The median student loan debt in the United States is $39,351, and according to forbes.com, over 3 million students owe more than $100,000.
Many have tried to get Biden to cancel student loan debt, but he can’t do that. Nancy Pelosi said, “People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpose. He can delay, but he does not have that power.”
And thank God he doesn’t. Over a year ago, Biden spoke to Stephen Colbert about debt relief. Colbert asked, “What about the students, isn’t now a time to forgive student debt and then restructure how we pay for college so that we’re not here again in 10 years?” Biden responded, “The answer is yes, that’s why I proposed, and, and Nancy put it in the plan to immediately provide $10,000 in debt relief as stimulus right now.” Biden continued, “I’ve also proposed that if you come from a family where you are making less than $125,000 a year, a family, that you can go to a state university for free.”
It seems Biden not only rambled his way through the answer but was also paving a way to cancel student loan debt. Like most of Biden’s promises, he has failed.
Chuck Schumer said, “With the flick of a pen, President Biden could give a fresh start to tens of millions of borrowers drowning in debt.” But what would it do for those who’ve paid back their debt or don’t have a degree? Would they be eligible for compensation? Probably not. It is another example of pandering to the minority.
Yes, student loan debt is a problem that must be addressed, but it cannot be done with the stroke of a pen, or we will be bound to repeat it. Banks have made millions, if not billions, of dollars in interest on these student debt loans. A reasonable approach would be to hit the banks where it hurts by reducing or eliminating interest on the balance of student loan debt.
Doing this wouldn’t unjustly eliminate debt and would resolve the issue moving forward by holding the people responsible for creating this mess in the first place. The average student loan debt interest is 5%. Suppose a student loan payment is $500 per month and the loan term has 10 years left. In that case, that’s $3000 off your student loan debt, and if it’s retroactive to the beginning of the loan, or more is owed at a more significant monthly payment, it could pay off to hold the banks accountable without costing taxpayers billions of dollars. It’s all about being fair. No person should have to pay for the lavish education of another. That’s just ridiculous.
