A “responsible and fair” project: Joe Biden defended this Wednesday his decision to partially erase the colossal student debt that weighs on his fellow citizens, against the Republican opposition that accuses him of fueling inflation.
“Per my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle-class families a break as they prepare to resume Federal student loan payments in January 2023,” Joe Biden tweeted.
The measure, announced less than three months before the traditionally difficult midterm elections for the presidential party, affects people who earn less than $125,000 a year. It erases $10,000 for people who have not received a federal scholarship for their university studies, and $20,000 for those of more modest means who have received it.
“A giant step towards solving the crisis”
Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren hailed in a joint statement “a giant step toward resolving the student debt crisis.” The leader of the Republican Party, Ronna McDaniel, on the other hand, judged that this measure “unfairly punishes Americans who have saved for college or have chosen a different career.”
American universities can charge between $10,000 and $70,000 a year, and many students start their working lives with a lot of debt.
According to government estimates, the average American student graduates in $25,000 in debt, a sum that many take years or even decades to pay off.
In total, some 45 million borrowers in the country collectively owe $1.6 trillion, according to the White House.
Source: BFM TV
