On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced his plan to relieve some of the student debt causing a trillion-dollar economic crisis for tens of millions of Americans—mostly the young, women, and people of color. The plan calls for canceling up to $10,000 in debt for student borrowers who make less than $125,000 a year and $20,000 in relief for Pell Grant recipients with similar incomes.
It is more than expected but a far cry from the larger numbers that most activists and progressives were asking and hoping for. That being said, because Joe Biden and the Democratic Party did something that will positively affect around 45 million Americans, the conservative movement in the country is screaming about bootstraps and unfairness. This is the same political party that has seen millions in loans forgiven for their many right-wing-funded “small business” ventures.
President Biden made this student debt policy announcement in front of a room filled with reporters in the White House. As he was leaving the podium, some reporter thought they could get in a zinger question that would obviously not be answered by Biden as he was halfway out of the door.
But Biden stopped, turned around, and answered this reporter’s creatively bankrupt question with a more serious question.
