I've noticed a string of articles in the New York Times about student loans and adults that can't afford to pay them off. Here's a link to two recent ones but there are many more.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/your-money/student-loans/05money.html?src=me&ref=business
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/your-money/student-loans/29money.html?src=me&ref=your-money
The New York Times definitely seems sympathetic towards students with debt they can't afford, but my view is very different. When taking out a loan for anything, most of us realize we'll have to pay it back, and the bigger the loan the more painful it'll be. It sucks to have to forgo other things we want, like vacations, a car, or a house, and to hand the money over to someone else. It sucks worse when you forgo things you see as necessities, like a few new clothes or going out.
What did people that borrowed money, especially for getting a degree that 'everyone' knows will most probably not lead to a well paying job, think was going to happen? When you make very little money and have a lot of debt you have to do what you have to do to pay it back. If that means living with your parents, wearing used clothes, and working two jobs, so be it. If you don't pay it back--someone else loses. In the case of the bank or the government, not paying them back weakens two institutions of society that almost everyone participates in and are currently in weak financial situations. Every person that walks away from their debt threatens the security of these institutions which can only exist if everyone that can fulfills their obligations.
So it's not a choice of between paying or not paying. It's a choice between paying or making everyone else pay. I think Congress absolutely should not change the law to let people discharge their loans with bankruptcy.
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