By Jason Smith, Member of Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s getting harder to watch the news or flip through a newspaper without getting outraged over all of the insanity coming out of Washington. Thanks to the Left’s disastrous leadership, our border is in chaos, the cost of living is the highest it’s been in 40 years, and energy costs are so high that nearly 1 in 6 Americans are behind on their utility bills.
And with November just around the corner, President Joe Biden and Washington Democrats are going into overdrive with their desperate pandering to reward their supporters with lavish benefits. There’s no greater example of that than Biden’s recent executive order that will cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for households earning up to $250,000 – an executive order that Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) themselves declared to be unconstitutional as recently as last year. With the stroke of the pen, Biden is showering $330 billion in taxpayer dollars on wealthy doctors and lawyers to pay off their student loans. In fact, 56% of all student loan debt is owed by the 14.3% of individuals with advanced college degrees. These are the same people with much higher lifetime earnings than the average American.
Not too long ago, the Left’s push to cancel student loan debt was deemed too extreme for many Washington Democrats – including Biden, who said “I don’t think I have the authority to do it by signing the pen” during a CNN town hall in 2021. Pelosi, speaking at a press conference last year, stated that only Congress – not the president – has the authority to forgive student loan debt.
No matter how Washington Democrats try to spin it, this is an immoral transfer of wealth. I’ve been saying it from the moment I saw Biden’s Bailout Bill last year – this president is determined to reward his friends, allies, and political donors with as much funding as he thinks the public will let him get away with. Climate activists who prioritize electric vehicles and tree equity over good-paying jobs? $400 billion. Woke college activists who want more freedom to prioritize protesting over a paycheck? $330 billion. Liberal big-city mayors who even now want to shut down our communities? Hundreds of billions in funding that comes no strings attached for them to spend on priorities like benefits and stimulus checks for illegal immigrants.
Under Biden’s plan, 87% of adults without student loans will be forced to subsidize the 13% of adults who chose to take on loans. Why should someone who chose not to take out student loans foot the bill for those who did? Even worse, why should someone who worked hard to pay back their student loans have to watch someone else get rewarded with a free, no-strings-attached Washington handout?
As the son of working-class parents, I was taught the importance of self-responsibility. I learned the hard way that actions have consequences. When I was in high school, I thought long and hard about my future and made the decision to pursue a college degree, knowing that I would need to take out student loans to help cover the cost of tuition, textbooks, and living expenses. I went to class during the day, worked at night, and saved every penny I could to make sure I could make my loan payments. To this day I continue to regularly make payments on the loan debt I willingly took on.
The Left has claimed that canceling student loan debt will make college more accessible to working-class Americans. In reality, it’s only going to drive tuition costs higher. Knowing that the next liberal Democrat president will cancel student loan debt, colleges have less incentive to lower tuition because they know American taxpayers will foot the bill when students default on their loans.
On top of that, canceling student loan debt won’t do anything to discourage individuals from burying themselves in debt just so they can go to college to major in things like performing arts – one of the lowest paying college majors. We should be encouraging more people to consider apprenticeships or trade schools, which prepare workers for jobs that are in-demand and pay well.
What is the greatest threat facing American families today? The highest cost of living in 40 years that has been fueled by Washington Democrat spending. Washington Democrats control the White House, the House, and the Senate. Their actions throw gasoline on the inflation fire and will make life harder, not easier, for hardworking American families. Don’t believe me? Larry Summers – an Obama economic advisor, Clinton Treasury Secretary, and current president of Harvard who correctly predicted that Biden’s American Rescue Plan would ignite the current cost-of-living crisis – recently expressed opposition to this plan, saying it would be “inflationary” and would be better spent going to people who didn’t have the opportunity to go to college. Even liberal economists can see this action is a recipe for disaster, and I will continue doing everything I can to fight back against the Left’s non-stop attacks on working-class Americans.