You can count me as one American who has categorically mixed feelings about President Biden’s decision to forgive a portion of student debt across the nation.
Biden today said that anyone who earns $125,000 or less annually will see $20,000 taken off their student loan debt obligation. The president’s decision appears to be a compromise of sorts. Progressives want Biden to forgive a whole lot more; maybe even every penny that every American owes when they borrowed the money to pay for their college education. For my money, that was a non-starter.
As for what the president has decided, it doesn’t do much for me one way or another. Twenty grand is no small amount of change.
However, consider this aspect of the debt that these former students incurred: They did so willingly when they enrolled in college. Thus, aren’t they obligated to pay back what they borrowed?
Thousands of Texans could benefit from student loan forgiveness | The Texas Tribune
My sons didn’t incur huge debt when they obtained their college degrees. My wife and took out a parent loan for one of our sons. We paid it off many years ago. We never one time considered asking for any sort of waiver or request a suspension of our payback obligation.
I get that the pandemic brought a lot of havoc to families. Thus, to the extent that the president can seek forgiveness of debt on that basis, I guess that’s an acceptable reason.
I just don’t understand fully the notion of forgiving the debts of those who incur them willingly and with a clear thought about the consequences of refusing to pay it back.