The Conversation (0)
Harry Fletcher
Aug 25, 2022
Biden announces student loan debt cancellation plan
IndyTV
Millions of US graduates are getting a little relief on their student loan repayments, and it’s sending social media into overdrive.
President Joe Biden has announced plans to help those who took out federal student loans to pay for their college education, and who make less than $125,000 a year, up to $10,000 in debt.
Millions will now have $10,000 of their debts cancelled, while the pandemic-era pause on payments will continue through to 31 December.
Ben Shapiro might not be a fan, but countless people have been sharing their reactions – and the news has become an instant meme.
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\u201cthe official Republican response to Biden's student loan forgiveness\u201d— Kolby Lee (@Kolby Lee) 1661370426
\u201cJoe Biden taking 10k off my student loans\u201d— Oluwajomiloju (@Oluwajomiloju) 1661273397
\u201cThe student loans conversation really shows how evil-minded people can be. If something goes to make other people\u2019s lives easier, they react as if it\u2019s a personal insult to them and really argue that people should be made to suffer unnecessarily.\u201d— Zito (@Zito) 1661356352
\u201c"Canceling student loan debt is a gift to the wealthy" my brother in Christ, wealthy people don't *have* student loan debt. They have wealth.\u201d— Barred and Boujee (@Barred and Boujee) 1661193003
\u201cme staying quite during the student loan discourse for personal reasons\u201d— Jason Harrison (@Jason Harrison) 1661383157
\u201cEvery college in the USA raising their tuitions by $10,000 after seeing the student loan forgiveness pass\u201d— Wall Street Memes (@Wall Street Memes) 1661381268
\u201cI paid off all of my student loan debt and I absolutely, unequivocally support forgiving *other people's* loan debt because I'm not a ghoul who derives his worth by how much other people suffer.\u201d— Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen) 1661367024
\u201cSo it\u2019s \u201csocialism\u201d when you give $10,000 to working people to forgive student loans but it\u2019s \u201ceconomic relief\u201d when you give $1,200,000,000,000 to the super rich to forgive their predatory loans?\u201d— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel Jollett) 1661359843
\u201cpeople who already paid off their student loans right now:\u201d— \ud835\udc12\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1a\ud83d\udd2a (@\ud835\udc12\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1a\ud83d\udd2a) 1661396376
\u201cBoomers complaining about student loan forgiveness\u201d— rainygay (@rainygay) 1661268252
\u201cThe student loan debt relief, explained\u201d— Trung Phan (@Trung Phan) 1661360336
\u201cStudent loan cancellation in a nutshell\u201d— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@Mostly Peaceful Memes) 1661374430
Speaking on Wednesday from the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Biden spoke about the decision and recalled how his late father’s “greatest regret” was not attending college, and how he did not want his son to suffer the same fate.
“He‘d say: ‘Joey you're gonna be a college man,’ and I’d say: ‘Dad, why does that matter? I mean, you could still get fired if you're a college man’”.
Biden said his father replied: “But they can never take it away from you. They can never take your education away”.
“My dad was like millions of parents all across the country ... he believed – as I do – that education was a ticket to a better life,” he said.
“Our approach is why America’s economic recovery was faster and stronger than any other advanced nation in the world. And now it's time to address the burden of student debt the same way,” he said.
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