LETTER: Biden goes to the high court to save student loan plan
Regarding the recent Associated Press story, “Biden to ask Supreme Court to restore student debt plan”: I wonder why instead of trying to get something done through Congress, as he did with the Inflation Reduction Act, the president won’t negotiate again to accomplish this goal. Instead, he’s chosen to appeal to the Supreme Court in hopes they’ll approve his plan.
I am also curious about the warning that Americans will “face financial strain if the plan remains stalled in court when payments are scheduled to restart.” How can this be? Payments are, for the most part, generally no more than 10 percent of a student’s discretionary income. These payments are not onerous and not designed to pay off the loans, which is why there is an approximate $1.75 trillion deficit from these loans. So where is this supposed financial strain coming from, given that income-based repayment plans are written off after payments are made for at most 20 years, and we were managing to make payments before COVID?
I suggest a retroactive reduction in interest rates to a mere 1 percent or 2 percent to cover the cost of loan administration and relieve the burden of student loans. This would benefit all students and not add to the deficit. But sadly, this would require a bipartisan effort, something Joe Biden seems unable to accomplish and unwilling to try.