CNN's John Avlon praises Biden's student loan handouts plan: 'good economic policy'
CNN political analyst John Avlon defended President Biden's announcement to give $10,000 student loan handouts as the "Goldilocks sweet spot" of good economic policy.
CNN analyst John Avlon called President Biden’s plan to give $10,000 handouts to student debt holders earning under $125,000 a year the "Goldilocks sweet spot" of economic policy on "New Day" Thursday.
On Wednesday, Biden made the announcement that the White House would plan to pay off at least $300 billion of the $1.6 trillion national student loan debt. Although several Democrats agreed with the news, some mainstream media outlets have casted doubt over the success of the president's plan.
CNN guest co-host Kaitlan Collins, however, noted that the handouts will "help a lot of people," leading Avlon to lavish praise on the announcement.
"There has been a lot of debate over who benefits, who doesn't, is this a good decision, is it a bad decision. It will in the end, though, help a lot of people," Collins said.
CNN host John Avlon also defended President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act on August 18. ((Photo by Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images) )
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"Absolutely. I mean, millions of people. Look, in the outlines of this policy you can see the Biden Administration trying to find that Goldilocks sweet spot, right?" Avlon responded.
He continued, "I think the fundamental point is that a lot of folks who have been struggling with school debt, you know, on the bottom half of the economic scale are going to find themselves with a lot more breathing room than they had previously, and I don't see how that's bad politics at the end of the day, as well as good economic policy if you're trying to grow the economy out from the middle and bottom as Biden campaigned on. So it's a promise kept from the political standpoint."
Co-host John Berman initially pushed back, noting that people have argued that the move could be seen as political since university graduates primarily skew left. Avlon dismissed these and other criticism as issues from the right-wing.
President Biden announced that he was forgiving up to $20,000 in student loan debt, carrying an estimated price tag of $300 billion. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Look, the right's going to hit this because they probably see it as potentially popular but also a dangerous precedent," Avlon said.
He added, "I think for the people being affected by it, especially given that those folks will have to start paying their student loans again at the end of the year, this will give folks some breathing room in a meaningful way if they took that risk to go to college. Is it going to be without controversy? No. People particularly who just paid off their loans might be frustrated. I get that, but for those struggling with the debt right now this is a bit of a life raft."
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While Avlon defended the debt handouts, fellow members of his network have been more critical. On Wednesday, CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans suggested that the plan could be "inflationary" and face backlash from people who have already paid off their student loans.
Student loan debt holders take part in a demonstration outside of the White House staff entrance to demand that President Biden cancel student loan debt in August on July 27, 2022 at the Executive Offices in Washington, DC. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million)
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In another segment of the same show, Berman pressed Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on how much the plan is expected to cost and how it is expected to be paid. Cardona continued to insist that "projections were still coming out."
Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.