Joe Biden is attempting to buy votes with an old campaign tactic. He wants to cancel all student loans nationally, regardless of income or repayment history.
Biden’s move represents the worst of patronage politics. Because the majority of college debt holders vote for Democrats, this would be a classic giveaway for his supporters. Those who instead bought capital goods to start their own businesses, such as a truck for landscaping, would see no equivalent financial relief. Fox Business says:
“So the last plan that Biden put forward would have cost Missouri taxpayers $44 million, more than a half trillion dollars nationally. And we anticipate this plan is going to cost Missouri exactly the same amount, if not more. We know nationally it costs more,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said during an exclusive interview on “Varney & Co” Tuesday.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s lawsuit argues that Biden’s “SAVE” plan, announced in February, is illegal and would cost American taxpayers $475 billion. Bailey’s lawsuit comes just weeks after Kansas and 10 other states sued the Biden administrationover the same plan.
This is not to say that college debt should be of no concern to Republicans. College loans remain the only kind that is not dischargeable via bankruptcy. This means graduates are stuck with their loans until they pay them all off, sometimes decades later. WLWT 5 reports:
In a visit to Wisconsin on Monday, Biden detailed a proposal that would cancel at least some debt for more than 30 million Americans. It’s been in the works for months after the Supreme Court rejected Biden’s first try at mass cancellation.
Biden called the court’s decision a “mistake” but ordered the Education Department to craft a new plan using a different legal authority. The latest proposal is more targeted than his original plan, focusing on those for whom student debt is a major obstacle.
Federally backed education loans have opened up college to many who could not afford it, who have then gone on to have successful careers and repaid those loans. However, they have also driven the cost of college way higher than previous generations, and colleges have mostly been hiring administrators and creating make-work jobs for fellow Democrats. Republicans should only agree to discharge these loans if future loans can be discharged via bankruptcy and stop the perverse incentive.
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