President Joe Biden, facing poor polling numbers for a Democratic candidate with young voters, announced another student loan bailout program this week ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
His new plan comes after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked his attempt to this last year because it was illegal.
Biden’s new plan would take taxpayer money to wipe out the student loan debt of over 30 million borrowers, the White House said. The administration said that the actions were specifically designed to provide relief to black and Latino borrowers who attended community college and who are financially vulnerable because they took out debt but never had the chance to complete their degree.
The plan would provide relief to borrowers who owe more than they did at the start of repayment; borrowers who are otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness, but have not yet applied; borrowers who first entered repayment many years ago; borrowers who enrolled in low-financial-value programs; and borrowers experiencing hardship paying back their loans.
“Today, too many Americans, especially young people, are saddled with unsustainable debts in exchange for a college degree,” Biden said from an event in Wisconsin. “The ability for working and middle class folks to repay their student loans has become so burdensome that a lot can’t repay it for even decades after being in school.”
“Even when they work hard and pay their student loans, their debt increases, not diminishes,” he said. “Too many people feel the strain and stress wondering if they can get married, have their first child, start a family because even if they get by, they still have this crushing, crushing debt, and it’s not just a drag on them.”
Biden claimed that people couldn’t buy homes because they had to repay their student loans when most people can’t afford homes because of high interests that were sparked by the inflation that his American Rescue Plan caused.
“Tens of millions of people’s debt was literally about to get canceled, but then some of my Republican friends and elected officials and special interests sued us and the Supreme Court blocked us, but that didn’t–well, that didn’t stop us,” he said. “No, I mean it sincerely. We continue to find alternative paths to reduce student debt payment that are not challenging.”
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