My buddy Tom went to college and racked up a lot of student debt. He never committed a crime and had a squeaky-clean record. However, due to George W. Bush's ignorance, he graduated into one of the worst economic disasters. At one point, he had to choose between food and paying his loans, and he chose the former, and his loans defaulted.
He eventually got hired by a US Government agency that gave him a temporary security clearance. About three months in, he met with an investigator to review his background and go through his last ten years—where he lived, who he knew, who he owed money to, and his debts. They didn't want anything that could be held over his head or possibly used to blackmail him into selling US secrets in the future. He was honest with them through the whole process.
He was notified two weeks later that his clearance had been denied and was let go immediately. That was it: job gone, clearance not attained, all over student loan debt. With that sad bit of history behind him, he became a software programmer. A manager of a programming team, and finally became one the most successful trainers of other software engineers, whose companies paid to have him teach their engineers his company's complex software development package in a three-day course. He truly found his calling and loves his job.
Yet here we are, with a candidate who committed crimes, who now needs money, and is likely totally corrupt. One who has already been questioned on his relationships and dealings with foreign powers that the United States opposes. Not only did he once have access to the highest security clearance in the country, but he also might actually hold the position again. Compared to what my friend Tom did, who did what he had to do to survive and was held accountable by the government, it's now time for the American people to hold this candidate accountable. It's time to pay up sucker.