 ccrp poll student loan repayment forgiveness   new poll overview the white house and senate democrats are proposing to make student loan borrowers a pivotal issue in the 2014 elections president obama on monday signed an executive order to allow 5 million more borrowers to qualify under a student loan repayment program that caps student loan payments to 10 percent of a person s discretionary income some republicans also have argued that government efforts to provide relief to students seeking a college education have actually contributed to the higher college costs they argue that the more money the government makes available in aid and relief the more colleges can get away with charging the senate is also set to vote on democratic legislation that would allow student loan borrowers to refinance their existing loans at a lower rate under the plan borrowers in public service who make regular payments would see all outstanding debt forgiven after 10 years while those in the private sector would see unpaid debt forgiven after 20 years the white house and democrats see student loan relief as a populist issue and would pay the 51 billion cost of the senate bill over the next decade with higher taxes on millionaires a poison pill for republicans who have long opposed tax hikes total student loan debt has climbed above 1 trillion and is now the secondlargest type of consumer debt in the us behind mortgages with volume tripling from 2004 to 2012 seventyone percent of college seniors are now carrying some amount of student loan debt and the average debt load is 29400 according to the institute for college access and success as debt has risen so too has the default rate on those loans mdash one of the only kinds that cannot be escaped via bankruptcy critics of significant government assistance for higher education acknowledge it is hard to isolate the exact impact of public help but say it is logical that pumping more money into the system will raise prices there rsquo s really no question that one of the things that aid does is enable colleges to raise prices at rates far in excess of almost anything else said neal mccluskey education analyst at the libertarian cato institute others contend that research shows only a portion of government aid leads to higher tuition with the rest benefiting students new poll question should the government change the student loan program to forgive their loan debt balances after 10 or 20 years yes no undecided to vote in this poll click on this link http wwwclintoncountygopcom content shouldgovernmentchangestudentloanprogramforgivethe  to enter your comments click on add new comment after you vote previous poll question should michigan freeze its renewable energy rate at 10 and be allowed to purchase outofstate renewable energy yes 80 no 12 undecided 7 one comment was made on this poll comment 1 renewable energy we should not freeze the renewable mandate we should eliminate it of course if we have such a mandate we must allow the energy to be purchased in interstate commerce michigan has no right to ban imports from other states   all emails addresses  