As Election Day approaches and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris seems to be facing challenges, outgoing President Joe Biden has unveiled a new initiative aimed at eliminating billions in debt for college-educated voters, funded by taxpayers.
Biden made this announcement on Thursday, following Harris’s problematic interview with Fox News on Wednesday, which raised concerns about the Democrats’ prospects for success in the upcoming election. The newly forgiven debt pertains to over 60,000 public service employees, as disclosed by Biden.
He emphasized that this latest wave of debt relief brings the total number of college-educated voters who have benefited from student debt cancellation under this administration to over 1 million.
“Public service workers – teachers, nurses, firefighters, and more – are the bedrocks of our communities and our country,” Biden said.
“They dedicate their careers to giving back to others and were given the promise of student debt forgiveness after 10 years of public service and 10 years of payments under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
“But for too long, the government failed to live up to its commitments, and only 7,000 people had ever received forgiveness under Public Service Loan Forgiveness before Vice President Harris and I took office.”
The unexpected announcement arises as Harris seems to be facing challenges in the polls in the weeks leading up to the election.
Biden’s initiative for student loan forgiveness has encountered significant setbacks in the judicial system. In August, the Supreme Court denied the administration’s appeal to lift an injunction from an appellate court that had suspended the SAVE plan, which aimed to exclude student loan borrowers’ income from their repayment requirements.
Earlier, in 2023, the Supreme Court had invalidated Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. Despite this ruling, the Biden-Harris administration has chosen to disregard it.
In April, Biden had declared that he would forgive student loan debt for over 30 million borrowers, a decision made shortly after polls indicated his declining support among young voters. Nevertheless, despite Biden’s portrayal of the initiative, the term “forgiveness” does not equate to the elimination of debt.
Instead, the plan shifts the financial responsibility onto taxpayers, regardless of their educational background. Consequently, taxpayers are compelled to cover the costs for individuals who attended college, many of whom are now well-compensated professionals, such as doctors and lawyers. In contrast, diligent Americans without student debt receive no benefits from this arrangement.
