Who will pay for Biden’s student-debt relief? Hardworking Americans who didn’t go to college | Opinion

Democrats often say they’re the party of the working class, but President Biden’s Student Debt Relief Program shows they’re implementing policies that actually hurt the working class — and benefit the elite.

The Biden administration recently unveiled a plan to offer up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness for individual borrowers who make less than $125,000; for households, the limit is $250,000. This plan is flawed on many levels — starting with the false notion that it helps the middle class.

For starters, this “relief” or “forgiveness” has to come from somewhere — there’s no tree in Washington growing debt-relief money, so it will cost taxpayers about $373 billion. It is a transfer of wealth. People with lower incomes or who never went to college and incurred debt will wind up subsidizing this debt.

Even though those who went to college, earned a degree and make more than the stated limit can’t benefit, most shouldn’t need it. Under the guise of empathy, the Biden administration will be forcing people who make less to pay the debt of people who make more.

Biden’s program is a slap in the face to Americans who not only have already paid for college without such aid — working extra shifts or tightening their budgets — but also to the hardworking men and women who will now subsidize this debt while struggling to make ends meet.

According to the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, forgiving just $10,000 of debt involves a transfer of money “that is about as large as the country has spent on welfare … since 2000 and exceeds the amount spent since then on feeding hungry school children in high-poverty schools through the school breakfast and lunch program.”

If Biden really wanted to help poor people, he could have put the same funds toward programs that help feed families struggling with 9% inflation.

Democrats might not set out to represent the elite, but they certainly aren’t helping the working class like they say, either.

Nicole Russell is an opinion writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

This story was originally published August 27, 2022 at 2:04 PM.