In one of President Joe Biden’s most disappointing moves, it’s been yet again confirmed that the Biden administration is not extending federal student loan relief during an ongoing global pandemic, as reported by Forbes. Per a White House press briefing, payments will apparently resume on Feb. 1, 2022, as we grieve the 800,000 American lives lost, still fight an uphill battle to get skeptics vaccinated, and face the winter months where people might be a little less than super safe when it comes to masking and socializing.
Mind you, Biden also hasn’t met his campaign promise to forgive $10,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower. That was a bottom-of-the-barrel promise in comparison to his fellow Democrats running for office; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for example, campaigned on forgiving $50,000, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned on forgiving all of it. And while Biden has continued the forbearance put into place by Donald Trump (sadly, he does technically get credit for that) he is also apparently set to be the person who resumes payments. And that’s a very bad thing for voters.
Rather hilariously, Chasten Buttigieg—husband of Pete Buttigieg, who currently serves in Biden’s administration as the U.S. secretary of Transportation—shared a screenshot of an email from his student loan servicer reminding him that payments will resume shortly. He captioned it with: “LOL no thank you Merry Christmas next”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib also made waves recently for sharing about the $70,000 student loan debt she still carries, in spite of working hard and literally being a member of our elected government.
We all know that forgiving student debt hasn’t historically polled well; people who already paid off their debt, or were lucky enough to graduate without debt, can get very, very upset at the thought of someone else being relieved of a burden they overcame or didn’t face at all. Other folks can feel bitter that they—whether because of finances or other obstacles—didn’t attend higher education, or didn’t go to the extent of schooling they wanted. As a first-generation college graduate who comes from a family and community where even finishing high school could go either way, I do get it. Not all voters are going to love large-scale debt forgiveness.
But people who carry student debt are getting older. We’re not the stereotypical hapless millennials the right-wing loves to depict us as; people are literally getting their Social Security checks garnished over student loan debt. And voters are making it clear that they know Biden is the one allowing our payments to get turned back on.
All snark and humor aside, as someone with student debt, I know that not having my loans forgiven won’t sway me when it comes to voting and support. But I can’t say the same for all voters, and I can’t say I’m not very, very worried about midterm elections if Biden doesn’t do the right thing and at least extend the pause on loan repayments. I didn’t expect to be begging a Democrat for this sort of action at this stage in the pandemic, but I’m not above it, either.
Mind you, Biden also hasn’t met his campaign promise to forgive $10,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower. That was a bottom-of-the-barrel promise in comparison to his fellow Democrats running for office; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for example, campaigned on forgiving $50,000, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned on forgiving all of it. And while Biden has continued the forbearance put into place by Donald Trump (sadly, he does technically get credit for that) he is also apparently set to be the person who resumes payments. And that’s a very bad thing for voters.
Rather hilariously, Chasten Buttigieg—husband of Pete Buttigieg, who currently serves in Biden’s administration as the U.S. secretary of Transportation—shared a screenshot of an email from his student loan servicer reminding him that payments will resume shortly. He captioned it with: “LOL no thank you Merry Christmas next”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib also made waves recently for sharing about the $70,000 student loan debt she still carries, in spite of working hard and literally being a member of our elected government.
We all know that forgiving student debt hasn’t historically polled well; people who already paid off their debt, or were lucky enough to graduate without debt, can get very, very upset at the thought of someone else being relieved of a burden they overcame or didn’t face at all. Other folks can feel bitter that they—whether because of finances or other obstacles—didn’t attend higher education, or didn’t go to the extent of schooling they wanted. As a first-generation college graduate who comes from a family and community where even finishing high school could go either way, I do get it. Not all voters are going to love large-scale debt forgiveness.
But people who carry student debt are getting older. We’re not the stereotypical hapless millennials the right-wing loves to depict us as; people are literally getting their Social Security checks garnished over student loan debt. And voters are making it clear that they know Biden is the one allowing our payments to get turned back on.
Email: “Are you ready? Student loans repayments start January 31st, 2022.” Me: pic.twitter.com/hQvIgcH1KZ
— Ken(@__ItsKen_) December 9, 2021
All snark and humor aside, as someone with student debt, I know that not having my loans forgiven won’t sway me when it comes to voting and support. But I can’t say the same for all voters, and I can’t say I’m not very, very worried about midterm elections if Biden doesn’t do the right thing and at least extend the pause on loan repayments. I didn’t expect to be begging a Democrat for this sort of action at this stage in the pandemic, but I’m not above it, either.