One of my family’s ways of displaying our dysfunction has to do with politics.
If we have a family get-together, and we still want to be speaking to each other at the conclusion of the gathering…
We…
Do not.
Talk.
Politics.
Ever.
There are five of us siblings. Two are Trumpers, and the other three are sensible, clear-thinking, wise liberals.
Obviously I say this because I’m in the latter group.
Sadly, several years ago at Thanksgiving dinner, one of the liberals violated the no-politics rule.
They did one of those “if-then” statements. As in, “If you did this, then you are this.” A simplified version might be, “If you eat turkey, then you are not a vegetarian.”
At Thanksgiving dinner, the liberal stated, “Trump is a racist; if you voted for him, then you are also a racist.”
I disagreed, but kept my mouth shut, declining to be drawn into what became a maelstrom of anger, shouting, and finger-pointing.
I disagreed, and here’s why:
Close to 63 million people voted for Trump in 2016, and they are not all racists.
And my two Trumper siblings are not racists.
I’m of the opinion that we vote for the person we believe is the best candidate for the office, even if we disagree with some of their beliefs and actions.
Sometimes it may be despite some of those beliefs and actions.
I voted for Biden in 2020.
And yet I strongly disagreed with Biden on this issue:
Biden was up front about his intentions, according to this article:
“When President-elect Joe Biden was asked whether student loan cancellation figured into his economic recovery plan, he declared, ‘It should be done immediately.’
“‘[Student debt is] holding people up,’ Biden said on November 16, 2020. ‘They’re in real trouble. They’re having to make choices between paying their student loan and paying the rent.’”
“On the campaign trail, Biden had pledged to cancel at least $10,000 of student debt per person.”
I strongly, hugely disagree with Biden’s forgiveness of all or any part of federal student loan debt.
The talk became big headlines in August 2022:
And so did the big price tag:
“Biden’s decision to move ahead with $10,000 in student debt cancellation for borrowers who earn under $125,000 will cost the federal government around $244 billion, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. The $20,000 in relief for Pell Grant recipients may add around $120 billion to the government’s costs.”
Let’s be clear here. Student loan forgiveness doesn’t “cost” the federal government anything.
The federal government gets its money from our…
It’s we taxpayers whose money goes to student loans, and forgiving $360 billion+ – according to the above estimate – means that money just…
Vanishes.
Here’s why I strongly, hugely disagree with forgiveness of all or any part of federal student loans.
I had a federal student loan, and I paid it off.
I attended college for two years, and each year I received a federal student loan.
At the end of two years I dropped out of college, for a variety of reasons. One of them being – I hated going further into debt.
What I didn’t realize when I dropped out of college was that my federal student loan debt would automatically become due, meaning making a payment – plus interest – every month, payable by a certain date, starting immediately.
The amount, in today’s dollars, was $23,000.
My God – I’d never been in debt in my life, and now I owed $23,000.
The amount seemed insurmountable. I had no degree, a minimum wage job, and limited prospects of getting anything better.
How? How would I ever pay this off?
I found a better-paying job, and sometimes worked two jobs.
Eight years later I was still making those federal student loan payments – plus interest – and eventually I did pay off my debt.
Now: I realize I sound like that old cliché about,
“You young people today! Why, when I was your age, I got up at 3am and chopped a week’s supply of wood, milked the cows, then walked 10 miles to school in the dead of winter!”
I don’t care if that’s how I sound.
I paid my debt, and today’s students should, too.
And as for people currently in college or considering college, I say this:
First, have you exhausted all scholarship possibilities?
If you have, then why do we see headlines like this?
“The National Scholarship Providers Association reports that as much as $100 in million in scholarships also go unclaimed each academic year.”
And headlines like this, regarding Pell Grants:
“A study from the National College Attainment Network found that Class of 2022 seniors left close to $3.6 billion in Pell Grants because they didn’t complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Pell Grants, which are distributed to low-income students, can only be acquired one way: by filling out the FAFSA…The act of leaving financial aid money on the table is still happening.”
(And yes, Pell Grants are just that – grants, not loans. And the money comes from our tax dollars. But that’s etched in stone, and Biden’s forgiveness plan is not.)
Second, due to the pandemic, federal student loan repayments were suspended in March 2020 and the freeze has been extended seven times, now “until 60 days after Biden’s forgiveness program goes into effect or 60 days after June 30, 2023, whichever comes first,” according to paeaonline.org. By my count that’s 41 months with no loan payments.
Have you been stashing your loan repayment money in a savings account – or spending it?
And third, if you can’t afford to go to college without borrowing money, then go to work, save your money, and then enroll. If you run out of money after your first year, go back to work, save more money, and return to school.
Sure, it will take longer, but you’ll graduate from college debt-free…
Instead of being one of these statistics:
- 42.8million borrowers have federal student loan debt.
- The average federal student loan debt balance is $37,787.
Now, Biden’s federal student loan forgiveness plan may never happen – it’s been challenged:
“Republicans and conservative groups have now brought at least six lawsuits against the president’s plan, arguing it is harmful and an overreach of executive authority.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments later this month [on February 28] for two of those challenges, one brought by six states and another backed by the Job Creators Network Foundation, a conservative advocacy organization.”
Many people have many objections to federal student loan forgiveness, and here’s one objection that’s especially on my mind:
“Sixty-four percent of Americans oppose forgiving $10,000 per borrower if it raises their taxes…”
Of course federal student loan forgiveness will raise our taxes!
That $360 billion+ I talked about earlier? Rest assured that the government had plans for that loan repayment money. You can’t allow $360 billion+ of the federal budget to just vanish – it must be replaced. And who will have to replace it?
Looking at you, kid.
And me.
The people with federal student loans did not borrow money from “the government.”
They borrowed it from me.
And I want that debt repaid, damnit.
So: If the Biden plan survives the Supreme Court and comes to fruition, I’ll be angry.
But I’ll vote for Biden if he runs in 2024.
Because despite what my liberal sibling said at that dreadful Thanksgiving dinner…
You can vote for a person even if you disagree with some of their beliefs and actions.
OK, this rant has gone on long enough.
And I’ve wood to chop and…
I Hate Houseguests 