President Biden is contemplating $10,000 in student loan forgiveness per borrower. The debt forgiveness was a campaign promise but has been slow in coming. Some Democrats are pushing for $50,000 in relief per student loan. In total, there is $1.7 trillion in student loan debt owed by more than 40 million Americans. What makes these students so special they deserve a bail out of this magnitude?
The crash of 2008 caused millions of people to lose their jobs; millions lost their homes as interest rates were rising. President Obama didn’t put a freeze on student loan payments nor did he dole out a trillion dollars in supplemental unemployment payments. He let the country work its way through the crash and the economy recovered stronger than ever.
Today we have less then 4% unemployed and the economy is still booming. I am sure some of these students with loans graduated without the scholastic wherewithal to win employment in their chosen field. I feel no responsibility to send my tax dollars to relieve them of their obligation to repay the debt they accepted. What I do have is respect for the people who paid back their student loans, the people that worked their way through college and the parents who scrimped, saved and worked long hours for years to help pay for their kids’ college. Mr. President what will you do for those Americans?
Mr. President, I think you could find better uses for $1.7 trillion. Let’s finish the border wall. We need 1,600 more miles to complete. Next year’s Social Security payments will have to be increased by 8% due to inflation. That will be a large chunk of change! These retirees contributed to Social Security their entire working career and that money is owed to them, not student bail outs.
Our K-12 education system was rated #1 in 1990 but today we’re near the bottom of the list. Our educational system needs to be revamped but our system is not totally at fault. I believe many parents aren’t as involved in their children’s education as parents were in the 1990s. Today some people just have kids and others raise the kids they have.
How would you put $1.7 trillion dollars to good use?
—Tom Janicki,
Almont
