President Biden is set to unveil a plan to cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for borrowers who earn less than $125,000 per year, according to senior administration officials. The plan would also extend the pause on student loan payments for borrowers until Dec. 31.
I really starting to think the Democrats will keep the House and gain seats in the Senate this year. We’ll see.
Bad bad policy, can be portrayed as a bung to the “elites” by bad faith GQP, and completely fails to address the root cause, that higher education costs in the US are insane, and (typically) lower-income students are robbed blind by for profit diploma mills which don’t help in the workplace.
And also the rise of credentialism in companies wanting a BA for basically anything doesn’t help, feeding into the diploma mills.
Great news for the majority of student loan holders.
Ahh … FU!
Well, y’all got what you wanted. A loss of the House in November.
Here we had been doing so well until the Unicorn Brigade forced this total self-own.
And even when he did capitulate, you call him a “fucking coward”, because it’s not enough for you, you want the government to give you every last dime without having to lift a finger.
I agree student loans is the critical issue in this election. I’m voting Biden.
Right thing to do on the merits because student loan debt is a huge drag on the economy for a social benefit that should have been better subsidized up front, but I fear that this compromise is indeed a huge political gift to Republicans. The benefit is not big or broad enough to be a game changer cementing the youth vote, yet will earn every bit of the backlash that a better program would have got. Zeroing out interest for everyone, and making everyone pay just their principal, was the smarter move. Not sure if Biden had that authority without Congress.
Okay, here’s my next three questions:
Edited to add: Are Democrats actually going to promote this in a way that clearly demonstrates how it’s good for the country or just let GOP talking heads complain about Sleepy Joe giving away free stuff?
You’re absolutely right.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In the aftermath of the decisive Democratic win in New York’s special congressional election on Tuesday, Republican leaders are suddenly concerned that midterm voters might believe that women deserve rights.
The Democrat Pat Ryan’s thumping win in Tuesday’s election has made Republicans wonder, in the words of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, “Is this thing of women having rights going to be a problem for us in the fall?”
“You look at the results in the Ryan election, and it sure seems like a lot of people thought women should be considered human,” McCarthy said. “The question is: is this a part of something bigger or just kind of a onetime fluke?”
McCarthy said that he hopes midterm voters will “think big picture” and consider other issues besides whether women should have rights.
“With our emphasis on environmental deregulation, book banning, and easier access to guns, the Republicans have created a big tent,” he said. “It would be a shame to see that wrecked by an obscure special-interest group like women.”
Under statute, Fed student loans basically have to be self-funding. The interest rates go so high because of defaults, thus all the kids whining about high interest rates should be looking around at their peers who fail to pay, they’re shouldering part of that burden.
Limiting to a reasonable level or even a zero percent would have been a much better step, but definitely would have required Congress to act.
The HEIGHT of irony here is that AOC and Co have submitted NO student loan reform bills, despite all their screaming about student loan debt.
I think you are right, and I would add that the reasons why this could be a good idea even at the $10,000 level are too complex for a bumper sticker or 15-second spot. I’m hearing a lot of, “I had to pay off MY loans, why should those people get a break when I didn’t!”
The smart move is to continue canceling chunks of debt, like the for profit colleges debt previously canceled and this 10k/20k chunk, and then continue the debt pause a few months at a time, forever. If loans resume, it should be because a Republican resumed them.
Full cancellation is not actually a great plan. The courts are corrupt and might react by nullifying the whole thing when they might let payment freezes and smaller forgiveness slide.
I am hopeful that this is the plan. We’ll see when January comes around. I just don’t see why Biden would resume payments at that point. We’ll have the election in the rearview and it will be time to deliver for the base. If the House goes Republican as expected, loan forgiveness will be one of the few ways for Biden to deliver next year. When January comes around, he should cancel another 10/20k and announce another few months of payment and interest freeze.
I hear more and more about how “not everyone needs to go to college.” I’m sick of it. We don’t need fewer people in college. We need more. We need an educated populace that can understand complex issues and votes accordingly. We need skilled workers for a strong economy. Biden should use his power to reduce the burden of loans both to help people in need and to encourage education in the next generation.
Keep on cancelin’…
This is a far more detailed explanation that what’s presented here. Hope you can access it. It’s very good news.
https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/
Part 3 is a pretty big deal in helping those with low incomes be able to remove their student debt.
People saying the interest is crippling and part of the plan wipes it out complelty as long as your making your payments.
This is horrible logic. People who benefit from forgiveness will remember this for a long time. People who resent it will be on to the next shiny object by election time. There is every reason to believe this energized the base without hurting Biden at all. People who stew in resentment weren’t going to vote for Biden anyway.
Shitty timing.
I presume you’re not saying the Democrats shouldn’t do anything about anything for the rest of time because there will be a bad faith response from the GQP. By extension that means you think that Democrats should be doing something about some things.
Here’s the thing, Democrats need to do the things they can do, under the current circumstances, so they can show the average voter that there’s a benefit to Democrat controlled government. You’re right that there’s more to be done with education but Democrats can’t do those things without larger majorities.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting more improvements but perhaps we try to avoid equating partial success with total failure.
Thanks for the link