Robert Applebaum's blog

As we continue to spin our wheels in what, at best, could be described as a stagnant economy, the debate over the best economic course of action going forward is about to pick up additional steam.  We find ourselves at a critical time in terms of the health of the world economy and the decisions that will be made over the next few months will be dispositive on the question of how much longer the economic crisis will last and how much more painful it will be.
 

It's been a crazy ride this last year and a half, fighting on behalf of current and former students buried under mounds of intractable student loan debt.  I've never been prouder of anything I've ever accomplished in my life and it has been my absolute pleasure working with so many wonderful people in trying to right this enormous injustice.

I am honored by the invitation from Matt Stannard and Gary Barkley of Shared Sacrifice to co-host their show on BlogTalkRadio this Saturday, May 22 at 2pm Eastern.  Please join us for an hour of honest, open dialogue about the issues that matter most today.  Since it's my first time doing anything like this, I'd greatly appreciate your support by tuning in!
 
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/shared_sacrifice/2010/05/22/shared-sacrific...

Contrary to what Beck, Limbaugh, Palin, Hannity, Coulter and the rest of their ilk would have us believe, the opposite of "progressive" isn't "conservative" - it's regressive. You're either in favor of progressing as a civilization (becoming more civilized) or you're in favor of regressing as one (becoming less civilized).

One of my oldest and dearest friend's wife is currently battling leukemia.  They have a 2 year old son who needs both his parents in his life.  As such, they've started a bone marrow donor drive to not only help them win their battle, but to help others win theirs as well. 
 
By taking just a few minutes of your time, you can literally help save a life.
Please click here to find out how:
 
http://anna.gaff.net/hero
 

While it may have only been one rhetorical step in the right direction with no immediate consequences for the plight of the educated poor in America, let me be clear: last night's State of the Union Address by President Obama was, in fact, a hugely significant moment in the one year history of the student loan forgiveness movement. 
 

With the Democrats' loss of their 60 seat, filibuster-proof super-majority, the Health Care reform measures that have been the focus of so much fighting over the last year are essentially DOA. As a result, Congress either needs to get back to work to come up with something that everyone can support, or we squander this once-in-a-generation opportunity to usher in the changes that so many agree are desperately needed.

I am honored and humbled to announce that the essay I wrote on January 29, 2009, the one that went viral and gave rise to a true grassroots movement that I honestly never saw coming, has been included in the publication "Should the Federal Government Bail Out Private Industry?" 

As you may have noticed, we've made a few changes of late here at FSLD.  First and foremost, we've significantly upgraded our message board functionality.  As the site has grown, our members' interests have expanded beyond the subject of just student loan debt into all other types of consumer debt.  As a result, rather than stifling any such conversations as "off topic," we decided to create some new forums for those discussions.   We've also updated the format of the message boards for a sleaker look and more functionality.

A friend of mine and I were recently emailing one another and, not surprisingly, we were discussing the topic of student loan forgiveness.  Needless to say, he's a bit of a skeptic.  While he did raise some valid concerns about some of the assumptions I've made about human behavior in order for this proposal to work as predicted, I did my level best to justify and explain why I believe this approach was not only viable, but equitable as well.