Forgot the so-called “bipartisan outrage” as of this morning.
Democrats from swing districts and tight re-election battles across the country are now going apoplectic over Biden’s misguided student loan forgiveness plan fearing it will give Republicans new midterm fuel.
Not only does it reek of unfairness toward voters who never paid a dime in college tuition or student loans, but it also may adversely harm any hopes of recovering quickly from the pressures of inflation. If you want the details of the plan, check this story.
In other words, many Democrats who support the idea of lowering college affordability are wondering what Biden was thinking with this broad student loan forgiveness plan when voters are clamoring for economic security, not more government handouts.
Some of these quotes from Axios are repeats from our earlier story, but several are not, including Obama economic advisor Larry Summers:
Democrats running in battleground Senate and House races panned President Biden’s student loan relief plan within hours of its release — a sign of fears that it could alienate swing voters in November.
Biden hopes to energize younger voters with the student loan forgiveness plan. But there’s a risk it will give Republicans fuel for their argument that Democrats aren’t focused on the issue most important to many voters: inflation.
Tim Ryan, the Democrats’ Ohio Senate nominee, released a critical statement: “Waiving debt for those already on a trajectory to financial security sends the wrong message to millions of Ohioans without a degree working just as hard to make ends meet.”
Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the most vulnerable Democratic senators up for re-election this year, told Axios: “I don’t agree with today’s executive action because it doesn’t address the root problems that make college unaffordable.”
New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas, running in a swing district that Biden carried by six points, said in a statement: “This announcement by President Biden is no way to make policy and sidesteps Congress and our oversight and fiscal responsibilities. Any plan to address student debt should go through the legislative process, and it should be more targeted and paid for so it doesn’t add to the deficit.”
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, facing a competitive race in a state Biden carried by 13 points, said the relief should have been “more targeted” and the administration should have laid out how they’ll pay for it.
Rarely does such unity occur between the parties but in this case, Biden seems to have struck a chord among Republicans and many Democrats as well.
Even Republican frenemies like Sen. Mitt Romney and Sen. Josh Hawley have come together to jointly oppose Biden’s student loan cancelation plan:
When it comes to Biden’s student loan plan, Republican senators from Mitt Romney to Josh Hawley are united in opposition. But many Democrats facing the toughest re-election campaigns are at best lukewarm about the emerging plan.
Then there’s this tweet from Larry Summers warning, as he has for over a year now, that moves from the federal government toward “fixing” the economy by flooding it with money usually have adverse negative unintended consequences:
I hope the Administration does not contribute to inflation macro economically by offering unreasonably generous student loan relief or micro economically by encouraging college tuition increases.
— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) August 22, 2022
It’s almost as if Summers is already seeing the future, an outcome practically anyone could guess without the need for a degree in economics.
If you cancel student loan debt, even in this amount, you give colleges the green light to never take accountability for unaffordable tuition or degree programs that will never amount to a healthy career capable of repaying the hefty price tag. It’s a free pass for liberal universities to keep churning out garbage, in other words.
As Axios flashes back, Summers was among the few in 2021 warning that more Covid stimulus spending would be like pouring jet fuel on inflation, boy was he right:
Last year, Summers presciently argued that Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID spending package risked fueling inflation. He’s again raising concerns about a major Biden policy priority. In both instances, Biden has listened more to progressive Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren than centrist voices in the party.
Here’s Biden again ignoring the wisdom in the room in favor of making a knee-jerk move to essentially buy midterm votes appealing to the demographic Democrats need to turn out in November: College-educated white suburban voters. You couldn’t write this script if you tried.
Imagine, for example, if former President Donald Trump decided to unilaterally cancel some type of debt that disproportionately affected only a certain segment of the population that was most likely to vote for him. Democrats would be howling from sundown to sunup.
Amazingly, Democrats are now howling at Biden which shows you just how controversial it is to dump student loan debt at the feet of taxpayers instead of the original borrower.
Donate Now to Support Election Central
- Help defend independent journalism
- Directly support this website and our efforts