I understand that student loan debt is an issue and a burden for many Americans, but this is a horrible public policy decision: Americans already reacting to Biden’s student loan handout plan: ‘Highly suspicious’ | Fox News [1].
Let me just point out a few of the problems with this action:
• These people knowingly took out student loans, financed by taxpayers, and signed contracts agreeing to pay them back. Now, the government voluntarily waives $10,000 of these loans for certain borrowers. Make no mistake, every taxpayer will pay for this.
• The “relief” only applies to people making less than $125,000/year. What if you make $126,000/year? You get no “relief.” How ridiculous is that?
• How is it fair to ask people who never went to college, or people who never took out a student loan, to pay for someone else’s college education? A lot of blue-collar workers are now being asked to pay for a lot of white-collar workers college degrees.
• Over the years, millions of Americans have faithfully paid back their student loans, just like they promised to do. Will they get a refund? Of course not. They did what they were supposed to do, just like the current generation of student borrowers should do what they promised to do – pay back their loans!
• The financial impact of this decision is estimated to be $377 billion, at a time when annual federal budget deficits are routinely running more than a trillion dollars (or more), and the national debt has exceeded $30 trillion! We cannot continue spending money we don’t have to finance bigger and more intrusive government.
• And then there’s the question of whether President Biden has the authority to unilaterally waive these repayments. I don’t think he does, and I hope someone challenges his action in the courts.
• And last, but by no means least, the federal government continues making these student loans to new borrowers, but the repayment obligations in these loans are now essentially meaningless.
• This will not satisfy calls from the true socialists – Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, AOC and others – to wipe out all student debt. They will never be satisfied. They will always want more governmental dependence to take the place of individual responsibility.
This is just another example of misguided liberalism. Spending money we don’t have, on irresponsible government programs, promoting a culture of irresponsibility and dependency, all to win favor with a certain group of voters. It is not the way government should work.