THE STUDENT DEBT MESS GREW OUT OF REAGAN’S WAR ON ‘INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY’

BY DAVE ANDERSON

It was a shock when the Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 for student loan borrowers. Biden responded with an alternate route to debt cancellation using the Higher Education Act, including a negotiated rulemaking and notice-and-comment period that will likely take many months.

Unsatisfied with this plan B, a coalition of 179 organizations led by the Student Borrower Protection Center urged Biden to instead enact a new plan “as swiftly as possible” to deliver on his $20K-relief promise.

Meanwhile, another national group is determined to defeat 13 vulnerable Republican U.S. House representatives (including Lauren Boebert) in 2024 because they opposed Biden’s plan.

To understand the level of hypocrisy built into denying student loan debt relief, travel back to 2011 when Occupy Wall Street camps blossomed everywhere during the Great Recession. We broke the American taboo on discussing class and capitalism. We chanted, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” We denounced a grasping, greedy and somewhat dim financial elite and their paid-off politicians.

America forgave the debt of major banks and financial institutions in 2008, preventing something worse. The government could have nationalized those institutions and punished the big shots for their incredible irresponsibility. That didn’t happen. But the government had to do something.

Occupy signs read, “I Am Not A Loan!” Why did so many people have enormous student loan debt? A study by the U.S. General Accounting

Anderson continued on page 6

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