Opinion: The GOP problem with student loan relief
Wondering whatever happened to student loan relief? Blame Republicans. They’re the ones who have again and again blocked President Joe Biden’s efforts to forgive the crushing student loan debt plaguing so many Americans. And that’s a message that Biden should run on.
Last year, all six of the Supreme Court’s conservatives voted to tank Biden’s student loan relief program, while the three liberals voted to uphold it. That program would have given up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness to student debt holders making less than $125,000 a year; some 26 million people applied, according to the White House, and the court dashed their hopes. And so the Biden administration rejiggered the plan — called SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) — making it quicker and easier for borrowers to have their debt forgiven through existing loan forgiveness programs, and decreasing monthly payments for many borrowers.
Biden also announced a separate, new student loan forgiveness plan on Monday, under which millions of indebted Americans would have their student loan debt canceled. Under this new program, debt cancellations would be tightly targeted to borrowers most in need. Close to 30 million people could qualify, some for up to $20,000 of student loan debt interest cancellation.
These programs would bring tremendous relief to millions of Americans struggling with student debt, which — unlike other forms of debt — is not automatically dischargeable in bankruptcy. If you run up your credit cards, buy a series of luxury cars, start a failed business or take out a mortgage on a too-pricey house, the American system gives you a way out that does not permanently ruin your financial life. No such luck if, as an 18-year-old fresh out of high school, you sign off on tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance an education you’ve been told is absolutely crucial if you want to be a successful or even just a financially stable adult.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-happened-student-loan-relief-202337131.html