Remember that acquaintance you saw the other day? The one who doesn't follow politics near as much as you do? Maybe they describe their politics as "moderate" or "somewhat conservative". They've never told you about their politics, actually, because - well, you two have never actually discussed politics. Because that's not always the first thing that comes up in conversation with this person you see only on occasion.
And, that's okay.
But. . .
wouldn't it be great if there were someway to influence that person politically without having to accost them with your political views on one of the few occasions in which you happen to bump into them?
Well, there is! And it's easy! All you have to do is go to THIS LINK right now! If you go to THIS LINK right now you can use a tool that has been provided by the President that will allow you to quickly write a letter to the editor about Student Loan Reform to one or more of the local newspapers in your area.
WE CAN MAKE A BIG IMPACT WITH THIS IF WE JUST DO IT
Because in numbers there is power!
Think about it. If we can get just 100 people to write a letter to the editor to one or more of their local newspapers today we can spread our message to millions and millions of people!
In order to make the biggest impact, though, we need to unify our message!
If only 100 people send a letter to the editor to one or more of their local newspapers today and they are all about the same issue . . .what kind of impact do you think that will have? Do you think people will be able to ignore that?! I don't.
So here's the plan.
Background: Student Loan Reform is a good issue. It hits the right buttons with most people, because almost everyone supports education. And it passed recently. Americans should be ecstatic about this, right? But for some reason they're not. Why is that? Well, because it was passed in the shadow of Health Care Reform, many people have not heard about it. Let's DO SOMETHING about that!
Plan: Use THIS TOOL to write a letter to the editor about the recently passed Student Loan Reform to one or more of your local newspapers. It's easy, I swear. I just did one myself. I'll show it to you at the bottom of this diary. The link gives some good ideas about what to write.
Your letter should be original and should focus on explaining student loan reform and why you’re glad the President signed it into law.
What's that, you say? You need some inspirational motivation? Well, I can think of nothing more inspirational and more motivational than the esteemed Dr. Jill Biden speaking on behalf of Student Loan Reform! Listen to what she has to say about it. Some of the things she says in this video might even make it into your letter :)
What's that, you say? You're half-way motivated but you need to see ME do something first before you can be fully motivated? Okay, okay, I get that. Just gimme a couple minutes . . .
[comes back five to ten minutes later . . . b/c that's all it takes! five to ten minutes, I swear!!]
HERE is the letter that I have written. Just now. In the span of five to ten minutes.
Democrats in Congress passed a very good piece of legislation recently, but many people have not heard about it because the passing of Health Care Reform has overshadowed it.
The piece of legislation in question is the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, or SAFRA. Before this legislation passed, 60 Billion dollars worth of loans were being distributed to students throughout the country through private institutions. However, these private institutions were acting only as middlemen, because all of the funds were being provided to these private institutions by the federal government. This legislation eliminates that middleman. As a result, we are able to double funding to the Pell Grant program, cap a graduate's student loan repayments at 10% of annual income, and help millions of additional Americans earn degrees and certificates.
I am glad the President signed this into law, as I will now be able to obtain better student loans to help pay for my education. I am even more glad that the President signed this into law because it will make our country stronger by making higher education more accessible to us all. If you support this legislation and legislation like it, please consider supporting our President.
Don't let a bum like me show you up! Write your own letter to the editor right now using THIS TOOL!!
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Now, let's go back for a minute and revisit that scenario involving your somewhat less politically-motivated acquaintance. Sure, it would be weird to replace the usual "How about that weather today?" with "How about that Student Loan Reform today?"
But, you don't have to do that. In fact . . .please don't do that. ;)
Instead, follow the President's lead. He needs our help to make sure that things like this don't go unnoticed by our fellow Americans. Your somewhat less politically motivated acquaintance? Well, s/he reads the newspaper. Every day. And is influenced by it. Your letter can make a difference. And if we can get only 100 people reading this diary to write a letter right now . . .that's a HUGE impact we just made.
If you need any help writing a letter to your editor just let me know. I'll be sticking around in the comments section for the next hour or two willing to help anyone who wants my help and answer any questions about the recently passed Student Loan Reform.
One more time. All you have to do is go to THIS LINK RIGHT NOW
UPDATE: Deaniac83 has written an Awesome LTE! Let it motivate you!
Anyone who thinks Congress can't do anything in an election year needs to be pointed to two signature achievements of the current Congress and the President. One is obviously health care. The other, while less covered, is no less transformational: student loan reform.
By making direct loans to students instead of providing subsidies to banks, this reform cuts out the middleman, doubles funding for Pell grants, makes loan repayment affordable, and revitalizes our community colleges. Make no mistake: This is what change we can believe in looks like.
UPDATE II: efraker has written another Awesome LTE! Keep up the good work everyone! Let's keep these coming!
Democrat's New Law To Invigorate Our Economy
According to the Bureau of Labor, 8,000 more Toledoans are unemployed now than six months ago - we all know its just been getting worse.
The Democrats in Congress have done something which is going to help us, immediately. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, SAFRA, doubles funding to the Pell Grant program, and caps student loan repayments at 10% of annual income - this is going to allow millions of additional Americans to go to college.
A college education is an important thing for the future, but this will help us right now by making it easier for people to become customers of Toledo's largest businesses - the universities and colleges that keep our local economy running.
And don't let anyone tell you this is government spending we can't afford - loans made under this program can only be serviced by workers in the U.S., and it reduces the deficit, saving taxpayers $61 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office.