High-Capacity Magazines

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Monday December 17, 2012 · 2:10 AM PST

2012/12/17 · 02:10

In the wake of Newtown, I came across an article at Huffington Post by Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, written after Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Tucson, AZ. The article is titled "Why We Must Ban High-Capacity Gun Magazines".

The sole purpose of high-capacity magazines is heavy, uninterrupted gunfire. They were part of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban until it expired in 2004. Since then, high-capacity magazines have played an important part in the senseless carnage at Virginia Tech (32 killed, 17 wounded), Fort Hood (13 dead, 32 wounded), and Aurora (12 dead, 58 wounded).

If our elected representatives are going to get serious about ending these mass-killings, banning high-capacity magazines is a good place to start.

Student Loans - Big Business for the Government

AlexSD

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 13, 2012 · 8:03 AM PST

2012/11/13 · 08:03

I started law school in 2005 and graduated in 2008. I was admitted to the California Bar later that year, and have been practicing law ever since. My law school education was financed entirely through government backed loans. As most of you know, law school is not cheap. After tuition and living expenses, many law students borrow in excess of $50,000 per year for three years. Even worse, the interest rates on federal student loans are inexplicably high. For instance, my largest loan (a Grad PLUS loan) carries a fixed 8.5% interest rate.

I've been fortunate enough to have a job since graduation. As a result, I've been able to make my monthly loan payments. Every year around tax time, I see how much interest I pay on my student loans. I am shocked every time. After paying so much interest year after year, I started to wonder...does the government actually make money on student loans? After a little research, I discovered the answer. Yes. A LOT OF MONEY. I will tell you how much (per the CBO), and how that happened, below the fold.

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