Student Loans

So it seems the Biden Administration is trying to buy votes for Democrats in the upcoming November mid-term elections. The means for doing this is forgiving student college loans. It's not clear if this means complete forgiveness or only a part of the loans. Other than those who will benefit from the freebie, what's there to like about this? I think it was President Herbert Hoover, in opposition to cancelling other nations' debts to the US from the First World War, who famously said, "They hired (borrowed) the money, didn't they?" Pay it back. Total student debt in the US stands close to $2 trillion, not quite, but close. Some economists say student debt repayment is a bigger financial burden than credit card debt and auto loans. Why is there so much college debt? A first place to look is at the federal government. How typical of the federal government to create a problem and then create another problem tryng to "fix" the first one. In guaranteeing payment of student debt to colleges for room, board, and tuition, the feds pretty much guaranteed what happened would happen. Colleges, knowing they'd get paid, kept increasing their bills to students. After all, if the federal government was going to guarantee payment, the schools were sure to get their money regardless of how much it was. Perhaps if students had been forced to get loans not secured by the feds, private lending institutions would have been a bit more circumspect in agreeing to pay colleges for the ever-increasing bills. That is, if the colleges were not absolutely certain they'd get their money, maybe they, too, would have given more consideration to their costs. I do have sympathy for students and parents in paying for a college education. The costs are astronomical and ridiculous. At my college room, board, and tuition for 2022-23 is in excess of $80,000; when I was a freshman, 55 years or so ago, costs were $3,200. I know there is said to be plenty of financial aid, but c'mon..... Nationally, there has been an explosion of administrative positions, often paying upwards of $100,000 annually. And how many tenured instructors teach only two or three courses a term--at full pay? Perhaps a solution might also be to look at the colleges themselves, the ones who jack up tuition, room and board, and the ubiquitous fees. Well, they do have to pay for their diversity officers, chancellors of equity, and vice presidents of inclusion, etc. Those six-figure salaries can add up! Maybe if the Biden Administration called the colleges to task..... After all, I'm guessing the vast majority of students didn't have their education improved one iota by the diversity, inclusion, and equity ministers. And I'll bet the parents who foot the bill would gladly trade lower college costs for elimination of such boondoggle positions. The President's press secretary recently stated "Not a single person in this country has paid a dime on federal student loans since this President took office." She seemed to say that boastfully, as if that was a good thing. Apparently that these students "hired the money, didn't they?" has never occurred to her or the administration. To cheat people out of their money, "people" here often meaning taxpayers, is not a good thing. I don't believe that is true, that "not a single person......" At least I don't want to believe it is true. I'd hope there would be enough students and former students with the character to repay their debts, especially if they could. I concede, in this day and age, I could be wrong. I have no idea how many people default on their loans, but assume the number/percentage is substantial. The reality of such "forgiveness" is that the burden of these loans would fall on taxpayers, most often those who didn't borrow the money. And think about those people who didn't go to college, didn't borrow money, or, worse, already paid off their debts. What about them? Do we just call them "saps" and move on? I won't forget during the Iowa caucuses, an Iowa farmer confronted Elizabeth Warren, a big proponent of debt forgiveness, about this. The farmer had saved for years to put his children through college, sacrificing so there wouldn't be a need for loans. What about him? he asked Warren. She seemed flummoxed and in her arrogant, self-righteous fashion dismissed the farmer. I guess that was her version of calling him a "sap." Once again in this country, people who do things the right way, such as accepting responsibility for their actions and paying their own way, are penalized. And not only are they penalized, but are called names ("saps"). So, for paying off all my student loans, under their terms, on time, I am a "sap." There is a further problem. How can it be that a single person, in this instance the President, can unilaterally wipe out trillions of dollars of debt with his signature? Isn't that why we have a Constitution, so that people like Biden (and Warren and Schumer.....) can't do this? What happened to the sanctity of contracts, which is, in effect, what a student loan is? I know the Constitution protects the inviolability of contracts from intrusions by states, but the federal government, I don't remember. Still, the principle is the same. A contract freely entered into by two or more parties should be inviolable. Yet, on a whim to perhaps buy votes, the President can undo this? If so, what is next? Here's an idea! Instead of forgiving student loan debt, why don't all those in favor of that, instead, pay off some student's loans? These Bozos will get what they claim is good, that is, recent graduates not struggling with debt, while also not passing along the financial burden to taxpayers. It would be nice to "forgive" my mortgage payment. Oh, I forgot. I paid off my mortgage 15 years early. But what about credit card debt? OK, I pay off my credit cards each month, too. Well, what about my auto loan? I could do with that being "forgiven." Mr. President, can you "forgive" that, too? I know, I know. Federal loans (or guarantees) vs private transactions. But once the door is opened, well, ask Pandora.