‘What is My Party Doing?!’ Longtime Democratic Strategist Paul Begala Trashes Biden Forgiving Student Debt
Longtime Democratic strategist Paul Begala trashed President Joe Biden forgiving student debt.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash on Sunday, Begala, a CNN contributor, said that the money that will forgive student debt could be better used.
“For that amount of money, you could fund free Pre-K for every 3 and 4-year-old for 10 years. You’d do a lot more good for poor people, communities of color and the underprivileged by doing Pre-K,” he said. “You could forgive all medical debt, which unlike student debt is not freely entered into. So Democrats, I’m a progressive, I want to help folks. But I think this is terrible policy.”
Begala went on to cite Democrats who have expressed disapproval of the move.
“Tim Ryan is in a tough race in a tough state, and he can’t stand this idea,” he said, referring to the Ohio Senate race.
“Senator [Elizabeth] Warren is all for it. She’s not exactly from a swing state in Massachusetts. Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto from Nevada got a tough race, she doesn’t like this. Michael Bennet, the senator from Colorado, he doesn’t like this,” continued Begala. “Democrats, good Democrats. Sharice Davids is one of the more impressive Democrats, the only Democrat in Congress from Kansas, she doesn’t like this.”
Begala said that forgiving student debt doesn’t help the disadvantaged.
“So what is my party doing with this?! They’re disadvantaging — I think they’re not helping the people that we’re here to help which is poor people and underprivileged communities,” he said. “And they’re not helping their politicians who are running.”
Biden announced last week he is forgiving up to $20,000 in debt of Pell Grant recipients for individuals making less than $125,000 annually and couples making under $250,000 annually.
Other student debt up to $10,000 will be forgiven for those under those same income caps. The president also extended the moratorium on student loan payments for the last time. The moratorium, which was implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will end on Dec. 31. Biden also capped repayment of undergraduate loans at 5 percent of monthly income.
Watch above via CNN.
