Joe Biden – President Joseph Biden, that is – is feeling his oats. He’s handling it by giving out money – taxpayer money. What other kind is there for him?
His current brilliant idea is to forgive tuition loans for college students. His argument is that the tuition is too high, that the loans are impossible for the students to repay and therefore the government should step in and help.
It sounds like a generous idea, but keep in mind that those benefitting from this financial break will be voting in the next election. Biden is old but not a total fool. He’s counting on gathering “votes of thanks” from many of the recipients of this government largesse, although you won’t hear him saying that.
Biden’s proposal is to “forgive” up to $10,000 per college loan and $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants to people who are earning less than $125,000 a year. The loans must have been taken out by the end of June 2022.
It sounds great until you consider that there are thousands of people who took out college loans and repaid them in full without any government “assistance.” They will not benefit from this move by Biden, but their current taxes will be paying for it.
Aside from what you might think about the overall idea, Americans should be aware that the president does not have the power to do this. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said it can be done only through an act of Congress. The president cannot do it on his own.
Joe Biden doesn’t let that bother him. He has not changed his decision to go ahead with the loan repayment plan even though fellow Democrats are arguing against it.
A key issue is cost. It’s estimated that American taxpayers will foot the bill for loan payouts of $400 billion to $900 billion.
Other criticism include the fact that the plan will add to the growing inflation we are dealing with now and increase the risk of a full-out recession.
The idea was blasted by Mike Berg, the National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman.
“Democrats are forcing people who didn’t go to college to pay off student loans for those who were fortunate enough to go to college,” he said. “It’s just wrong.”
College tuition has gotten out of hand. It used to be a student could work over the summer to earn tuition for the following year. Today, that is just impossible, not only for the Ivy League schools but also for community colleges. Overall, tuition has gone up nearly 500%! The schools have learned that government backing means they can charge what they will, and still get paid. Tuition goes up and Uncle Sam has deep pockets.
According to government figures, 45 million people in this country owe $1.6 trillion for federal college loans – more than they owe on car loans, credit cards and other consumer debt. This does not include mortgages.
In thinking this over, it seems to me that if the government is going to pay off student loans, perhaps it should consider the hardships young people have in paying for their mortgages, cars and other daily necessities.
I know I’m not the only one who has said this, but, of course, it’s unrealistic. The government does not take over individual problems – yet this move by Joseph Biden may be only the beginning. It is not a good one. We are on a track that leads to financial chaos.
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