Biden 'Can and Must Go Big,' Say Progressives Urging President to #CancelStudentDebt

After he dismissed the idea of cancelling $50,000 of federally held student loan debt per borrower through executive action, President Joe Biden on Wednesday faced a barrage of criticisms from progressive activists and lawmakers who called for putting more pressure on the president to use every power at his disposal to provide economic relief to the more than 40 million Americans saddled with a combined $1.7 trillion in student debt.

Does Biden “have the authority to cancel student debt with the stroke of a pen?” asked Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) on Tuesday night after the president told a national television audience that he “will not” forgive $50,000 per borrower even though 60% of registered voters support the move.

“Yes,” she answered, linking to a video explaining why the Biden administration has the authority to cancel student debt, as well as a petition calling for him to issue an executive order doing so.

Pressley was not alone. As Common Dreams reported earlier Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) all challenged Biden’s false narrative about who would benefit from the measure and encouraged advocates to, as Ocasio-Cortez put it, “keep pushing!”

Today is a great day to call your representative and ask what their stance on student loan forgiveness is! ☺️

And if you know & appreciate your rep’s stance on this or other issues, it’s helpful to call and thank them.

You can find your rep’s info here:https://t.co/t177CriorL

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 17, 2021

Throughout the day, numerous progressives denounced Biden’s opposition to forgiving up to $50,000 per borrower and called on the president to immediately cancel student debt—which Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) called “a government-sanctioned punishment for… daring to achieve in our higher education system”—with the stroke of a pen.

Bowman is one of the Democratic lawmakers who joined Schumer, Warren, Pressley, and others at a press conference earlier this month to reintroduce a “visionary” debt cancellation plan for federal borrowers.

Cancel every penny of student debt.

Go Big.

— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) February 17, 2021

If we got TRILLIONS to spend on bailing out big banks & the 1%, we got to take action to cancel student loan debt.

In PA, we have 3rd highest rate of student loan debt in

Avg debt is $39K

It is time to do what’s right and cancel student loan debt. pic.twitter.com/GTWJpnVTVz

— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) February 17, 2021

Using her own story—which included being victimized by the predatory for-profit college industry before attending a public university—as an example, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) highlighted how student debt cancellation, far from solving “a rich kid problem,” would advance economic and racial justice.

As Omar explained, cancelling $50,000 of student debt per borrower would help ordinary families who have been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Contrary to Biden’s false claims that the biggest beneficiares would be the elite graduates of Ivy League institutions, student loan forgiveness would be most beneficial to low- and middle-income households, especially Black and Brown Americans disproportionately burdened by debt.

1.) He does have the power to cancel student debt.
2.) Early childhood education is not funded by student debt.
3.) Debt burden is debt burden regardless of the school people attend. I went to a public university and I still walked out with debt because MY FAMILY IS POOR! https://t.co/C0oNuUMxHj

— Amira Hassan (@itsAmira_H) February 17, 2021

$50k in student debt cancellation
$2k monthly survival checks
$15 minimum wage

We can and must go big. The American people are counting on us.

— Rep. Mondaire Jones (@RepMondaire) February 17, 2021

Americans for Financial Reform, which has led demands for Biden to cancel $50,000 per borrower through executive action as a way to improve working people’s lives amid a devastating economic crisis while also reducing racial inequality, on Wednesday said that “far more than $10,000 in cancellation is required to provide aid that 44 million families and the economy need.”

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Wednesday tweeted that Biden “has the authority to issue an executive order that will cancel $50,000 of student loan debt for every borrower.”

“It will be an act of justice, economic stimulus, and urgently needed relief all at once,” Markey added, “and I urge him to act now.”

While progressive lawmakers are urging their constituents to push Biden to take action, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said that if the president won’t do it, “then we must deliver in Congress,” adding: “45 million people are in need of our help.”

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