Just a Thought – Student Loan Bailout and The Rush to EV’s

Back again. What can I say, I had a little free time.

After posting my article The Big Con, I knew I had to finish another very long overdue article titled The Great American Divide. Not only that, I also have other ideas for articles I intend on writing (as soon as I can) but in the meantime, I can at the very least give you an idea of what the coming soon articles will be about. That is what I’ll be doing in this new series called. Just a Thought. I’ll choose two topics that are currently in the news and give my point of view as briefly as I can. (I know, I know… I have a tendency of writing long articles). If I feel a more expanded view of the topic is required, I’ll let you know. So before we get to the two topics—  The School Loan Bail-out and EV’s, let’s do a quick preview of upcoming articles you’ll see here on A Basket of Fish.

The Great American Divide. Real? Or Media Hype

Given some thought, probably a little of both. Especially when you hear or read recent comments from Charlie Crist who’s running for Florida Governor against Ron DeSantis saying…

Student Loan Bailout

While I doubt I’ll have a need to turn this into a full blown Basket of Fish article, I can guarantee you it will be included in the Optics article. Have you ever found yourself yelling at the TV during an interview with a government official saying… “Ask the question!!” or “Ask the follow-up question!” and they never do? Frustrating, isn’t it? And yes, even on FOX news. The next question you ask yourself is… what is it about this bailout and constantly rising college tuition do people NOT understand? So let’s take a moment and ask the questions which are on everyone’s minds and I’ll do my best to answer them.

1. Why tuition’s keep going up.

The answer is the same reason why we had the housing collapse back in 2008. When the government steps into guaranteeing home loans to anyone who wants them, even those who had no way in hell of making the payments on subprime loans, demand for homes would skyrocket.Which is exactly what happened. The result? Home prices skyrocket as well. At the same time—  some in the stock market noticed what was going on, saw the writing on the wall that initially few could see, and began to buy shorts on the packaged loans banks were offering for sale to investors. When the proverbial shit hit the fan, the housing market collapsed along with the demise of a few investment firms. If you have not seen the movie The Big Short, see it. The movie explained it all in a very entertaining way.

Now, what does this have to do with student loans? Everything! College and University tuition’s went way up the minute the US Government got into the student loan business. Before the Obama Administration, the government guaranteed student loans that borrowers took out from private lenders. Meaning, not so simple to get a student loan. Tuition’s reflected this. Next thing you know, the Obama administration gets rid of the guarantee program and makes it a direct federal loan, they got rid of all underwriting. Today, it controls more than 90% of all student loans. Now any idiot could get a student loan and party hardy at the college of their choice. Demand went out of sight! Schools loved it and immediately raised tuition. Why? Because they could—  because now there were plenty of kids who could afford it. They just signed their name on the dotted line. Then reality kicks in and these kids realized the truth that yes, they in fact had no business being in college and their degrees in Sandbox weren’t going to help them in the real world. Like the housing market—  defaults were mounting exponentially. The difference is, these are government loans. Banks were not involved in this deal. The US Government had recreated the worst aspects of the subprime mortgage lending crisis. In fact, when you think about it. The government isn’t just bailing out students who signed for these loans, they’re also bailing out their own program. And if nothing changes, they’ll have to do it again…. and again.

And how will this affect Colleges and Universities? It won’t—  at least not in a negative way. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if they raised their tuition yet again. Why not, right? They can just add it to the billions they already have.

2. Is there a solution?

Absolutely. Get the government out of the student loan business and go back to private lenders or, if you really want to lower tuition’s, get completely out of student loans. No more government student loan guarantees. Trust me, private lenders will be much more careful in determining (by merit) who deserves to get a student loan. Meaning, less students—  meaning, lower tuition’s to attract more. There are already many ways to earn your way into higher education. If you want it bad enough.

Pure Optics

The student loan bailout or, buying votes is pure optics. Sadly, people think this is going to immediately take place. Just a sec—  have to stop laughing. But that hasn’t stopped liberal media from fawning all over Biden for making the announcement because it most definitely will be in the courts quicker than it takes a student to drink a beer on spring break. Sorry kids.

One interesting note: Not too long ago Nancy Pelosi said on camera that Biden did not have the authority to cancel student loans. She said student loan forgiveness could only take place through an act of Congress. Now she praises it. Imagine that…

 

Before we get to the second topic and before I lose my thought because I’m a decrepit old fish, I wanted to add that I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse given my age and the fact that there are very few shows I enjoy watching, I tend to keep up on national news more and more. Because of this, I have come to two conclusions. When you watch these complete inept morons working as top officials in the Biden administration trying to defend what they’re being interviewed on, you can’t help but think to yourself—   Seriously? How did this idiot get his job? Secondly—  Who on earth is buying the bullshit he’s trying to sell? The other conclusion I’ve come to is when I also ask myself—  is a huge swath of the American public this freaking stupid? And when you look at everything that’s been going on in this Country in the last two years and even when the media tells us seven out of ten people think this Country is heading in the wrong direction yet four out of ten people think Biden is doing a good job? The only answer I can come to is—  apparently so. The second topic below is yet another example of the complete loss of logic, common sense, critical thinking and rationale. It truly is incredible when you take into consideration that we’re told these people running things are the best we have. And if this is true, we’re in BIG trouble.

