[continued from previous message]   
      
   > outcome for the country, economically," Ms. Campbell said.   
   >   
   > Adding to the turmoil are the barriers confronting borrowers trying to   
   > sort through their payment options. Instead of increasing Education   
   > Department staffing to handle a work surge and clarifying the   
   > often-shifting rules of its myriad repayment programs, the government has   
   > done the opposite.   
   >   
   > Mr. Trump instructed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to shut down her   
   > agency, though that cannot be done without congressional approval. He   
   > amplified the confusion by announcing that the student loan portfolio   
   > would move to the Small Business Administration, a change that also cannot   
   > be accomplished without Congress.   
   >   
   > But Congress has shown no interest in that idea, and no serious planning   
   > was done before or after the president's announcement, according to seven   
   > people familiar with the administration's discussions, who asked for   
   > confidentiality to speak about private talks.   
   >   
   > Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said the administration was   
   > "working diligently" to carry out the president's order and shift some of   
   > the Education Department's functions to other agencies. Caitlin O'Dea, the   
   > Small Business Administration's communications director, said her agency   
   > was coordinating transfer plans with the White House, Congress, the   
   > Education Department and the Treasury Department.   
   >   
   > "As the government's largest guarantor of business loans with an existing   
   > portfolio of $444 billion, the S.B.A. is well-prepared to apply its   
   > experience in responsible lending, risk management and loan servicing,"   
   > she said. The Education Department did not respond to requests for   
   > comment.   
   >   
   > The president's decrees, coupled with plans to fire 46 percent of the   
   > Education Department's employees, hollowed out the agency's already   
   > understaffed Federal Student Aid office to the point of near collapse,   
   > according to current and former agency employees.   
   >   
   > In social media posts and discussion groups, borrowers have shared stories   
   > of hours long waits when they try to reach their loan servicer, often only   
   > to find that customer service representatives have few answers.   
   >   
   > Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan are able to keep their loans paused   
   > while the legal challenges proceed, but they have no idea when they'll   
   > have to start paying again, or how much those payments will be. More than   
   > one million borrowers have been waiting, often for months, for the   
   > Education Department to process their applications for income-driven   
   > repayment plans.   
   >   
   > "I'm seeing people lose their minds like I have never seen in the 20 years   
   > that I've been doing this," said Alan Collinge, the founder of Student   
   > Loan Justice, an advocacy group that hosts a Facebook forum on which   
   > thousands of borrowers share advice and rants.   
   >   
   > Heather Lawton, 48, finished a master's degree in health administration   
   > last year and then consolidated her graduate and undergraduate loans. Ms.   
   > Lawton, who lives in Gainesville, Fla., and works as a credentialing   
   > specialist for a health-care chain, applied for an income-driven payment   
   > plan. Based on the government's repayment calculator, she anticipated a   
   > monthly bill of around $490.   
   >   
   > Instead, she was enrolled in a 10-year payment plan and got a bill in   
   > January for $924. She called her servicer, and soon after received a   
   > revised bill, but for an even higher amount: $1,014. After hours of phone   
   > calls, stretching across weeks, she still has not resolved the issue.   
   >   
   > "This ordeal has led me to question the entire system," she said. "I just   
   > want to do the right thing by paying what I owe. But I also deserve a   
   > clear and correct bill."   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)