This seems to be a rolling wave of bad consequences — young people have debts and don’t want to start families, they can’t buy a house, they don’t mature, they don’t grow up and realize that Liberalism doesn’t work: they desperately want someone to “rescue” them.
It’s bad for everyone.
The main point is that with 85% of the loans federally guaranteed, taxpayers are on the hook. For whatever reason people do not grasp the fact that this is a zero-sum game - what student borrowers (or parent guarantors under Parent Plus loans) do not pay back, taxpayers will.
Forgiveness programs merely move the line between borrower and taxpayer responsibility.
Congress needs to effectively cap the amount that borrowers can take out. I understand that there are stated limits, but there must be significant loopholes. I had a fellow come to my office last year with $588K of total student loan debt, and I have spoken with a Seattle lawyer who says she had a client with $750K+ in total debts. That needs to stop.
Taxpayers do not have a role in the decisions students make regarding college - they should not be in such a position of vulnerability when it comes to the consequences of such decisions.