Buying Votes with Student Loan Forgiveness
– By Howard Sierer –
Doesn’t matter if it’s legal. Doesn’t matter if it’s fair or equitable. Progressive Democrats see forgiving at least a portion of government loans to college students as a political winner lessening their losses in what are likely to be disastrous midterm elections for them this fall.
They make no effort to hide their political motivation. A rogue’s list of progressive Democrats has made that abundantly clear:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “It is actually delusional to believe Dems can get re-elected without acting on filibuster or student debt.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley: “Democrats win when we deliver, and we have to deliver in ways that are impactful, tangible and transformative, like canceling student debt.”
The Los Angeles Times: “Elizabeth Warren knows how Democrats can win the midterms. It starts with canceling student loan debt.”
The New Republic: “Biden’s Only Good Pre-Midterm Play: Cancel Student Debt.”
Why all the political spin on student debt? Because there is no fair or equitable way to justify forgiving it otherwise.
Forgiveness proponents note that there are about 43 million citizens owing about $1.6 trillion in student loans with an average balance of over $37,000. Repayment on most of these loans has been deferred for the past two pandemic years but the balances due are still on the books. Advocates say that many are struggling with making their monthly payments.
Averages in this case are deceiving. Sixty percent of all student debt is owed by those with the top 40% of earnings. Those with medical degrees, law degrees and doctorates owe 40% of all student debt. Few of us support forgiving even a portion of their debt.
The liberal Urban Institute provides a potent message to progressives who obsess about economic inequality: “Debt forgiveness plans would be regressive—providing the largest monetary benefits to those with the highest incomes.”
But regardless of who owes the debt, giving them what amounts to a government handout is a slap in the face to the 97 million other Americans who attended college and have no government debt. These are the folks who worked to pay their way through college, or whose parents sacrificed retirement savings to pay for their college, or who sacrificed themselves to win academic or athletic scholarships.
Student debt forgiveness in any amount is especially unfair to the millions who already have paid off their loans. Their hard work and financial sacrifice could only be seen in retrospect as their having fallen for a con game. Should they be given a government cash award as part of any forgiveness plan?
Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet has the political courage to reject progressive’s overtly-political call for student loan forgiveness. “It offers nothing to Americans who paid off their college debts or those who chose a lower price college. It ignores the majority of Americans who never went to college, some of whom have debts that are just as staggering and just as unfair.”
As Bennet suggests, why are students singled out for debt relief? If progressives are obsessing about debt burdens, why are they not proposing debt forgiveness for medical debts that often weigh on those least able to repay.
Once the debt forgiveness bandwagon gets rolling, why not forgive mortgage debt or credit card debt? Where does debt forgiveness end and personal responsibility begin?
Leading Democrats, including Pres. Biden himself, have expressed doubt that the president has any legal authority to forgive student debts. During a CNN townhall, Biden said, “I don’t think I have the authority to do it by signing with a pen.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was unequivocable: “People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not… that has to be an act of Congress.”
If Biden has any path to even a modest across-the-board student debt reduction, it will be through a liberal (double entendre intended) interpretation of existing legislation giving the Secretary of Education some discretion in dealing with borrowers’ special circumstances: those with total and permanent disability, those working for government and nonprofit organizations, and those who were misled by colleges or attended colleges now closed. Using this discretion, Biden’s administration already has cancelled (i.e., transferred to taxpayers) $17 billion for 725,000 students.
Extending these debt-reduction provisions in existing legislation to all borrowers carte blanche would be what attorneys call an “aggressive” interpretation. Doing so would certainly require a formal rule that would require lengthy public review and comment under the Administrative Procedures Act and invite a review by a Supreme Court that increasingly looks for explicit legislative authorization for sweeping executive branch actions, explicit authorization that Pelosi says doesn’t exist.
Progressives would likely welcome a new rule’s public review and comments. They would trot out hardship cases to portray Republicans – and Sen. Bennet – as hardhearted enemies of the poor and struggling.
The same partisan thinking would welcome a Biden executive order that immediately and justifiably would be challenged in court. The coming months leading up to the midterm elections would be filled with mainstream media headlines boosting the Democratic position and denigrating Republicans even while the courts were finding such action unconstitutional.
An across-the-board reduction or elimination of student loan debt would be yet another demonstration of Democrats’ only consistent policy: giving away boatloads of taxpayer money and diminishing personal responsibility as a result.
Viewpoints and perspectives expressed throughout The Independent are those of the individual contributors. They do not necessarily reflect those held by the staff of The Independent or our advertising sponsors. Your comments, rebuttals, and contributions are welcome in accordance with our Terms of Service. Please be respectful and abide by our Community Rules. If you have privacy concerns you can view our Privacy Policy here. Thank you!
Click here to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or a Letter to the Editor
