Armed US Marshals are starting to arrest people for not paying their outstanding federal student loans. Fox 26 in Houston reports:
Paul Aker says he was arrested at his home last week for a $1,500 federal student loan he received in 1987. He says seven deputy US Marshals showed up at his home with guns and took him to federal court where he had to sign a payment plan for the 29-year-old school loan.
Congressman Gene Green says the federal government is now using private debt collectors to go after those who owe student loans. Green says as a result, those attorneys and debt collectors are getting judgements in federal court and asking judges to use the US Marshals Service to arrest those who have failed to pay their federal student loans.
Our reliable source with the US Marshal in Houston say Aker isn’t the first and won’t be the last. They have to serve anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 warrants to people who have failed to pay their federal student loans.
How fast do you think the student loan bubble will pop if this story plays out for all of the other outstanding federal student loans?
It’s especially evident in this case that the federal government has failed miserably at what private banks do every day: loan money and collect it at a profit. Let’s look at some numbers.
Inflation – $1,500 in 1987 would be worth $3,128 today. The private debt collectors will surely be taking a percentage of whatever’s collected as their fee. The seven – yes, SEVEN – armed US Marshals were, obviously on the clock while arresting Akers – how much do you think that cost New Hampshire taxpayers? While we’re on the subject of not looking out for the taxpayer, how much do you think it cost the government to pay all of the bureaucrats to push all that paper for 29 years and not collect the money for the loan? And what will be the cost to the taxpayers for the court system – all the judges, government-supplied attorneys, bailiffs, and anybody else in between that had to push the paper for this lawsuit?
According to the article, this is only the beginning. The US Marshals said they have 1,200-1,500 more warrants to serve – and that’s just one US city! Imagine if this happens all over the country.
If this wasteful, frightening policy is taken to its end, there is no doubt the federal government will accomplish two things: costing taxpayers perhaps billions of dollars and making millions of Americans fearful for their lives, afraid of facing the moment when seven armed US Marshals might coming knocking on their door, too.
Watch the video here.
