world where Pramila just said is you got two options out there If you're a working class person number one don't go to College and the likelihood is you'll never make it into the Middle class or you have another option You can go to College and you can have to pay off debt for decades That is insane Alright. That is that is not what this country is about and must not be about in the future and that's what we're gonna change Pablo Book comments We Europeans Cannot really understand how it's possible that a great democracy like the United States does not have welfare policies to include and ensure education and health for everyone Pablo, we owe. We are so with you 100 percent with you one of the points, I think we've all been trying to make these are not radical ideas They exist all over the world and it's not just education in Germany Pablo of course you know but I wonder how many fellow How much it costs to go to College in Germany answer zero Scandinavia answer zero is mentioned in Finland It's totally free. They pay to go to College cuz we know you have additional expenses. Alright so if we are talking about an economy that works for all of us where we want a vibrant Middle class, not massive levels of income and wealth inequality What we should be looking at is those European countries which make sure that all of their people regardless of income can get all the education they need the health care they need the housing They need these are not radical ideas. This is what a Democratic civilized society should be about Facebook Ask by the time I realized how much debt I was going into be in $385000 It was too late to turn back There's no reason other than greed for interest rates to be so high on student loans Why charge me so much for wanting to better my life I think that is just such an important point. Just the other day. I got a tweet from somebody who said they pay $700 a month in in student Debt and out of that only $4 is going to the principal The rest of it is all going to interest and so I don't know Rebecca how that amount totally built up but what I know is profit tears for profit companies like navient and other debt collector companies are profiting off of your loans and so as the federal government why are we requiring you to pay more on your interest for student loan that we give you then we pay that just as crazy and so not only do we eliminate all that debt that is out there We make sure going forward that if you did have to take a loan for to cover some pieces of your additional cost here we believe that the majority of fees and tuition would be free But if you have to take a loan to cover some other things that you would pay more than what the federal government already pays to get you that money I just talk to women literally yesterday I was in South Carolina and she told me and I guess she must have borrowed money, which is not uncommon for education to pay tuition with a credit card It's paying 20 One percent 24 percent interest rates on a credit card in order to get an education art that is needless to say absurd and insane and that is what we've been end I mean 385000 just think about what the monthly payments for that are what kind of income you would have to earn in order for you to pay that with the high we know that the cost of living that's so high and trying to figure out your rent even thinking about having one child what the cost is Associated with that thinking about putting money away for retirement there is Really no way to make sense on why we would think this is okay for a person to to to sustain this I had a young person the other day tell me that a town Hall. I did that They felt not only the the burden of trying to figure out how to pay this but it was really affecting their emotional state because they're being told that they're failing right They're being told that you are bad because you can't pay this debt and so there are all these health consequences to what we're doing and of course we all have a proposal for Medicare for all that would address the health side of things You know this has deep impacts for the dignity and respect that we accord to people. Why should people feel guilty for making the choice to get a higher education and then being saddled with for profit companies that are harassing them every day and affecting their ability to live a decent life. That's just not right I mean and and I think an important point two before we end of this is that we we have had on forgiveness programs depending on what you know what what job we think it's valued at the moment and one of the things that I always say about incremental investments is that it's more problematic in in gaining access in ends up costing us more people don't actually benefit from it We know that many teachers who are eligible for loan forgiveness programs sometimes don't access it because maybe they paid a little bit too much as we learn today just one sets over oh my God and and so we have we are setting ourselves up for failure by not being bold The way that we approach solutions in order for us to really tackle this issue of inequality and poverty and stimulating the economy for the Middle class We have to be bold in in our approaches and make sure that we're making the full investment in order for people to fully benefit from the scale of the crisis right enormous and our problems can't be small to meet this enormous crisis. I mean today in this country we have three people In the country to live in my state that have the same wealth as the bottom 50 percent of Americans a hundred and 60 million Americans have the same wealth. So these are the proposals that help us to distribute our resources and to make sure that opportunity is available for everybody and the reason that we are in in the cycle the way it is that we have small solutions to big scale problems and it makes people think we've done something without really doing anything and we are really saying Sort of politics isn't going to get us the kind of true prosperity that we believe Americans deserve I mean the bottom line. I mean just kinda bring together alliance and families thoughts and say this We live in a country today of massive wealth and income inequality 49 percent of all new income is going to the top one percent three people or more wealth from the bottom half of American society Meanwhile the wages of the average American worker is exactly Same as it was 45 years ago despite huge increases in productivity and technology so all we are saying here today is maybe it is time to stand up for the working class of this country and not just the one percent Maybe it's time to take that incredible level of student debt which is just as Pramila indicated not only financially emotionally destroying so many people in this country Let's give them a break. Let's stand with the working families of this country and create an To me that works for them and not just the one percent so with that let me thank both of you for being here It was a great discussion We gotta end it was a call to action. You are right. I'm just gonna do it because as organizers we all recognize that you get what you organize for and in order for us to be able to have this become a reality for 45 million Americans We need all of you to send us your stories to contact Members of Congress is the hashtag challenge for College for all tag us and and and let the country no what this proposal would mean in your life and what it would mean in your community because we believe this is a revolutionary idea It is not radical for us to want to make sure that everybody has prosperity guaranteed for them so join us Make sure that your voice is heard and less organized for the America. We know we all deserve Thank you Thank you all