GSUL Young Professionals: November Newsletter

Happy Veterans Day weekend,

The year is flying by, yet we still have much to accomplish as we close out the year. It is not too late to get involved. Our events calendar is busy the next few months. We have a few events coming up soon that are included in this newsletter. Additionally, in the next few weeks we will be finalizing our annual Christmas with YP. We also have some opportunities to help the Greater Sacramento Urban League raise money with its partnership with the Kings. Find out how you can get Free Tickets to the December 11th game between the Kings and the Houston Rockets at our General Body meeting on November 12th at the GSUL Headquarters.

All weekend long we will be engaging in our National Day of Empowerment program. This year's focus is student debt elimination. The end goal is to enact legislation that will provide for the elimination of federal student loan debt. Here are a few facts regarding student loan debt:

The student loan debt crisis is one of the greatest threats to the U.S. economy today.

The total amount of student loan debt, the number of individuals with student loan debt, and the amount of student loan debt carried per borrower is increasing at a rate far outpacing the earnings of those borrowing and has created a bubble. Unless addressed, the U.S. student loan debt bubble will collapse causing devastation to our financial system and job markets.
Housing is one of the leading drivers in overall economic growth. For the first time in a decade, a smaller number of individuals at age 30 have mortgages, and for the first time starting in 2012, having student loans made it less likely that a 30-year-old would have a mortgage. If this trend continues, student loan debt will establish a ceiling for housing growth and devastate the economy.
Automobile purchases are another leading indicator of economic growth. In every household income category, individuals who have already paid off a student loan were more likely to purchase a new vehicle (as opposed to purchasing a used vehicle) during the period between 2003 and 2013. It is estimated that over $6 billion is lost annually in new car purchasing power thatâ€™s directly tied to student loan debt.
More than 260,000 Americans with college or professional degrees make lower than the federal minimum wage.
Federally funded student loan elimination is an American approach to solving a major U.S. problem. It does not constitute an entitlement program. The primary beneficiaries would be individuals who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps through hard work.
Because the great majority of the debt that would be addressed by a federal student loan elimination program is the result of need-based borrowing, the recipients of such relief embody the principle that in America, you can elevate yourself to a higher standard of living through education and determination regardless of your starting point.
Issuers of student loan debt are in jeopardy of experiencing massive defaults within the next decade. Wage increases for student loan borrowers lag behind the growth of borrowing amounts and interest rates are set to rise. This will destabilize lenders and the financial markets, raising the specter of bank bailouts of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
Federally funded student loan elimination will head off the need for a replay of the 2008 bank bailouts that rewarded irresponsible fat cats gambling on risky mortgages and related securities. Instead, it will achieve the goal of providing assistance to hardworking 3graduates who pulled themselves up through education. It will have the added benefit of stabilizing the financial institutions that financed student loan borrower educations.

This will be an online social media campaign beginning today, November 7th thru Sunday, November 9th. Members are encouraged to tweet and retweet using the sample information above. Feel free to paraphrase and post using these #NDoE14 @GSULYP.