Kyle, it looks like we're finally in "the home stretch," as the saying goes - here are the updates that I promised I would email you regarding the 2 pieces of Higher ed legislation that we discussed; I'm including references to email attachments (in parentheses), below. (To all the cc recipients of my email, particularly my friends in the local news media, I just noticed that my email, here, is a little bit "longer" than usual, and since some of you may not know me -or know me very well, let me remind you that I'm the guy who nearly won in court for Terri Schiavo - all by myself -- the famous 'feeding tube girl' -- which means that when I discuss deep "legal matters," below, it might not be a waste of your time. See below.)

 

 

First off, since my last email back on the 26th (email-to-Kyle-Glenn-07-26-2016.pdf), The Ledger was good enough to publish my guest column "A Polk Perspective: Fix our bankrupt policy on student debt," By Gordon Wayne Watts, Guest columnist, The Ledger, August 04, 2016, both in print (Watts-column-via-TheLedger-IN-PRINT.pdf) and online (Watts-column-via-TheLedger-ONLINE.pdf) and directly linked here: http://www.TheLedger.com/article/20160804/COLUMNISTS03/160809884/1382/edit?p=all&tc=pgall (In fact, there has been loads of recent press coverage - both of myself and others - regarding the Higher Ed train wreck that's about to happen if something isn't done: see the attachments for selected highlights.)

 

Secondly, we both had concerns whether the language of the bills in question would be correct. As I pointed out in my last email, the 2 bankruptcy bills could be passed in either order without conflicting. If the "for all student loans" bankruptcy bill passes first, the "private student loans only" bill would not be needed, and the language would not apply. If, on the other hand, the "private loans only" bill passes first, and the "good" bill by Rep. DeLaney passes, the language would not be a problem: The small section of US Code that the other bill alters would simply be wiped out, and no problems would occur. (Viz: GREAT-House-BILL-114hr449ih.pdf)

 

However, there is no "Loan Limits" bill presently in either the House or the Senate, and thus, it was left up to myself to "write" a bill from scratch, i.e., the "GREAT-proposed-BILL-114hr-GWW-proposed-ih.pdf" email attachment, which has this for a "Short Title": "This Act may be cited as the “Freedom from dangerous, risky, & very obscenely high Loan Limits Act of 2016.” -- Well, did I do a good job, or not? See the "US-Code-on-WATTS-Loan-Limits-bill.pdf" in the attachments for proof that the U.S. Code regarding College Loan Limits is still the same as it was when the horrible §422 of H.R.507 (109th CONGRESS), the “College Access andOpportunity Act of 2005,” by former Speaker, John Boehner, was passed.

 

In other words, I show that my "proposed bill" lines up with the current U.S. Code, and that the language of it is, therefore, correct. (Also, the reductions in Loan Limits is not as drastic as I'd like - since there would be "withdrawal symptoms" from the Higher Ed community: I merely reverse the figures in Boehner's bill.)

 

I am keenly aware that you and the other legislative aids getting my email are probably busy with many things -- as are Congressman Dennis Ross -- and Senators Rubio and Nelson. In addition, I have just now learned that Congressman Ross has just undergone heart surgery to repair a congenital defect, and, of course, should avoid a heavy workload for the foreseeable and proximal future. -- Since he seemed to agree with both of my proposals in his recent Tele-Townhall Meeting, I know he will work hard to look into my legislative requests, but he is still recovering from his surgery, and therefore, I feel it is my responsibility to "lighten the load" as much as possible. --- That is why I have done all of the "heavy lifting" with regards to both researching the language of the bills in question, and also setting the right mood for the political environment, not an easy task when getting press coverage is kind of like "herding cats!" -- But I did respectably well with this: See all the recent news coverage, cited at the front-page news of my namesake blog, or in this attachment: "TheRegister-front-page-news.pdf")

 

*** So, to make a "Long Story Short," I would recommend that Rep. Ross cosponsor H.R.449, the Discharge Student Loans in Bankruptcy Act of 2015 by Rep. DeLaney, which (surprisingly!) has bipartisan support, and is moving along well in the Committee process -- and that Sens. Rubio and Nelson would kindly cosponsor companion legislation for H.R.449 in the Senate. And, then once that's done, I would ask my three Federal Lawmakers to introduce the "Watts" bill in the attachments in this email (GREAT-proposed-BILL-114hr-GWW-proposed-ih.pdf).

 

*** ((Here's the "Longer Story")) -- OK, I don't want to type out a "long" email, so I will stop while I'm ahead, assuming that all of my neighbors are in agreement with my legislative suggestions. (If anyone disagrees, please contact me and make your case.) -- But, if anyone feels that they need convincing, please see, in the attachments, the Tkacik column (Reuters), the Collinge column (Forbes), several versions of the Watts column (that's my column, published in both The Ledger and The Register, and an 'audio' version, linked in my Coast to Coast AM, call in, where I talk, for about 7-8 minutes, with George Noory). There are also "talking points," and I do mean stuff that will scare the *hair* off your *head* 'til you're bald, such as my bold prediction that a failure to "listen to FLASH Gordon," here will result in the U.S. Higher Ed bubble bursting, and, in the process, crashing the U.S. Dollar, bringing down America's economy, as if we were Greece, or some 3rd-world county! (Remember: US Tax Dollar$ back these toxic loans) -- If I've made this prediction, and it turns out false, then my name and reputation is on the line, and so you must know that I feel certain of that of which I speak.

 

Oh, I just noticed, there is one "unrelated" item in these attachments: That is where I make a retraction or clarification regarding my infamous 'Heavy Hand' letter to the editor (published in The Ledger). That is because Congressman Ross had not seen my letter (it published about 12 hours AFTER he acted) when he unblocked a lot of people on his social media and fired that bad staffer, remember? The reason that I included this was to set the record straight: His actions (to make people feel welcome on his social media) was NOT because of 'pressure' or a 'reaction' to news coverage (which, as yet, had not published), but rather because he has honour and integrity. And, I will add, he was not angry with me about my embarrassing letter! -- This is not, at all, related to my legislation, but I feel my conscience telling me that it would not be right to overlook giving someone credit where credit is due - and this is yet another way I might (hopefully) lighten the load off his shoulders (while he recovers from surgery) -- and do likewise to you and your colleagues in Senators Rubio's & Nelson's offices (since they, surely have heavy workloads, too).

 

Besides selected local news media in the cc's above, I'm also including both Shelee Meeker, and the respective Senatorial scheduling aids, as cc recipients because I would like to be schedule an appointment with Congressman Ross and the Senate legislative aids (I'm sure the actual senators, themselves, would be too busy to talk to a single constituent) in case they have any questions, objections, or suggestions.