I found this interesting on Capitol Fax, yesterday
* One of my top complaints about Democratic rule in this state is the super-majority party’s unwillingness to firmly step in to help some small Black-majority suburban and Downstate towns find their way to fiscal solvency. East St. Louis is just one of many…
What caught my eye is that there is a complaint about Democratic rule in Illinois. The bad news is there's no serious opposition in this state.
It won't solve all problems, however, the right politician could use this. Hopefully this theoretical politician would be serious about getting this done.
The time has come. The penny has been retired and production has ceased at the US Mint. The penny costs a lot to produce in recent years thanks to inflation so that helped with the decision of the Trump administration to end the production of the penny.
Former Brennemann Elementary School Principal Sarah Jackson Abedelal was found dead after she failed to show up for her sentencing in an overtime kickback scheme, her lawyer told a judge Wednesday.
Abedelal, 61, had been scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday morning before U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who issued an arrest warrant after she failed to show up an rescheduled the hearing for Wednesday afternoon.
At those proceedings, Abedelal’s attorney, Jonathan Bedi, told the judge he was informed last night that his client had passed away. No further details of the circumstances of her death were discussed in court.
You might want to know what she did that caused Federal scrutiny
Abedelal was charged in July 2021 in a 10-count wire fraud indictment alleging a seven-year scheme to have employees file for overtime they didn’t work and kick back at least $200,000 to her, which she allegedly used for her own purposes including for her car and her student loans.
Abedelal was one of six defendants — including two of her underlings — ensnared in the case, which also involved an alleged scheme to falsify orders for school supplies to provide iPhones, iPads and prepaid gift cards to school officials for personal use.
Abedelal pleaded guilty to a single wire fraud count nearly three years ago. Prosecutors had been seeking a 38-month prison sentence, arguing she “diverted critical funds meant to further children’s education away from a school and school district that were already having financial difficulties in order to line her pockets.”
A statement from her lawyer emphasized that this chapter of her life and that she impacted the educational journey of "hundreds of students". And will be deeply missed by her many friends, family and colleagues.
Also this not to stay in the negative with regards to her:
Abedelal’s attorneys, meanwhile, had asked for six months behind bars. In a recent court filing, Abedelal’s lawyers said she has a history of mental issues including bipolar disorder and depression, and they asked she be placed in a treatment program if she was incarcerated.
Now that she's no longer with us the charges against her will be formally dropped.
If you were looking forward to this it's over, if nothing else the Biden Administration needs to come up with a new plan. From the New York Post.
The Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Biden’s controversial program to forgive student loan debt for roughly 40 million borrowers exceeded his executive authority.
On the last day before the high court’s summer recess, the six conservative justices ruled the $400 billion plan could not use an earlier 2003 law meant to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to implement the program.
The other three liberal justices dissented against the ruling.
Biden last August announced his student loan forgiveness plan, which aimed to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for certain borrowers.
But the program was met with fierce resistance from many GOP lawmakers who questioned its legality.
If you borrowed federal student loans you could get up to $10,000 forgiven if you meet certain income guidelines. You could also get up to $20,000 if you used Pell Grants to attend a university.
That being said you still need at least 1,000 subs with 4,000 public watch hours during the course of a year to be able to make money off of ads. Now the requirements are 500 subscribers with 3,000 public watch hours in order to access some other means to make money.
Now an aspiring YouTuber can get super chats - which I see commonly given out when a YouTuber goes live. You can get a "tip" what they might call a super thanks. You can make money by offering memberships which might indicate a loyal following in that case. And then an easier ability to sell and promote your own products through YouTube.
Hmmm, the idea of selling Shedd Badger City t-shirts would be such a great idea now that I think about it. For all the alumni of Bennett-Shedd School and of course that would just be a start.
So anyway I've often written about doing YouTube videos for that channel. And in that vein I would like to inform as much as I would like to entertain. And one potential idea is to find places to visit and share them with you all.
With that said, my only issue right now is finding a niche that attracts an audience. This way I could reach at least 500 subs and then reach 1,000 subs and hopefully get that play button at 100K subs.
