Congresswoman Virginia Foxx is the Chairperson of the Higher Education & Workforce Training Subcommittee. So she’s well versed on the complicated issue of the current student loan bubble, correct? Actually, no. It turns out that Virginia Foxx knows about as much about the specifics behind the student loan crisis as Red Foxx; who is dead.
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx is the Chairperson of the Higher Education & Workforce Training Subcommittee. So she’s well versed on the complicated issue of the current student loan bubble, correct? Actually, no. It turns out that Virginia Foxx knows about as much about the specifics behind the student loan crisis as Red Foxx; who is dead.
Foxx, a congresswoman for North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District and, let me repeat, Chairperson of the Higher Education & Workforce Training Subcommittee did not say this:
“If you have student loans, you’re an idiot. You’re also ugly. Why do students think they don’t have to work? If you want an education that will make you out of touch with current social issues, you need to shut up and rub my feet.”
She did not say that. What she did say was this:
“I have very little tolerance for people who tell me that they graduate with $200,000 of debt or even $80,000 of debt. I went through school, I worked my way through, it took me seven years, I never borrowed a dime of money."
• Virginia Foxx went to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1968. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 1968, the average yearly cost for tuition, room, and board for a public university was $1,245 which, in today’s words, is one thousand two hundred and forty-five dollars for a year’s worth of college. For today’s average college student, that dollar amount is roughly equivalent to the cost of a textbook and a garbage bag.
• According to Rebuild the Dream, in 1968, seven years at UNC Chapel Hill, adjusted for inflation cost $46,100. That same education now would cost over $140K. Rebuild the Dream also notes that minimum wage was 38% higher in 1968 than it is now, adjusted for inflation. Just some facts and numbers and stuff to throw out there…
• According to math, a person working 20 hours a week at minimum wage for 52 weeks takes home approximately $6,786.
• Some of Virginia Foxx’s biggest funders are PACs like Education Management Corporation, the Assn of Private Sector Colleges/Univs (which, I assume is actually pronounced “The Association of…” and not “The Ass-en”), as well as the esteemed, for-profit, Kaiser University (Home of the Fightin’ Sozes.)
Jokes aside, here’s the only thing that matters:
Social policies in our country are being dictated by individuals who make their decisions based on who donates to their campaigns, therefore rendering those policy-makers completely out-of-touch with their voter base. These people are completely oblivious to the current state of affairs, and yet, they are in charge of creating “solutions” to today’s problems. People who operate in this manner are not thoughtful problem solvers capable of meaningful analysis, they are corporate shills who will create policies that benefit those who front the money, as opposed to create solutions that benefit those who are actually affected by said policies.
Looking down the barrel of the impending student-loan bubble and saying “I have little tolerance for those with student loan debts…” is akin to telling blind people that they should just open their eyes wider if they want to see. Foxx’s comments completely expose her as someone who has absolutely no concept of today’s higher education landscape. Good thing she’s the CHAIRPERSON OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION & WORKFORCE TRAINING SUBCOMMITTEE.
How do people like this get elected and appointed to such positions? I have no idea. But I do know that only public service and direct action can save this country now. It’s up to every single person in that state who had to take out student loans in order to subsidize skyrocketing education costs to work to make sure that someone as clueless as Virginia Foxx is no longer allowed to create social policy. The only other option is to educate Virginia Foxx, get her to admit how oblivious she was, and have her dedicate her position to making public education accessible to American citizens. The latter is highly unlikely absent several thousands of dollars in donations to her office. Maybe if our children don’t take out student loans, they’ll be able to support politicians who are trying to keep people powerless and uneducated.
As someone who worked my way through college and still accrued a hefty student loan bill, I have very little tolerance for people like Virginia Foxx; mainly because my education made me capable of rational analysis of the words that come out of people's mouths. Also because she's dangerously oblivious and in a position of power.
Proactive, progressive change, as well as protection against people like Foxx has to come through educating voters and direct action by grassroots organizations. Occupy North Carolina, Occupy Chapel Hill, Occupy Tobacco Road, Occupy NC's 5th Congressional District, this one is on you. Best of luck. I trust that y’all have little tolerance for letting the rest of us get screwed.
(LINK: Rebuild the Dream's petition denouncing Foxx's remarks. 60K+ signatures and growing...)