Jubilee For Student Loan Debt Is No Cause For Celebration

Career College Central Summary:

An anti-debt organization is playing fairy godmother to Americans drowning in debt, swooping in and paying off bills randomly to protest “unjust” expenses.
Rolling Jubilee claims it is fighting against the oppression used by the 1 percent to control the 99 percent.
But critics say its system of selecting debt to cancel fails to consider which bills are “unjust” and which might be well-earned.
The unexpected payoff also could net borrowers more debt, in the form of a tax bill.
While injustices in the system of borrowing and lending may exist, Strike Debt’s position seems to assume injustice and oppression are the norm.
And since Rolling Jubilee’s debt purchases are bundled and anonymous, it has no method to determine whose debt it’s paying ahead of time or of exercising any discretion regarding the perceived “justness” of someone’s debt.
Rolling Jubilee’s model also poses unresolved tax problems.
Strike Debt and Rolling Jubilee maintain their legal team has thoroughly vetted the model and that the debt payments amount to “gifts” rather than “income.”
But that distinction has yet to be confirmed by an actual ruling from the IRS. Gifts are free; income is taxed.

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