Biden’s student-loan forgiveness on $125k income limit is unfair for Americans

While President Biden is under pressure to cancel some amount of the student loan debt, he is still considering some options. One is applying a mass student-loan forgiveness limited to people who earn less than $125,000 a year. Biden perceives the adverse effects of debt cancellation as significantly benefiting wealthy Americans.

As the ongoing protests on abortion rights hit the spotlight in different states in the US, the student loan issue is President Biden’s main focus now. The pass-off loan payments will expire this September. So it’s now or never for Biden’s administration.

Although Biden was never someone who would use his presidency to make debt cancellations, his plummeting approval ratings suggest he might be making a move. Biden’s chief of staff and press secretary have confirmed that he’ll be making announcements on this student loan plan soon. They also said the President could extend the payment pause while still contemplating his decisions.

There is no such thing as student debt forgiveness. The burden is not forgiven but rather transferred from the people who took out the loans to people who did not. You have to be brain damaged to think that such a system is fair or just.

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 28, 2022

For instance, the set limit of a $125k income cap for student loan forgiveness is still a joke. It would only aid a small part of the minority that have finished college with chances of earning more due to their degrees. Also, the set income cap is way above the national poverty line.

Many fresh graduate employees with existing student loans will be categorized under the set income limit. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average entry-level salary for college grads falls right below $60,000.

The Lesser Benefactors

Although it’s expected that most of these fresh grads will do great in their careers soon, they still don’t need to repay their forgiven debt. White-collar employees with advanced degrees are responsible for almost half the $1.6 trillion of outstanding student debt.

My husband and I worked hard to pay off our student loan debt and we’ve saved for decades for our child’s college fund, so is it fair that others might just get their student debt forgiven?

Yes. It totally is.

I don’t need others to suffer just bc I did.

— Jenny Lawson (@TheBloggess) April 27, 2022

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget measures that the limit on the Biden student loan plan would still cost the taxpayers a minimum of $230 billion. Two-thirds of these benefits will go to Americans in the top half of income. The committee said, “It would also worsen inflation and increase the cost of higher education.”

This option on the student loan plan is unfair to those who earn less and never go to college. It is also unjust to this who went to college but paid their tuition fees in cash.

The $10,000 loan forgiveness per person for any selected group will relieve 15 million borrowers. It will not be fair to the number of Americans outside of the group that would choose the option.

According to the Roosevelt authors, any additional $10,000 on top of the relief over the first $10,000 would significantly impact the least well-off borrowers. UC Merced assistant professor Charlie Eaton wrote, “Every dollar of student debt cancellation counts, but bigger is better for advancing racial equity and economic security.”

Moreover, debt-forgiveness can be more beneficial to car owners with auto loans. Also, the homeowners struggle to pay mortgages, and people spend too much on their credit cards.

In addition, this loan forgiveness can be just a one-time circumstance. Those who have debts right now are the only ones who would benefit from the relief. The road is uncertain for future borrowers unless there are even more forgiveness plans in the future. Although this option would drive more borrowing, thus pushing tuition to higher rates.