The Grind:
The Biden administration is facing questions and backlash after its $500 billion student debt transfer was blocked in court two days following the midterm elections.
President Joe Biden announced the program on Aug. 24, and it was always seen as a way to drive turnout among younger, educated voters, but with the program on ice, perhaps permanently, some cynicism has developed among those who stood to benefit.
The Details:
“They used the promise of student debt cancellation to induce young voter turn out – knowing it wasn’t going anywhere bc they relied on faulty legal authority,” former Bernie Sanders spokeswoman Briahna Joy Gray wrote in a tweet . “Hard to convince me the Biden admin didn’t do this intentionally.”
Biden spoke about student loan “forgiveness” during his 2020 presidential campaign but insisted for his first 18 months in office that Congress needed to act first. That began to change in mid-2022, and by the fall, the White House had announced $10,000 of student debt per borrower would be transferred to taxpayers for anyone earning less than $125,000, and $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants. Read more…