Helping 43 Million Americans With Student Debt: It’s Another BFD!

The reactions to President Joe Biden’s plan to relieve student loan debt keep coming, and while folks on the Right keep reaching for more and more absurd reasons to complain about it, we’re also seeing a bunch of very nice comments from people who are damned relieved to have the debt relief. Also too, the White House Twitter account got into the discussion in a big way, pointing out that many of the Republicans complaining about student debt relief received hundreds of thousands of dollars — millions in some cases — of Payroll Protection Plan loans that were forgiven as part of the pandemic stimulus program.

Just How Dishonest Are The Complaints? A Case Study, Hoo Boy

We should probably expect to keep hearing from wealthy Republicans who have suddenly become super concerned about the travails of the working class. Like for instance Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who expressed solidarity with herself in the past, when she was working as a waitress.

If I were still waitressing at the @WaffleHouse, my salary would be paying the student loans of the doctors, lawyers, MBAs and others I waited on. How is this right?

When I was growing up, and going to school, you paid your debts.

That’s nearly as good as solidarity with an actual working person, but actually better, because she can be sure that hypothetical-waitress Nancy Mace would never contradict Congresswoman Mace. An actual restaurant worker, after all, might have their own student loan debt, or be a parent with a kid who has student loans — and chances are that a Waffle House worker might have gone to school with a Pell Grant, meaning they’d qualify for up to $20,000 in loan relief.

Yr Editrix did a little digging into just how much college would have cost for Mace back in the ’90s — specifically, at the Citadel, where Mace was the first female cadet to graduate, in 1999. Honestly, it wasn’t so difficult to find.

Even accounting for inflation, the $3,631 in 1998-99 only converts to about $6,600 in today’s dollars. And the $4,306 costs for the following year work out to $7,658 today. Gosh, we wonder how much a year at the Citadel costs these days? For South Carolina residents, it’s still a relative bargain at $13,140 — which is a heck of a lot more than the simple inflation adjusted dollar amount. There’s also $9,125 room and board and a “Quartermaster Deposit” of $8,470; presumably, those costs are also higher than the rate of inflation compared to 22 years ago, too.

And then there’s the matter of those doctors and lawyers and MBAs Mace recalls serving. While professional salaries vary widely by specialty, location, and years in the field, it’s safe to say that virtually no MDs would qualify for debt relief, which has an income cap of $125,000 a year. Same for most lawyers nationally, although in South Carolina, relatively new members of the profession, making around $98K, might qualify for some debt relief. The average compensation of $143K is well above the limit, though. And with a national average salary of about $138K in 2020, few MBAs will be getting any debt relief, either. Maybe some newly minted ones working for nonprofits. Imaginary still-waiting-tables Nancy Mace can breathe a sigh of relief.

The Uncivil White House, Egad!

The White House Twitter account got involved in the debate last night after a number of Republicans in Congress begrudged people getting $10,000 or as much as $20,000 in debt forgiveness. And it was glorious:

But wait! There’s more!

You get the idea. Now, some might object that from the outset, the Payroll Protection Plan loans were designed to be forgiven as long as recipients didn’t lay off employees (haha, like that really turned out to be the case) while student loans are not, but the point remains: If these goobers are going to complain that loans are a sacred obligation that must always be repaid, why did they let the government forgive the loans? And goddamn, not a one of them seems to have been forgiven in any amount as trifling as $10,000 or $20,000.

The Nice Stuff!

We don’t actually have a Barrons subscription, but you get the idea of why this is a neat thing even without reading the full article: It’s not just students and graduates who’ll benefit from debt forgiveness, since it also means that parents who took out loans that qualify for relief will now have up to $20,000 that they can put into retirement funds, home repairs, or insanely generous monetary gifts to Yr Wonkette. It could happen!

Also too: We don’t think we mentioned this previously (we should go back and add it to our ‘splainer yesterday), but unlike what usually happens when you have a debt forgiven, recipients of student debt cancellation won’t pay taxes on the amount forgiven, thanks to a provision in last year’s American Rescue Plan. How’s that for remembering what the president promised while he was campaigning, and making sure it won’t have a tax downside?

Such smart, tricksy, helpful Democrats!

Another good thing! Goldman Sachs economists estimate that, despite scary predictions coming from Republicans, the debt relief program isn’t likely to add to inflation, largely because the pause in loan payments will come to an end December 31. So while there’ll be a boost in income for people who get forgiveness, the roughly half of borrowers who still have a loan balance will need to start paying loans down again. But the balance will be lower, and with the new income-based repayment cap on undergraduate loans, the renewed payments will take a smaller bite out of folks’ monthly budgets. And by design, those who work minimum wage jobs shouldn’t have to make payments at all!

Hey, here’s Yr Editrix again with another story of how debt forgiveness will make a real difference:

took my mom for her EEG and started probing the EEG-giver-lady as to her student loan status. She has an AA / CMA and always wanted to go back to school to learn to INTERPRET the tests.

Now she’s going to.

Her daughter just finished state school, it will wipe out her loans.

I AM VERY GOOD AT ASKING STRANGERS PERSONAL SHIT.

And so: How is the loan forgiveness going to help YOU?

Share your stories in the comments, which we do not allow, and we’ll probably follow up with a heartwarming post featuring YOU.

Or if you want, email me at doktorzoom at-sign wonkette dot-or-period com.

Have at it!