While on the campaign trail last year, President Joe Biden made a promise to cancel $10,000 in federal student loan debt. At the time, the front-runner was just trying to keep pace with a Democratic primary field that treated billions of dollars like monopoly money.
Nonetheless, many hopeful progressives believed the Democratic president would indeed erase the debt by executive fiat within his first 100 days. But that time period came and went and only a handful of Americans experienced any debt relief.
Now some progressive Americans are reminding him that they haven’t forgotten.
In a BuzzFeed News article published Tuesday, 35 readers provided feedback to a public response form about what $10,000 in student loan debt forgiveness would mean for them. Some of the results were shocking.
A surprising number of responders lamented the burden that taking out loans for school has laid on them — while simultaneously pledging to return to school if the debt is forgiven (emphasis added):
- “Anything knocked off is welcome. I have about $8,000 I am in default on, so this for me would mean receiving a tax return and the capability to go back to school and get my next degree. I would be very thankful and grateful.”
- “I’d be able to go back to grad school, get a higher-paying job, and start saving up money for a house or land. With $10,000 forgiven, I wouldn’t be putting half of my paycheck into debt each month and would meet all my other financial goals so much faster.”
- “I owe about $50,000… I want to be able to work around the globe and with a doctorate in international comparative information, I’ll have the credentials to assist communities and work with others to help all students achieve their maximum potential. [But] I have extreme anxiety about getting my doctorate because I already owe so much money.”
Most spoke of debt forgiveness without any mention of the potentially negative consequences large-scale debt cancellation could have. – READ MORE
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