The Biden administration has forgiven $10,000 worth of student loan debt in a move that has infuriated Republican politicians. National Review. The order cancels $10,000 worth of student debt for individuals making under $125,000 and households making under $250,000. Pell grant recipients will get $20,000. Mitch McConnell called it a "slap in the face" to working Americans while Ted Cruz called it "insane and illegal". Ben Sasse called it a regressive action that would hurt working Americans while subsidizing people who don't need help. The cost for the program, not including the money for Pell Grants, will be more than $300 billion.
My Comment:
I share the anger that these politicians have. I can't think of a worse thing that the Biden administration has done, and the Biden regime has done some absolutely terrible things. It's not something I can even pretend to be objective about because I am so angry about it.
And I am not the only one. Two people told me at work this morning that they were mad about this two. One of my coworkers, who paid his student loans for a two year school, asked where his check for $10,000 was going to be. A truck driver I spoke with tole me unprompted that he was furious about it, before even saying hello.
So why are people angry? I can't speak for anyone else but for me personally, it feels like a huge insult. Though I was admittedly extremely lucky to have my college costs mostly paid for by my mother, I still made good financial choices. It would be absurd for me to ask for a handout because I know damn well that I was in a better position than most people. But so many people with student loans apparently don't have a problem with that? It's nuts.
I know that I am lucky but you know who isn't? The people that paid off their debts. They had to sacrifice to do that and instead of being rewarded for their actions, they are now on the hook for paying for people that didn't make good financial decisions. It's also an insult to our military veterans who, in many cases, put their lives on the line for free college. It dishonors their service by giving people who did nothing to earn it get some of the same benefits.
The biggest losers in this has to be the people that never even got to go to college. A lot of folks simply could not afford to go to college even with student loans. Those folks are generally hampered in their career prospects because of that, but now they are on the hook for this debt.
This has to be the most regressive thing that has ever happened in the United States in recent history. It's stealing from the poor to pay of the rich. Sure there are a few people that got screwed by their colleges and probably deserve some help. But it's insane to ask the rest of us to pay for it. Who should? The colleges that convinced them that Mongolian basket weaving was a major that would get them a job.
The worst thing is that there were other ways to handle this. Currently student loan debt isn't dischargeable in bankruptcy. Changing that would help a lot for borowers that are in a hole they can't get out of but would ensure that the well off (and anyone making more than $50,000 is in this country) would be paying what they owed.
Americans don't tend to think of things in terms of class and when they do they do in terms of economic class instead of social class. The problem is that there is a huge difference between a oil change technician in the Midwest and a Starbucks Barista on the coasts, even though they make the same amount of money. The college educated are a class of their own and they are among the most successful people in the country outside of the true elites.
This handout here? It's one of the biggest wealth transfers we have seen that takes money from the lower classes and gives it to the professional managerial class, which are usually the only people that have this kind of debt. And even many members of that class are going to be upset since they paid their debt. It's an absolute insult to everyone else.
There is also the question of how this will be paid for. From what I have been able to gather, the cost for both normal and Pell Grant loans will cost between $360 and $420 billion. And I haven't seen any plans on how to pay for this. My guess is that they will simply pay for it by printing out new money and that will cause inflation to spike.
And even if they don't pay for it that way, it's going to be inflationary anyways! Why? Because the people that will no longer have debt because if this will spend more money. Given how giving most Americans $2000 caused a major amount of inflation, giving $10 to $20 thousand to many Americans will do the same things. Even if you somehow agree that this was a good thing to do, it's clear that this is the worst possible time to do this.
This cost will of course fall down onto the people that can afford it least. The lower income people in this country will largely not get any benefit from this handout but will have to pay for it through inflation and presumably taxes. Like I said before, the entire thing is hugely regressive.
I think this was a considerable blunder by the Biden regime as it will backfire on them. They are in a bubble and don't understand just how damn angry people are about this. They screwed over the majority in favor of a minority that already has the most advantages in the country. People won't forget that and I am guessing they will punish the Democrats for this in the 2022 and 2024 elections.
No comments:
Post a Comment