How realistic is Elizabeth Warren's plan to cancel student debt?
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveils sweeping proposal to eliminate student loan debt and make all public colleges tuition-free; reaction from Peter Morici, former chief economist for the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s plan to cancel existing student loan debt for millions of Americans is facing questions whether it’s fair to use taxpayers’ money to pay off someone else’s agreed commitments and if the people who paid off their student debts would be penalized for meticulous financial planning.
The leading 2020 presidential candidate unveiled her plan on Monday, going further than most of other Democratic candidates when it comes to education policies, pledging to cancel almost all student loan debt for 42 million Americans.
Under Warren’s plan, each person’s student debt would get a relief of $50,000 if household income is up to $100,000. Higher incomes would also be entitled to massive debt reductions, while only those households with earnings of over $250,000 would get no student debt reduction.
“For example, a person with household income of $130,000 gets $40,000 in cancellation [of student debt], while a person with household income of $160,000 gets $30,000 in cancellation,” Warren in a blog post.
But many went on to social media raise their questions about the plan that in their view penalizes those who didn’t go to overpriced schools and honored their commitments by diligently paying their debts.
“Do I get a refund for having chosen a cheaper public university so I wouldn't be riddled with a ton of debt?” wrote Josh Jordan. “Seriously this is stupid - everyone knows what they're borrowing when they go through the process and I want no part in paying off everyone else's student loans.”
“You better retro that and pay back all of us who diligently paid our loans back in full if you pull this bull----,” wrote a Twitter user.
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“NO! I signed on the dotted line, I will pay it off. I still owe over 40K and I refuse to let you rob me of fulfilling my obligation,” wrote another user.
"But I don't wanna pay for other people's college or their college debts," conservative author Kurt Schlichter summed up the proposal.
According to the details provided by Warren, her student debt cancelation plan has a one-off price tag of $640 billion to the government.
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She claims that the cost of the policy, in addition to her proposed universal free college, would be “be “more than covered by my Ultra-Millionaire Tax -- a 2% annual tax on the 75,000 families with $50 million or more in wealth.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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