Biden to Announce Student Loan Forgiveness
In breaking news, President Biden just announced he's canceling student loan debt for potentially millions of Americans. What are the details and how will this affect you?
Just this morning President Joe Biden announced his plan to forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for individuals earning less than $125,000 a year. The President’s plan will also forgive up to $20,000 in debt for borrowers who received a Pell Grant.
Debt forgiveness is a polarizing issue for sure. There are those who say, “I paid off my student loans, let everyone else pay back theirs.” And there are those who believe that saddling young people with so much debt over so many years and then sending them out into the workforce at an entry-level salary makes it impossible to flourish and attain their share of the American dream.
Regardless of where you fall in that debate, the reality is those federal student loans create revenue for the government. Who do you think the federal government will look to in order to replace that lost revenue? I asked ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs (and former Secretary of State) Mike Pompeo for his take on the Biden proposal, and how he sees this move to forgive student loans affecting working Americans, some of whom never even went to college.
Secretary Pompeo offered his unique perspective:
This is insane. This is pure politics. This is, your point, this is about buying election votes for the Elizabeth Warren – AOC wing of their party. They think they’ll go run on this and they’ll have more power. So in the end this is about power. Your point is well taken, everybody who took that student loan did so voluntarily. They knew exactly what they were going to have, they knew what their payment requirements were going to be, and in America that’s what we do. Right? If you make a commitment you live up to it. Now the Biden Administration is saying no you’re a child, you’re an infant, you’re not smart enough to make your own decisions and to repay the loans that you decided to take out. They treat them like somehow somebody foisted this loan, forced them to take it.
As Sec. Pompeo brought up, it’s simply wrong to ask a machine operator in Kansas to pay for some young person’s degree.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal in their editorial board is looking into the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, specifically the $80 billion earmarked for the IRS. And they’ve dug a little deeper in the reports of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Now the Wall Street Journal has issued an eye-opening new report pointing out real problems within the IRS.
And those problems are gigantic. The IRS is still using fax machines, but they want to take the $80 billion dollars to hire new, armed field agents. How about starting with new computers and technology and throwing away the fax machines first? Or here’s an idea, hire a Customer Service department? Have you tried to call the IRS with questions on your taxes? If you ever need to, good luck. The report says they’re only able to answer about 10% of their incoming calls.
Not to mention the IRS is currently backlogged by some 17 MILLION tax returns. Those are 17 million Americans who followed the rules, and filed their taxes on time, and they’re still waiting. Families counting on tax returns to make a necessary purchase or repair, or just to take a vacation with their kids, are left with their hands out while the IRS whittles down its mountain of backlogged returns. And the biggest problem is taxpayers are at the mercy of an understaffed agency using archaic technology. You have to fax your personal, confidential information to some unknown location where who knows what eyes will be on it. It’s outrageous. Most people should be able to file their taxes online, have it processed automatically, and if a refund is owed, it should be issued electronically, and promptly.
On the one hand, the Biden Administration is forgiving student debt which in return cuts federal revenue, while on the other, he wants to give his DOJ $80 billion to double the size of the FBI and collect more federal revenue. Either the radical Left never realizes the bigger, burdensome impact of their actions on the middle class, or as what I fear is the real truth, it just doesn’t care.
More money for the federal government, more problems for working Americans.
Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes more discussion of the President’s announcement and possible outcomes while we await more details from the White House later today, and more with Sec. Mike Pompeo, as well as ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell.
Watch the full broadcast below: