To The Reader’s Forum:

President Biden’s recent idea of forgiving up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for millions of borrowers while welcomed I’m sure by those who owe money on their loans is bad public policy.

The debt is really not cancelled the monies have been spent. This proposal just transfers the debt from the people who borrowed the money to the federal debt which requires that taxpayers such as you and I to pick up the obligation to repay.

People who paid their debt, people who never borrowed for their education, people who never went to college and work in shops mills and factories are being forced to subsidize those who had the benefits of a college education.

Suddenly people who had to budget debt payments have effectively been given a $10,000 to $20,000 increase in disposable income that when spread over the tens of thousands of loans outstanding increases the federal debt by $300 billion or more. All at the same time the federal reserve is doing everything it can by raising interest rates to try and slow the high rate of inflation the administration comes up with this inflationary policy!

Then there is the moral issue of the government converting borrowers into victims who need to be bailed out. We need to start treating people like adults and let them bear the consequences of their actions. Governments do not create wealth they allocate the wealth created by their citizens. My Swedish grandfather who never went to college but was a pretty smart guy once told me that the only way the government can give a dollar to someone who didn’t earn it is to take it from someone who did.

Jamestown