From a professor who could use a bailout herself (and it would be a lot less than 7 billion). I can only imagine how many people are in her situation, or worse. (Article from the Chronicle for Higher Education):
Since that fateful decision, in the fall of 2002, I have declared bankruptcy, lost a home in a foreclosure/short-sale proceeding, cashed out three modest retirement plans, and been delinquent on my student loans. While I have had the good fortune of being on the tenure track since earning my Ph.D., I would have to argue, from my vantage point, that exactly what that “fortune” consists of is open to debate.
[...]
We reached a point during our first year in the South where we simply could not pay our bills anymore. Our credit-card debt alone reached upwards of $25,000; we had no savings account and no prospect for things to improve anytime soon. Finally we took the drastic step of declaring bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy, for the uninitiated, is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. To begin with, we had to come up with $600 in cash to retain a lawyer and cover court costs. And while a discharge of bankruptcy does clear your unsecured credit-card debt (at least it did in 2005; the laws have changed since then), your student loans are not discharged when you file for bankruptcy. As a matter of fact, while my student-loan payments were deferred during that period, they were still accruing interest.
Four months after our bankruptcy, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita blew through the South, and our home was damaged after we had evacuated for Rita. Given the nonexistent potential for increasing our income there, and our fear of having to go through another such hurricane season, I went back on the job market.
Talk about The Great Risk Shift.
