Showing the GOP's true colors, several senators plan to prevent President Biden from cancelling student loans for millions of cash-strapped Americans. But why should we be surprised?
Last month, in "A Republican Manifesto to Screw America," we blasted Sen. Rick Scott's (FL) plan to raise taxes on working Americans by $1 trillion and jeopardizing major social benefit programs like Social Security, Medicare, and veterans benefits. Now, student loan forgiveness is in the GOP's gunsights.
CBS News reports that Biden discussed a plan to cancel student loans with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus this week. The move could affect more than 43 million borrowers who hold more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt, the second-largest debt held by Americans, behind mortgages.
Previously, the U.S. Department of Education said it was immediately canceling federal student loan debt for 40,000 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, citing "historical failures in the administration of the federal student loan programs."
Under this action, teachers, military members and health care workers with10 years of federal loan payments saw immediate cancellation. Additionally, the plan provided 3.6 million borrowers with at least three years of credit toward income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness.
Following the Hispanic Caucus meeting, California Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas said Biden appeared open to cancelling debt for students who attended both public and private institutions, and that the president was "incredibly positive" about Cardenas' calls for him to cancel $10,000 worth of federal student loan debt per borrower. During his campaign for the presidency, Biden called for such action.
NEWSWEEK reported that Biden may follow a similar path that his administration took earlier this month when those 40,000 borrowers were relieved. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has continued to pause federal student loan payments. Earlier this month, Biden once again extended this pause to August 31.
GOP Senators: Not So Fast
But the Republicans apparently are not happy with Biden taking such a popular action, which certainly would help his standing with younger voters and others strapped with student loans, and improve the outlook for Democrats in the November mid-term elections.
And so, a number of Republican senators announced legislation to prevent him from making such a move. They call it "common sense" legislation.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (SD), Senator Richard Burr (NC), Senator Mike Braun (IN), Senator Bill Cassidy (LA) and Sen. Roger Marshall (KS), are pushing the bill that would block Biden from canceling student loan debt, impose limits on how long an administration can halt student debt payments, and add a congressional review for actions by the president or secretary of education to suspend or defer federal student loan payments.
"Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the President or the Secretary of Education may not cancel the outstanding balances, or a portion of the balances, on covered loans due to the COVID-19 national emergency or any other national emergency," the bill reads.
Under the proposed legislation, neither the president nor secretary of education would be permitted to suspend or defer federal student loan payments for borrowers with annual household incomes over 400 percent of the poverty line, which would be about $54,360.
Yes, the Republicans once again will accuse Democrats of wasteful spending, of busting the budget, of contributing to the deficit, of causing inflation, and who knows what else. But Business Insider reported earlier this year that cancelling student debt, even just up to $10,000, would have major positive impact on the economy, and thus help — guess who? –business.
Never mind that it would be a virtual lifesaver for millions of Americans who struggle with a heavy student debt burden. Cancelling those loans would benefit the nation's, and business' bottom line, Business Insider reported.
So what's the problem, Republicans? Isn't protecting the bottom line what you guys are all about?