For years now, we've heard untold sob stories about twenty-somethings being burdened with massive student loans that they are hard-pressed to pay off.
Often, young people squandered their student loan money and first few years out of high school by pursuing worthless degrees in majors such as English Lit, sociology, or women's studies. Then they act surprised and disillusioned when the only jobs they can land with their useless sheepskins are minimum wage or not much more than that. It's bad news when you're $40K in debt to Uncle Sam for student loans and, despite having a bachelor's degree, are working for $9 an hour at the coffee shop.
So now President Biden is considering canceling all student loan debt. The nationwide total is an appalling $1.6 trillion. But millions of young people are not affected -- i.e., those who took out student loans and repaid them, those who never went to college or borrowed money, and those who borrowed money for purposes other than college tuition, such as for small business expenses and overhead.
For instance, consider a young man who borrowed money to purchase pickup trucks, a back hoe and a Kubota compact tractor for a small construction business. He faces the same pressures as college graduates to bring in enough money to pay back his loans, but people like him cannot garner the public sympathy to be considered for loan forgiveness. In the minds of many liberals, college graduates are far more worthy of sympathy and empathy than grimy, grubby blue collar guys who drive pickup trucks and work with their hands.
It's quite possible that Slow Joe's plans to kowtow to millennials may backfire. Many of them, even if they have been on the liberal side for years, could be cynical and skeptical about his intentions. Maybe, just maybe, they will recognize student loan forgiveness as simply a brazen political ploy to buy votes in the 2022 midterm elections.
Perhaps they will assess "conditions on the ground," an expression military generals like to use, and realize they are not in very good shape. Raging inflation, rising interest rates, the constant threat of violent crime, high-horse badgering from Uncle Sam about supposed systemic racism, and nanny state micromanaging on COVID-19 vaccines and masks are just some of the annoyances driving people crazy.
Nope. On balance, I don't think that young people, despite their frequent ignorance and gullibility, are what you'd call a "cheap date" in the vernacular. They probably can't be bought off with a butt-kissing student loan forgiveness policy. Even those who have supported Democrats in the past may decide not to vote at all, or possibly to vote for Republicans or alternative party candidates.
And it goes without saying, those who paid back their student loans, as well as those who never took out student loans, are not very likely to reward Democrats for helping others and ignoring their needs.
The Biden administration's failures have been so glaring, and the ruinous consequences so widespread, that its internal advisors believe they need a "moonshot" to boost Democrats' chances in November. Sadly for them, but thankfully for our nation, they are simply prolonging clueless, self-destructive behavior and won't get far.
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