In a stunning non-coincidence, a review of financial disclosures has revealed that the members of Congress pushing the hardest for Joe Biden to bail out student loan debt owe an enormous amount of debt themselves.
The Washington Examinerâs Gabe Kaminsky ran the numbers, and found that just 14 Democrats pushing for student debt forgiveness owe a combined $1.7 million in student debt, including their family members.
According to Kaminsky:
[Last] Wednesday, nearly 90 Democrats joined a letter to Biden asking him to use "additional tools" to "cancel student debt by early 2024." Should the president do so, 13 signatories or their relatives who in 2022 held loans could reap a windfall.
That includes Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar, Bowman, Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Nanette BarragĂĄn (D-CA), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), and Greg Casar (D-TX). Separately, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) disclosed up to $250,000 in loans through the Education Department and didn't sign the document.
Meng, who has posted on social media that "in order for our country to thrive, we must #cancelstudentdebt," reported on her 2022 disclosure that her spouse owes up to $250,000.
Escobar similarly reported on her latest filing up to $250,000 worth in loans through her spouse and a joint trust, with Williams also listing up to $250,000 in debt. Bowman, who described last year how he "had to take out thousands in student loans" and called on Biden to "cancel student loan debt," owes $250,000 in student loans, according to his 2022 disclosure.
Then there's the other "Squad" members, who have reported student loan debts of up to $200,000 combined. Ocasio-Cortez, for instance, owes up to $50,000.
In June, the Supreme Court struck down Bidenâs first attempt at bailing out student loan debt, which wouldâve canceled up to $20k in loans for borrowers with federal loans. The Department of Education estimated that this plan would cost $379 billion, while a UPenn study put it closer to half a trillion dollars.
More importantly, Biden has expressed no interest in actually combating the root cause of the student debt crisis; skyrocketing college tuition. Even if Biden did get the original debt bailout he desired, national student loan debt would skyrocket past itâs pre-cancelation peak within only a few years.
Biden has since launched a backup in the form of his âSAVE Student Loan Repayment Plan,â which is a more generous ârepay as you earnâ system that could lead to some borrowers seeing their monthly payments cut in half. More significantly, SAVE also prevents borrowers who have a payment that is less than the interest accruing on their loans from having the unpaid interest added to their loan balance.
Matt Palumbo is the author of Fact-Checking the Fact-Checkers: How the Left Hijacked and Weaponized the Fact-Checking Industry and The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network of George Soros
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