At least I got to 100 subs on my recently renamed channel Levois Meets World. If I share any travel content I plan to do most of that there. Still trying to figure out a plan for the other channel you see here which is Sixth Ward Chicago which I do hope to get to 500 subs also.
One of more recent videos from last year got over 1000 views which was shots inside a now demolished shopping mall Evergreen Plaza on 95th & Western on my old iPhone 4S. Not my best video, but you know I finally shared something that I had footage of years ago. It also got a lot of engagement. [VIDEO]
Finally, it seems another thing one needs to do if they're serious about this making money on YouTube is that they have to figure out the algorithm. That is using the algorithm to put your content to those who are looking for videos in a particular niche. The above video I saw it gained the traction it did in a short time and for my videos it did pretty good. Though most look to go viral and get millions of views.
So again I need work on being able to make money on YouTube and of course there are other sites where it's possible to make some money. I'd say looking for a new stream of income using some form of social media, continue to look for a site that works for you.
[VIDEO] As you may know Biden's student loan forgiveness plan was challenged in the courts and it has made it up to the highest court in the United States. Will the Supreme Court of the United States rule against or in favor of Biden's loan forgiveness?
[VIDEO] Who might replace the US dollar＄as the world's reserve currency? What might cause the collapse of the US dollar as a world reserve currency? Actually what is a reserve currency?
A reserve currency refers to a strong currency, often a foreign currency used for international trade and to settle international debts and obligations.
Since either 1920 or 1947 the US dollar has been the world's reserve currency. In about 1920 it replaced the British pound￡. Beyond that the history of other world reserve currency and how they ultimately collapsed which usually includes high taxes in those nations, over-extending, economic collapse, global conflict, etc.
And the interesting story near the end of this video. China could be the next world's reserve currency. During the pandemic, the world relied a lot on China. Especially for manufacturing, we had to get our chips from China.
Regardless of who's next being a major financial power in the world is often cyclical. The other world powers had been Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, and of course the United States. They all had their day as powerful nations and they all in some way declined.
If you follow right wing news - such as Tucker Carlson - they will note that America is in a great decline. Someone else will step forward to be a major force in world affairs.
If you're still concerned about the Biden admin's student debt relief which got suspended due to court challenges, the Supreme Court will resolve this at some point. Via Politico:
The court on Thursday deferred a ruling on the administration’s emergency request to immediately reinstate its debt relief program. Instead, the court said, the justices will hear arguments on the matter next year.
The case will “be argued in the February 2023 argument session,” the court said in a one-page order. No justice noted any dissent to the court’s decision not to immediately grant the Biden administration’s application to move forward with the debt relief program now.
Putting the case on the docket for the current court term means a decision is likely by June, if not earlier.
The Supreme Court’s decision to fast-track arguments about the legality of Biden’s debt relief plan comes just several months after he first announced it in August following months of pressure from progressives. Conservative groups and Republican state officials have filed a wave of legal challenges to stop Biden’s debt relief.
Meanwhile, get those loans paid off. Uncle Sam isn't coming to your rescue.
The Supreme Court said it would address two questions: whether the Republican attorneys general have standing to bring the case in the first place and “whether the plan exceeds the Secretary’s statutory authority or is arbitrary and capricious.”
[VIDEO] Via CBS Miami. If you have federal student loans there is yet another pause in restarting payments through June 2023. Originally you would have to start making payments to federal student loans in January 2023.
This is one consequence of the student loan forgiveness which was blocked by a federal court ruling. $10K was to be forgiven up to $20K was forgiven if you held a pell grant.
Also of note the federal student loan repayment was paused during the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020 and since Joe Biden had become President in 2021 the pause had been occasionally extended.
I wanted to share this tweet with you. Perhaps there are some graduating seniors or even high school juniors trying to figure out what next after four years of high school. Is college in your future?
This tweet from Charlane Oliver - who is running for a state senate seat in Tennessee - shares a number of graphics with regards to the latest action by the Biden-Harris admin. How does student loans affect Black students? How much debt does Black students carry compared to white students?
[VIDEO] I've been sharing videos of personal finance guru Dave Ramsey over the course of the last few weeks. Ramsey and Rachel Cruze are talking about yesterday's news with regards to Biden's action on student loan forgiveness. I knew he'd have something to say.
