When just about half of all the governors in the nation sign a letter to the president, it’s probably significant. Twenty-two GOP governors did just that.
In a letter to President Joe Biden, these leaders challenged him to walk back his student loan forgiveness plan.
The letter, dated this past Monday, said that the governors “fundamentally oppose” the president’s agenda to force the American taxpayer into paying off the debt of an elite few.
Two of the governors were Republicans Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. They said that Biden’s plan is going to harm low-income families. The letter said, “hourly workers will pay off the master’s and doctorate degrees of high salaried lawyers, doctors, and professors. … Simply put, your plan rewards the rich and punishes the poor.”
Ironically, the White House did not defend its position against the logic in the letter. Instead, they focused on GOP support of significant tax cuts for the wealthy that took place under President Donald Trump, and several other GOP political leaders. They also pointed to those who benefitted from the federal Paycheck Protection Program and the loans that were forgiven during the COVID-19 pandemic.
White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan wrote in an email that was sent to USA TODAY this week, “These same Republican governors didn’t seem to object when their Republican colleagues in Congress passed a $2 trillion tax giveaway for the rich or had hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own small business loans forgiven.”
Hasan also wrote that GOP elected officials are working to keep middle-class Americans in major debt, but the president was committed to delivering relief to the borrowers who were in the most need.
Biden said at the end of August that education was the “ticket” to a better life, but now that “ticket” is too expensive for many Americans. He said the burden was now so heavy that even when you have a college degree you might not have access to the middle-class life that a college degree once provided.
Democrats & Progressives Want Biden to Cancel More Student Loan Debt
While the Democrats praised Biden’s fulfillment of a campaign promise to cancel student debt for up to 43 million borrowers, many on the Left said that more relief was going to be necessary. The Progressives, along with unions, are now urging the president to cancel up to $50,000 in student loans.
The Republicans are up in arms lashing out at the president because of the impact this is going to have on an already desperate economy.
The governors wrote in their letter to Biden that his unprecedented tax-and-spend agenda is coming at a time when inflation has skyrocketed and it will cause more student borrowing as well as higher tuition rates. All of this will serve to make inflation go even higher. That means that the very people getting a little relief from the forgiven loan are likely to face higher taxes from their state.
Despite the fervor over his plan, Biden maintains that the decision was “economically responsible.” The governors disagree, they say the plan is probably going to cost a total of $600 billion. That is an average of $2,000 per taxpayer.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania estimates that this plan will cost between $469 billion and $519 billion.
Twenty-two governors are pleading with President Biden to change his mind on loan forgiveness, but the chances of him relenting on this campaign promise are slim to none. Let’s hope that the voters remember this debacle when it comes time to place their ballots in November.
