As of the time of writing, President Joe Biden is not extending the current pause on federal student loan payments. This means that payments will be due again as of Feb. 1, 2022, even though we are still in an ongoing global pandemic. Even though we’re still learning how the omicron variant might impact daily life. Even though we’re in the midst of the holiday season, with many places experiencing cold temperatures that might lead to less-safe socializing. Even though midterms are around the corner. Even though Biden campaigned on forgiving $10,000 in federal student loan debt per person, and that hasn’t happened, either.
What do voters think? According to a recent report from Data for Progress, a majority of voters support extending the existing moratorium on student loans. Respondents were polled between Dec. 7 and 11, 2021, and more than 1,200 likely voters participated in the web panel survey.
Interestingly, both college-educated voters and voters without college degrees agreed with extending the moratorium. Democrats and independents both strongly agreed with extending the moratorium beyond the end of January 2022, and about one-third of Republicans agreed as well.
Now, an extension of the moratorium is not loan forgiveness. It’s not what Biden promised and it’s not the threshold of what we deserve. But it is certainly better than nothing. In a sense, extending the moratorium isn’t even part of the question about loan forgiveness—it’s about survival. People are grieving more than 800,000 American lives lost, in addition to work and financial stress. People are living with long-haul COVID-19. People’s whole lives have been turned around during this pandemic, and we’re all doing our best to cope and show up for one another. Giving people grace and extending the pause on payments is truly a minimum expectation.
And yet on Dec. 11, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the pause on repayment would end on Feb. 1 and stressed that a “smooth transition” into repayment is a “high priority” for the Biden administration. This in combination with the relative crickets we’ve had in response to Biden’s $10,000-per person loan forgiveness promise is extremely, extremely disappointing.
During a Dec. 14 press conference, Psaki was pressed on Biden’s promise and she responded by essentially pushing the responsibility over to Congress.
“I think you said last week that you’re working on a plan to help students pay,” a reporter asked. “But what about President Biden’s campaign to forgive or cancel $10,000 in student loan debt? Pardon me. And, you know, what is the message to those people who feel that he’s yet to follow through on that promise?”
“If Congress sends him a bill, he's happy to sign it,” Psaki replied. “They haven't sent him a bill on that yet.”
Democrats and progressives have put new pressure on the Biden administration in recent days. Both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have continued calling out the Biden administration and specifically, Biden’s power in being able to take action via executive order to forgive federal student loans. We’ve seen legislators including Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak out about their own student loan balances, which helps to normalize debt and reduce shame, and also shows that even some of the most successful people struggle to get out from under student debt.
In the last article I wrote about Biden and student debt, just under 80% of respondents here at Daily Kos said they were in favor of extending the pause on payments, 8% said they were unsure, and about 13% were against it.
This is (obviously) very informal polling, but I’d love to have a good-faith conversation about the nuances here: If you're against it, is there a sticking point for you? Anything that could change your mind if it was approached or handled differently? If you’re on the fence, what are you curious about?
Sign the petition to President Biden: You can—and you must—eliminate at least $50,000 in student debt per borrower.
What do voters think? According to a recent report from Data for Progress, a majority of voters support extending the existing moratorium on student loans. Respondents were polled between Dec. 7 and 11, 2021, and more than 1,200 likely voters participated in the web panel survey.
Interestingly, both college-educated voters and voters without college degrees agreed with extending the moratorium. Democrats and independents both strongly agreed with extending the moratorium beyond the end of January 2022, and about one-third of Republicans agreed as well.
Now, an extension of the moratorium is not loan forgiveness. It’s not what Biden promised and it’s not the threshold of what we deserve. But it is certainly better than nothing. In a sense, extending the moratorium isn’t even part of the question about loan forgiveness—it’s about survival. People are grieving more than 800,000 American lives lost, in addition to work and financial stress. People are living with long-haul COVID-19. People’s whole lives have been turned around during this pandemic, and we’re all doing our best to cope and show up for one another. Giving people grace and extending the pause on payments is truly a minimum expectation.
And yet on Dec. 11, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the pause on repayment would end on Feb. 1 and stressed that a “smooth transition” into repayment is a “high priority” for the Biden administration. This in combination with the relative crickets we’ve had in response to Biden’s $10,000-per person loan forgiveness promise is extremely, extremely disappointing.
During a Dec. 14 press conference, Psaki was pressed on Biden’s promise and she responded by essentially pushing the responsibility over to Congress.
“I think you said last week that you’re working on a plan to help students pay,” a reporter asked. “But what about President Biden’s campaign to forgive or cancel $10,000 in student loan debt? Pardon me. And, you know, what is the message to those people who feel that he’s yet to follow through on that promise?”
“If Congress sends him a bill, he's happy to sign it,” Psaki replied. “They haven't sent him a bill on that yet.”
Democrats and progressives have put new pressure on the Biden administration in recent days. Both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have continued calling out the Biden administration and specifically, Biden’s power in being able to take action via executive order to forgive federal student loans. We’ve seen legislators including Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak out about their own student loan balances, which helps to normalize debt and reduce shame, and also shows that even some of the most successful people struggle to get out from under student debt.
In the last article I wrote about Biden and student debt, just under 80% of respondents here at Daily Kos said they were in favor of extending the pause on payments, 8% said they were unsure, and about 13% were against it.
This is (obviously) very informal polling, but I’d love to have a good-faith conversation about the nuances here: If you're against it, is there a sticking point for you? Anything that could change your mind if it was approached or handled differently? If you’re on the fence, what are you curious about?
Sign the petition to President Biden: You can—and you must—eliminate at least $50,000 in student debt per borrower.