Joe Biden has unveiled yet another plan to abuse taxpayer money. Except this time, it’s to “cancel” student loan debt.
According to the announcement, $10,000 of student debt per individual making under $125,000 per year will be “erased.” The unfortunate reality is that the only place where this plan succeeds is on the social media feeds of my generation.
As a 20-year-old tax-payer with a full-time job, I could not be more opposed to this plan. Joe Biden would benefit from a simple adage my mother used to say to me: “Nothing in life is free.”
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, it is estimated that the levels of debt canceled by the $300 billion dollar plan would return in the next four years. That means that in four years, we will be right back where we started.
Additionally, this plan would totally wipe away the deficit reduction touted by Democrats in their $700 billion tax hike. Over the next ten years, this plan would add a minimum of $300 billion to the national deficit and, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, $2,085.59 in taxes per taxpayer.
Like many people my age, I have student loans. Free education sounds like a dream come true, but we are naive if we believe that this cancellation will solve anything. Instead of promoting trade school and blue-collar jobs where job security rates are high, or obtaining one of the many open jobs to pay loans, Joe Biden and his team would rather stick the burden of gender studies or market-less woke degrees on all Americans, regardless of if they have already paid their loans off.
Biden’s cancellation plan is an insult to Americans who never took out any loans at all. It will ensure that 100 percent of America is stuck paying the bill for students nationwide. This reckless move is nothing more than a last-minute attempt to revive a sinking Presidency. What if you don’t want to pay this additional $2,085.59, you ask? Just remember that Biden this month authorized the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents.
Recommended
While many want to praise Joe Biden for “forgiving” and “canceling” student loans, the reality is that neither has actually occurred. This debt exists, despite Joe Biden wanting it to magically disappear. Instead of leaving students to deal with the consequences of their financial decisions, Biden is choosing instead to burden taxpayers with this debt.
It’s hard to believe that just last year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was singing a completely different tune: "He [Joe Biden] can postpone, he can delay, but he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress."
"Suppose … your child just decided they, at this time, [did] not want to go to college but you’re paying taxes to forgive somebody else’s obligations. You may not be happy about that." I never thought I’d find myself saying that Nancy Pelosi is right, but on the topic of student loans, she is.
Since the beginning of COVID, the lives of myself and my peers have changed in ways we could have never imagined. But government handouts are not the answer to fixing our problems nor are they a viable way to help lower the price of college tuition or fix our broken education system.
At a time when access to education has never been easier, there is no reason that my peers cannot work to pay off the loans they have taken out. From online classes to hybrid schedules, the ability to work while in school has become vastly more accessible. Not to mention, there are countless businesses across the nation looking for staff at all levels.
I implore my generation to seriously consider the implications of feel-good politics. Mass student debt cancellation will have devastating effects on Americans already struggling with the burden of inflation. This policy will only make matters worse.
Let’s get off our soapbox on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram, and take a deeper look into the headlines behind these handouts. Our future depends on it.
Caleb Thompson is the Social Media Coordinator at FreedomWorks in Washington D.C.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member