Just a Thought

 

The Rush to EV’s

Anyone—   I repeat, anyone who actually believes that mandating electric vehicles in the very near future and completely doing away with fossil fuels at the same pace has got to be out of their ever lovin’ minds, living in a fantasy world (same thing I guess) or so lazy and intellectually complacent that they just believe what their told from their liberal professors, and/or liberal media out of hand or worse—   in the back pockets of the Chinese government. Feel free to pick the best reason that fits you.

I know what some of you are thinking. You’re about to say Basket, you’re full of shit! Why would you make a statement like that? OK! I’ll tell you why. Wait, on second thought, I have a better idea. Seeing that most people seem to believe that EV’s just magically appear on a showroom floor with a minimum pricetag of 66K—   opps! I forgot, have to add $7,500.00 because dealers raised their prices to eat up the tax credit of $7,500.00 prospective buyers will receive for covered EV’s (which are few to choose from,) please ask yourself the following questions. The answers to which are readily available online although most likely escaped you as you formed your misguided opinion of EV’s saving the world from climate change. Ready? Here are just a few. Keep in mind—   there are 12 other states that want to follow California’s lead in mandating all electric vehicles by 2035.

1. How is most electricity in the US produced?

2. Due to inflation, the price of electricity has gone up at least 16%—   what do you think the price will be when the population of 13+ states are charging their EV’s at home?

3. Charging an EV (last time I checked) cost somewhere between $9.00 and $30.00 per charge. (Depending on where you charge it.) Inflation and demand skyrocketing due to everyone now charging their EV’s, do you actually believe the price for a full charge will remain the same?

4. With brownouts and blackouts due to high demand for electricity happening on a fairly regular basis during certain months of the year, what makes you think there will be enough available electricity to charge potentially millions of EV’s in states like California that has to purchase most if not all of it’s electric power from other states?

5. Do you believe that technology exists now, or even in twelve very short years to provide the electricity required to charge potentially millions of EVs’?

6. Do you believe the infrastructure exists now, or even in twelve very short years (meaning charging stations and the lines that will feed power to them) to deal with the potentially millions of EV’s requiring recharging on a regular basis?

7. The cost of a recharging station or refitting a gas station to charge EV’s is somewhere (right now) between 50 and 150 thousand dollars. Do you think that would raise the price of charging your EV?

8. What’s the cost of installing a EV charging station in your home?

9. How long does it take to charge your EV at home? (Level 1 charging – Level 2 charging, as only public stations have level 3 charging which are the fastest).

10. Seeing that charging your EV at home equates to plugging in 30 refrigerators for eight to fifteen hours, what do think that will do to your monthly electric bill?

11. What is the average cost for the upkeep and maintenance of an EV?

12. How long does the battery in an EV last?

13. What’s the total replacement cost of an EV battery? (Parts and labor).

14. How long will a manufacturer provide replacement batteries for older EV’s?

Ready to give up yet? No? OK—   I’ll continue…..

15. What happens to an EV battery that no longer functions? Is there a cost to the consumer for recycling their EV battery should they choose not to replace it or purchase another EV where their old battery doesn’t fit?

16. When millions of EV’s hit the road by 2035, two things are sure to happen. The price to charge your EV will go up and up while the price of gas will go down and down. (Supply and demand folks) How will you feel when you’re eventually paying 3 to 4 times the price to charge your EV compared to what it will (because of lower demand) cost to fill up a tank of gas?

17. While from what I understand, 90% of an EV battery is recyclable. What’s the environmental impact from the 10% of millions of EV batteries that isn’t?

18. Where do the components of an EV battery come from?

19. Where are EV batteries manufactured?

20. Seeing as most of the raw materials used to make an EV battery are mined in other countries (primarily China,) what do we do if these other Countries decide to stop exporting to the US?

21. What will the environmental impact be with substantially increased mining of raw materials used in the manufacturing of EV batteries?

Believe it or not, the 21 questions above are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. I’m certain there are many more but I believe you get the point I’m trying to make. And that is the United States are in no way, shape or form ready to jump head first into EV’s. Technologically and financially. Now or even in the near future. Forget the small fact that we’re now over 30 Trillion (with a T) in debt. Forget about inflation being realistically somewhere between 45 and 70%. It would be like diving head first into an empty pool. Trust me, the diver loses every time.

This doesn’t mean we can’t continue the quest for one main reason. Fossil fuel is finite. There will come a day when we will run out and I am certain, before that day comes we will have a viable replacement. Oil companies are and have been well aware of this for at least the last 60 years and I doubt their business model is simply closing up shop afterwards. My guess is that over the decades, they have bought up technology and/or developing their own just waiting for the right time to bring it to market. But not until it’s ready—   and we’re ready.

Now, there will be some of you woke liberals who refuse to see the truth. You believe that 2+2=10 just as long as equity is included. For you? I’m sorry, there’s just no helping you until you have one foot off the cliff of common sense and rational thinking. Perhaps by then you will see the light. For the rest of you climateers, feel free to do just a little bit of research on the questions I pose above and perhaps you will realize that this endeavor—   while altruistic—  is just not feasible at this time. Nor will it be in 13 years, or 20 for that matter. And for those of you in California who actually believe this will work, good luck with that but please don’t ask the rest of us to bail you out—   again, when it fails. You can’t afford to have too many more leave your state because of your delusional policies.

One last message for those in these 13 states considering this harebrained idea. Don’t you think your time and money would be put to better use solving real problems plaguing the people who live there? The homeless? Out of control crime? The fact that your large cities like New York and Chicago are turning into shithole cities? Your children dying of fentanyl poisoning daily? That only 35% of kids in the forth grade can read at grade level? You may want to reexamine your priorities.

Just a Thought