Ramsey's deal is he wants individuals to be debt free so he might be happy in those cases. However, he goes into a rant about how this is all about politics. He might also mention the debt and how you and your grandchildren will continue to pay for this debt.
Of course let's add this in the Biden-Harris admin is a failed economic presidency!
This is a link to a federal gov't about the latest effort by the "Biden-Harris" administration with regards to student loans. As you saw earlier you can have up to $20K of your student loans forgiven - $20K is if you have Federal Pell Grants, $10 for those who never held Pell Grants. This relief are for those borrowers who's income is less than $125K/year or couples who's income is less than $250K/year.
Anyway a lot more information to inform you of gov't action on this issue.
There has been a pause on Federal gov't student loans since 2020 which was the start of the pandemic scheduled to end in January 2023. So as far as whether or not you're eligible for this relief this is from the link to studentaid.gov:
What do I need to do in order to receive loan forgiveness?
Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the U.S. Department of Education.
If the U.S. Department of Education doesn't have your income data - or if you don't know if the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, the Administration will launch a simple application in the coming weeks.
The application will be available before the pause on federal student loan repayments ends on December 31st.
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers, fulfilling a campaign pledge and delivering financial relief to millions of Americans.
The relief will be limited to Americans earning under $125,000 per year, or $250,000 for married couples or heads of households. The relief is also capped at the amount of a borrower’s outstanding eligible debt, per the Education Department.
The president will also extend the payment pause on most federal student loans “one final time” through Dec. 31, 2022, according to the tweet.
[VIDEO] Inez Stepman from Prager U discusses student loan forgiveness and why it's a scam.
You're going to hear the term cui bono - or to whom it benefits - a lot in this video. Student loans benefits for example the universities because it enables them to hire more administrators or construct more buildings on campus. Student loan forgiveness though perhaps takes a load off of those low earning and impoverished college graduates could actually benefit the wealthy more.
The Biden administration will officially enact another extension of the pandemic payment pause related to federally-backed student loans through the end of August.
In a statement, President Biden stated that "my Administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments through August 31st, 2022. That additional time will assist borrowers in achieving greater financial security and support the Department of Education’s efforts to continue improving student loan programs. As part of this transition, the Department of Education will offer additional flexibilities and support for all borrowers."
The pause was set to expire after May 1 after being enacted by former President Donald Trump amid the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 and extended multiple times by President Biden.
“The Department of Education is committed to ensuring that student loan borrowers have a smooth transition back to repayment," Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in the press release.
So back to the video this person who called in got a nice bonus and enabled him to pay off the remainder of his student loans. Some friends were giving him a hard time over him just paying them off instead of waiting for this extension. To which I say if you're able to just pay them off and write one big check, I envy him. He's free and I'm still trying to figure it out and so are his friends evidently....
Thousands of people with student loan debt will have their debt canceled or receive a one-time check as part of a multistate settlement with one of the nation's largest student loan servicers.
Navient, the Wilmington-based company, was accused of encouraging borrowers to pause payments through forbearance rather than directing them to lower-cost repayment plans tied to their income. Although Navient denies the charges, the settlement ends probes by multiple states into the company's practices and will affect thousands of people whose loans are serviced by Navient.
The loans in question were mostly originated by Sallie Mae between 2002 and 2014 before Sallie Mae spun off its student loan services as Navient in 2014. The agreement will result in the cancellation of $1.7 billion in student loans. Another $95 million will be distributed in restitution payments worth about $260.
How do I find out if I will benefit?
Those who will have private loan debt canceled will be notified by Navient no later than July. They will receive a refund for payments made after June 30, 2021.
Borrowers who are eligible for the $260 restitution payment will receive a postcard from a settlement administrator this spring.
With this said if you're currently making payments continue to do so, especially if there is a possibility that you might not be eligible for the student loan cancellation. At the very least wait until you get official notification by Navient.
If you want more information I would suggest going to https://www.navientagsettlement.com/ to find out as much info as possible. The Attorney General of Illinois was one of four state Attorney Generals who led this settlement. And of course 35 other states are party to this settlement.
