generation, they ll be stuck with the tab so this is just blowing up what i ll call the higher education bubble. it s the next one to burst. gretchen, it s a huge, huge issue and again, no party and i think republicans should join this fight but and democrats should stand up and check colleges and universities. why do they keep jacking up the cost of tuition? climbing walls and latte bars, these kids are studying the most ridiculous topics. here the stark reality. the average $8222 a year for public. $28,500 for public and that s on average. what s going to have to happen, andrea? who is going to step up to the plate to actually check tuition? this would be such a winning issue for somebody like mitt romney. it really would. or republicans. now, what they re doing in congress, they re figuring how to pay for this interest rate reduction. gretchen, it s rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. right? this is not mixing the real
they ll be eligible for interest rate reduction. $7 billion for homeowner relief $3 billion for refinancing, what this means if you have a home under water, the average you re under water by $50,000, this may provide $20,000 in relief. there are 4 million americans foreclosed upon since 2007. one of the remarkable things about this, i think, there has been some resistance from the part of the banks. mike, it s important to note your wife works for bank of america. banks are playing ball with this. they have come to the table. it was imperative the banks admitted wrong doing. there is possible criminal prosecution down the road. i think it s a good step in the right direction on two fronts. it s a slight admission of guilt from the banks, no offense to anyone affiliated with the bank.
record low interest rates, 10 year low under 2% today. it would be an ideal opportunity for everyone to take advantage of that if banks would loosen up the requirements for refinancing and the rest. it isn t that easy of course. could that make a big difference? at this late in the game, probably not. i ve been advocating for this since the beginning of the real estate down turn. if they had taken proactive measures, a couple of years ago and allowed people to modify not only the principle balance of their loans but do an interest rate reduction they would have insent incentivized people to keep them in the homes. would have kept more homeowners in their permanent residents. most people end up defaulting on their mortgages any way. they end up tacking on a bunch