Letters to the Editor: Biden’s student debt forgiveness doesn’t solve the underlying problem
To the editor: A major shortcoming of President Biden’s decision to cancel $10,000 in student loan debt and $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants is that it does nothing to address the underlying problem of excessively high tuition.
A significant contributing factor has been the substantial reduction in inflation-adjusted state funding for higher education over the last few decades.
One approach for reducing the cost of education is to require states to fund a minimum percentage (say, 70%) of the cost of education as a condition of receiving federal financial aid and government-backed loans. This would incentivize colleges and universities to reduce their expenses.
Jack Friedlander, Santa Barbara
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To the editor: No, this student loan debt has not been canceled. There is no magic wand used to disappear this debt. It has been transferred to the American taxpayer without their input on this matter. It is still there, added to our growing national debt.
Biden has just passed, without the involvement of Congress, a $300-billion spending bill. Constitutional crisis? Threat to democracy?
No, this is historic and we should celebrate or, like some others, claim that it doesn’t go far enough.
Bob Filacchione, Fullerton
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To the editor: If we wish to gift higher education to students (especially the less fortunate) then let us stop “loaning” money that, according to some, we ought never have expected to be repaid. Taxes fund most K-12 education. Why not consider funding “grades” 13 and above?
We could start by ending student loans. Instead we would reimburse documented costs (bills that would have been presented to students from institutions and, possibly, from other providers as well) directly to the institution as the student completes work.
We could call it “Educare” or “Educaid.”
Mark Driskill, Long Beach
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To the editor: Ask a truck driver or a refinery worker (who pay taxes) without a college degree how they feel about forgiving debt on student loans. This increases the national debt and may worsen inflation.
Ask a single mom (me) who struggled to save from every paycheck to pay cash for my daughter’s education if she would like some money back.
Another example of buying votes. Shameless.
Leslee Salrin, Long Beach
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To the editor: President Biden is forgiving hundreds of billions in student debt by fiat of an executive order. This follows on the heels of several rounds of direct pandemic-related stimulus payments to voters that commenced during the Trump administration.
But unlike the earlier stimulus payments, Biden’s plan has no official endorsement from Congress, and its announcement has been transparently timed to influence millions of potential voters as critical midterm elections near.
California’s state government is preparing to send “inflation relief” funds to millions of voters, with the money set to land just prior to the November election.
That these attempts to affect election outcomes through direct financial benefits are not being viewed more broadly as serious threats to our democracy is a mystery to me.
Russ Swartz, Granada Hills
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To the editor: Where was all this heavy breathing and concern when former President Trump canceled $1.5 trillion in tax debt?
Thomas D. Penfield, Cardiff, Calif.
