President Biden said that he was angry and let Republicans have it for filing lawsuits that ended with the overturn of his student loan debt relief program.
Video of Biden:
Biden, “These Republican officials just couldn’t bear the thought of providing relief for working class middle Americans.” Biden then blasted Republicans for taking PPP loans and supporting PPP, “You can’t help a student but you can help a millionaire and have debt forgiven?” pic.twitter.com/HfnfEOPFCQ
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 30, 2023
Biden said:
The website had been set up, applications had been simplified so that it took less than five minutes to complete. Notices had been sent out to people about the relief they were eligible for. 16 million people, 16 million people have already been approved. The money was literally about to go out the door, and Republican elected officials and special interests stepped in and said no, literally snatching from the hands of millions of Americans thousands of dollars in student debt relief that was about to change their lives.
These Republican officials just couldn’t bear the thought of providing relief for working-class middle Americans. Republican state officials sued my administration, attempting to block relief, including millions of their constituents. Republicans in Congress voted to overturn the plan. I don’t think I had any Republican votes for this plan.
At the same time, think about this, they all assumed the paycheck protection program. Remember ppp? Which was designed to help business owners who lost money because of the pandemic. It was a worthy program. But let’s be clear, some of the same elected Republican members of Congress who strongly opposed giving relief to students got hundreds of thousands of dollars themselves in relief.
Members of Congress. Because of the businesses that they were able to keep open. Several got over $1 million. All those loans were for given. Do you know how much that program cost? $760 billion. My program is too expensive? $360 billion more than I proposed in my student debt relief program. I was trying to provide students with $10,000 to $20,000 in relief. By comparison, the average amount for given in the PPP pandemic loan program, the average amount forgiven was $70,000. Now a kid making 60,000 bucks, trying to pay back his bills, asking for $10,000 in relief, come on. The hypocrisy is stunning. You can’t help a student, but you can help a millionaire and have your debt forgiven?
Biden also laid out how he was going to use The Higher Education Act to deliver student loan relief and forgiveness as his Plan B option. The President also said announced on on-ramp program where borrowers won’t be penalized for a year if they miss payments.
The student loan crisis needs a long-term legislative solution. This problem has to be acted on by Congress, and it is why if Democrats regain total control of the federal government, they need to make student loan reform a top priority.
President Biden laid the blame exactly where it belongs, on Republicans who care more about the wealthy than working people.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
