The Daily Mail headline is "Biden forgives $39 BILLION in student debt for 804,000 Americans: White House goes around Supreme Court ruling to give handout to borrowers who have been paying for 20 years." Not mentioned in the article is that forgiveness after 20 or 25 years of payments (depending on the type of loan) is already required under the applicable laws and regulations. Although the article is not clear on this point, the only change might be that the government might actually be proactive about the process rather than waiting for people to file for relief before doing anything; but that is just speculation on my part. The real takeaway is that Biden is trying to make himself look like he is doing something grand when all he is doing is applying the law as it already exists.
This vote-buying giveaway is aimed at people who have student loans with income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. See
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-provide-804000-borrowers-39-billion-automatic-loan-forgiveness-result-fixes-income-driven-repayment-plans
The real give away is for people in certain government or NGO jobs. For instance, law enforcement officers can qualify for loan forgiveness after only 5 years.
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