GIORDANO: In President Biden’s America, those that do the right thing get punished

Nicholas Giordano is a Professor of Political Science at Suffolk Community College and host of The P.A.S. Report Podcast. Recognized and well-respected for his analysis, Professor Giordano appears on radio and television to provide analysis on current issues and trends within government, politics, international relations, education, homeland security/emergency management, and social/cultural related issues. In addition, he is regularly called on to speak at events to provide expertise on critical issues facing the United States. 

While some are praising President Biden’s announcement of up to $20,000 in student loan debt cancellation per recipient, for the overwhelming majority of Americans, the message is clear- do the right thing, work hard, play by the rules and get punished for it.

This program is an insult to every parent who worked multiple jobs, sacrificed, and forwent vacations, just so their child could graduate from college debt free; to students who worked full-time so that they could pay for their college; to those who never went to college and learned a trade; to those who paid back their student loans. 

It is an insult to those of us that consolidated and refinanced our student loans with private lenders in return for lower interest rates, which makes us ineligible for this program.

It is also an insult to every incoming freshman and future college student because this one-time policy does nothing for them. They become the losers, illustrating how government programs are simply a matter of timing rather than fairness.

The message is clear. Those that acted responsibly are being penalized all because of President Biden’s vote-buying scheme.

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Growing up, I didn’t come from a family that pushed academics. While my parents considered school important, college was optional, especially considering my family did not have the financial means to pay for it. Factor in my academic performance throughout high school, and the idea of going to college seemed more like wishful thinking than a reality.

After taking a gap year, I decided to give college a shot. Knowing that it was unaffordable, I enrolled in my local community college. Once I began attending college, something changed. It turned out that I loved academia, and my curiosity and ambitions grew with each passing class. This was my future, but there was still that pesky problem of how to pay for it.

I worked hard to maintain excellent grades. I was inducted into the honor society. I earned academic scholarships, but in order to go to a four-year university and graduate school, I would have to take out student loans. I didn’t mind because I looked at it as an investment in myself, and I knew that it would create opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist.

In total, I took out about $50,000 in federal student loans. Not bad for an undergraduate degree and two graduate degrees. 

In 2009, I began repaying the loans as required, and in 2015, I decided to consolidate the loans with a private lender to obtain a lower interest rate and save money. In normal times, one would call that the responsible thing to do, but we are not living in normal times.

It turns out that in President Biden’s America when you do the responsible thing, you end up getting penalized for it. President Biden’s student loan cancellation is a bitter pill to swallow. His announcement does nothing to reign in skyrocketing tuition costs or alleviates the student loan debt crisis. In fact, colleges and universities will continue to raise tuition to even higher rates as a result of this policy.

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If President Biden’s student loan debt cancellation announcement goes forward, this money will be added to our national debt and the taxpayers will be responsible for paying off other people’s student loans.

Those that paid for college or learned a trade will now bear the burden of approximately $500 billion being added to our national debt, which is already approaching $31 trillion. This doesn’t include the increased interest on the debt that the American taxpayer will be responsible for.

As if that wasn’t enough, the government continues to spend money, adding to the inflationary pressures that millions of American families are already suffering from. You would think that everyone would have learned their lesson with the COVID-19 stimulus money that was given out.

Sure, you may have received a couple of thousand dollars in COVID-19 stimulus money, and it may have felt good to have extra cash at the time, but that triggered inflation. We have paid back a hell of a lot more than the stimulus we received. The average American received $3,000 in COVID stimulus and it is estimated that the average American will spend more than $8,000 this year due to the inflation caused by the reckless government spending-so it certainly wasn’t worth it. The same thing will happen with student loans if the policy goes through. 

I don’t begrudge those who will benefit from President Biden’s announcement. Good for them, but let’s not pretend that this policy is fair. This disastrous policy has wide-reaching implications, none of which are good for the vast majority of the American people. 

Editorials and op-eds reflect the opinion of the authors and not necessarily that of Campus Reform or the Leadership Institute.