Biden announces student loan forgiveness plan, some lawmakers unhappy
Biden is also extending a pause on federal student loan payments through the end of 2022
WASHINGTON (AP/WTVQ) – President Joe Biden has announced his long-awaited plan to deliver on his campaign promise to provide $10,000 in student debt cancellation for millions of Americans and up to $10,000 more for those with the greatest financial need.
Biden announced in a Wednesday tweet that borrowers who earn less than $125,000 a year, or families earning less than $250,000, would be eligible for the $10,000 loan forgiveness.
For recipients of Pell Grants, which are reserved for undergraduates with the most significant financial need, the federal government would cancel up to an additional $10,000 in federal loan debt.
Biden is also extending a pause on federal student loan payments through the end of 2022.
Some lawmakers are not happy with the announcement. Senator Mitch McConnell released the following statement.
“Washington Democrats have found yet another way to make inflation even worse, reward far-left activists, and achieve nothing for millions of working American families who can barely tread water.
“President Biden’s student loan socialism is a slap in the face to every family who sacrificed to save for college, every graduate who paid their debt, and every American who chose a certain career path or volunteered to serve in our Armed Forces in order to avoid taking on debt. This policy is astonishingly unfair.
“The median American with student loans already has a significantly higher income than the median American overall. Experts who studied similar past proposals found that the overwhelming benefit of student loan socialism flows to higher-earning Americans. Democrats specifically wrote this policy to make sure that people earning six figures would benefit.
“President Biden’s inflation is crushing working families, and his answer is to give away even more government money to elites with higher salaries. Democrats are literally using working Americans’ money to try to buy themselves some enthusiasm from their political base.
“This is cynical and outrageous but perfectly in character for these Democrats. Just a few weeks ago, every Senate Democrat voted to tax American manufacturing, ignore inflation, and spend hundreds of billions of dollars on things like electric car charging stations, ‘environmental justice’ grants, and 87,000 new IRS agents.
“This is the one consistent thread that connects Democrats’ policies: Taking money and purchasing power away from working families and redistributing it to their favored friends.”