From that website:
Under the terms of the settlement, Navient will cancel the remaining balance on $1.7 billion in subprime private student loan balances owed by more than 66,000 borrowers nationwide. In addition, Navient will pay $142.5 million to the attorneys general. A total of $95 million in restitution payments of about $260 each will be distributed to approximately 350,000 federal loan borrowers who were placed in certain types of long-term forbearances. Borrowers who will receive restitution or debt cancellation span all generations: Navient’s harmful conduct impacted everyone from students who enrolled in colleges and universities immediately after high school to mid-career students who dropped out after enrolling in a for-profit school in the early to mid-2000s.
As stated you will be notified of whatever resolution to your debt that you are due.
[VIDEO] Bitcoin is what is referred to as a cryptocurrency and you see podcaster Ben Shapiro who actually discussed this on his podcast recently explain the pros and cons of this in this video from March. I do occasionally like to share financial related this on this blog and this is one emerging issue that worth sharing with you all.
Currently a lot of people are investing in this and in some cases making money on this. Currently bitcoin is $47,196.31. That's the price of one bitcoin which can be divided into smaller units called satoshis worth 0.00000001 bitcoin. I just made the connection the smaller satoshis references the identity of the developer of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
What I'd be concerned about is whether or not I could keep my own bitcoin secure. It's not something you can hold in your hands like gold or silver or even the cash and coin you keep in your pocket. Bitcoin is kept in a digital wallet which could be hacked into unless of course you keep a secure password for your digital wallet.
So for me I'd rather in a time of inflation invest my funds in physical gold or silver which depending upon who you might follow in the media you might have seen advertisements for it. Certain YouTube personalities I follow will advertise for companies who offer investments in those precious metals.
However, one appeal I do see with bitcoin is the ability to transfer funds to another party without having to go through a bank. However, gov'ts want to ban it.
We're hearing about this because of the issues with inflation right now prices for the goods you buy at your store are going up. Bitcoin could be the alternative to the dollar it could be considered an alternate store-hold of wealth. With inflation that generally means for a variety of factors the value of the dollar starts to go down and thus the price of goods at your local retailer starts to rise.
How many of you out there have put any money in bitcoin? What do you typically use bitcoin for?
However in this case they're talking about a "debt-free" initiative at Ohio State University. So in lieu of student loans you can finance your education with a combination of grants, scholarships or internships.
While it sounds so good to just cancel all student loan debts, what's really necessary is some reform of tuition and fees in higher education. I've grown to realize that going to college is a hell of a bet to try to spend 20 years attempting to pay off. If you plan to go to school hopefully you have a good financial plan and that means if your dream school is a prestigious school like Morehouse perhaps you have to decide while looking at tuition and fees if that's the right school to attend.
[VIDEO] Dave Ramsey is big on attacking student loans and even squashing any hopes of the federal gov't forgiving student loans. Until the federal gov't decides to make that a reality you got to pay, unfortunately. And don't depend upon that possibility.
In the case of this caller - Carol - to his radio program. She says she didn't know better when she graduated from high school and take this next step. She didn't have parents who really had a clue about going to college to guide her in the right direction. Perhaps even a broader support network to make the right and financially beneficial decisions.
Going into debt to go to school isn't the best investment in yourself that you can make. She talks about going to college and getting a history degree which proves to be a bad move if you don't want to go to grad school and/or teach. She went back to school to get a degree in architecture and makes better money now.
She also says it's OK to stay home as opposed to going away to school. You don't have to go to the party school. It's OK to go part-time or even take a break when you feel it's necessary especially to save some cash.
I would add you don't need prestige, perhaps you'll do just fine going to a lesser known college or even a public college. When you go to college you may never really know until you start working what you want to do with the rest of your life. If you can't pay cash for your degree, definitely wait until you have the cash and of course weigh how much you're willing to pay cash for your studies.
I also want to add that if you have a streaming service like Apple TV or Google Play or even Amazon Prime Video you can check out his documentaryBorrowed Future: How Student Loans Are Killing the American Dream. It's something I hope to check out soon and hopefully discuss here in the near future.
