Governors fight Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, official letter sent

Although President Joe Biden announced his plan in late August to forgive thousands of dollars of federal student loan debt, 22 Republican governors now oppose his plan and sent a letter to the president detailing the problems.

Led by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, the nearly two dozen governors called on Biden to withdraw his loan forgiveness plan, saying it will have a negative impact on all Americans, especially low-income families. axios reported.

“Only 16-17 percent of Americans have federal student loan debt, and yet your plan calls for their debt to be redistributed and paid for by the vast majority of taxpayers. Shifting the debt burden from the rich to working Americans has a regressive effect that hurts lower-income families Letter specified.

“Borrowers with the highest debts, such as $50,000 or more, almost exclusively have college degrees, which means hourly workers will be paying off masters and doctorates from highly paid lawyers, doctors and professors. Additionally, the top 20 percent of households hold $3 in student debt for every $1 held by the bottom quintile, creating a lopsided reality in which the wealthy benefit at the expense of the employed. Put simply, your plan rewards the rich and punishes the poor,” the governors added in the letter.

The letter also added that not every American feels the need to go there University. Those who do and choose to borrow must be responsible for that personal choice.

Those Americans who have borrowed for education should not shift the debt onto taxpayers if it was an individual choice that they were not compelled to make.

“College may not be the right choice for every American, but for the students who took out loans, it was their choice: able adults and willing borrowers who knowingly agreed and agreed to the terms of the loan in exchange for taking on debt take up classes,” the letter reads.

“Americans who haven’t chosen to take out student loans themselves certainly shouldn’t be forced to pay for someone else’s student loans,” she later added.

The governors also noted that this plan is grossly unfair to all of the Americans who have worked hard and paid off their college debts.

Not only the 22 governors cited the injustice of biden‘s debt relief program, but they also noted that the whole idea is likely to continue fueling inflation, which is already a major crisis for Americans.

“At a time when inflation is sky-high because of your unprecedented tax and spending agenda, your plan will encourage more student credit, encourage higher tuition, and drive inflation even higher, negatively affecting every American,” they stated.

The letter made it clear that the coalition of governors is not opposed to higher education or even in favor of making it more affordable.

They simply oppose this expensive plan that will affect all Americans to write off a small portion of individual and general student debt.

“As governors, we support making college education more affordable and accessible for students in our states, but we fundamentally oppose your plan to force American taxpayers to pay off the student loan debts of a select few elites — a plan that is estimated to cost American taxpayers.” more than $2,000 each, or a total of $600 billion, a price that the people of our states cannot afford,” the letter said.

The governors also noted that there are bipartisan issues with the president’s plan. Giving away tens of thousands of dollars is not just an economic problem faultbut the authority Biden claims in implementing this plan is questionable.

“The bipartisan opposition to your plan encompasses more than economic objections, but also procedural issues. As president, you lack the power to take unilateral action to launch a sweeping plan to slash student loans, a position shared by your party leaders. Last year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stated: “People believe that the President of the United States has the power to cancel debt. He does not. He can postpone, he can delay, but he doesn’t have that power. This must be an act of Congress,’” the letter said.

Faced with these many objections, the coalition of governors ended the letter by demanding that Biden scrap the debt relief plan.

“For these reasons and more, we urge you to withdraw your student loan plan immediately,” the letter concluded.

This article originally appeared on The West Journal.

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