Period, end of story.

While working out at my gym, I have some strict ground rules I adhere to.

First, I leave my mobile phone at home. I do not text between sets of exercises, nor do I want to field work-related phone calls. The hour is mine. Period, end of story.

Second, other than acknowledging fellow members with a brief greeting, I stay away from protracted conversations. What usually happens is that people will begin debating a certain subject (often controversial) and if you decide to participate, your workout is usually truncated in terms of time or diluted in terms of effectiveness. Again, period, end of story.

However, the other day as I was loosening up, two members on opposite sides of the political spectrum began arguing about the college loan crises. As many of you know, the issue has ballooned to quantum like proportions to the tune of $1.6 trillion in outstanding student debt.

Member A, a true Reagan conservative, pointed out that he dutifully paid back his loans, not only for his baccalaureate, but for a master’s degree as well.

Member B, not exactly a supporter of the current resident of the Oval Office, complained that his children are now in the hole for close to six figures in college loans and compounding the problem was that they have had difficulty finding jobs.

Now to be fair there are some sympathies to both arguments. As someone who like member A paid back his student loans, I can certainly relate to his frustration with the some of the 2020 Presidential candidates whose platforms include student loan forgiveness.

Conversely, I have heard similar complaints from folks like Member B about how their kids can’t find work. Now their chosen fields of study ranging from philosophy to anthropology certainly had something to do with their inability to land a job and they might have been wise to pick more employable courses of study. Or learn a trade. And I get that even if they do land somewhere, a good portion of their paycheck will go toward repaying tuition.

But again, what the present crop of candidates appears unable to grasp is that for every Millennial or Gen Y-er enamored with student loan forgiveness there are 3-4 like yours truly and member A who have repaid their debt obligations. And who do you think will pick up that repayment burden? Because when they claim the government will take care of it that’s Beltway speak for “taxpayer funded.” And for those of you who love numerical comparisons, if the student loan debt were to be bailed out, it would be TEN times the amount of the S&L bailout of the 1980's.

Let that sink in for a moment.

So, after much thought I have formulated a galactically simple solution to the college debt problem.

Ready? Here it is.

If you take out a loan.

Pay it back.

Period, end of story.