Some call it a conflict of interest. But it turns out that 13 Democrats who support some degree of student loan cancellation have themselves $1.5 million in educational loan debt. One of these members of congress, Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), claims that her aim in advocating the relief is “to address racial and economic equity issues.” In reality, however, since most low-income Americans don’t have college degrees, student loan forgiveness represents a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.
The Daily Caller summarizes the story:
- Over a dozen Democratic members of Congress who have supported student loan cancellation reported up to roughly $1.5 million combined in their own or a family member’s educational debt, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of financial disclosures.
- The Biden administration is reportedly mulling over a policy to forgive student loan debt for millions of borrowers and it is unclear whether income limits would be included.
- “When Members have these type of connections to issues they are directly advocating for, it leads to citizens fairly questioning whether members are advocating for the public good or their own personal interests,” said Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust….
As to this Who’s Who of We Want Money From You, Law Enforcement Today writes that “the 13 Democrats, who average 46 years old, reported student loan debt in 2021 and 2020, with debt ranging from as little as $15,000 to as much as $300,000.” The site later adds:
Among the 13 is resident Congressional bartender Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who owes around $50,000, while fellow squad member and noted anti-Semite Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) owes upwards of $100,000.
Tlaib in fact has hilariously claimed canceling student loan debt is a “racial justice issue” because…everything is a racial justice issue.
Meanwhile Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), among Democrats who last March browbeat Biden into forgiving student loans also to “address racial and economic equity issues,” disclosed her spouse owes a cool $250,000 in student loan debt.
Yet while Meng’s claim to want to strike a blow for the little guy is typical student-loan cancellation (SLC) rhetoric, it’s also the opposite of the truth. Of American adults who in 2019 reported being at or beneath the poverty line, 61 percent never attended college, and only 14 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
In other words, SLC programs are essentially a wealth transfer from the poor (or middle class) to the relatively wealthy.
Consider Rep. Grace Meng. Yes, her and her spouse’s $250,000 student loan debt is substantial. Yet her net worth is perhaps as high as $5 million, and her husband, Wayne Kye, is a dentist practicing in New York City. So this couple clearly can manage this debt. In fact, it could be asked: Why haven’t they paid if off yet? Are they waiting for Congress — with Meng’s vote — to have taxpayers do so?
Even better situated is Rashida Tlaib. Her $100,000 student loan debt is dwarfed by her reported $6 million net worth. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who as a refugee was welcomed into the U.S., has $50,000 in student loan debt while being worth $3 million, and her husband, Tim Mynett, is a partner at political consulting firm E Street Group (which received contracts from Omar’s 2020 campaign worth $2.78 million). Should these women be sucking on the taxpayer teat?
Whether they should or not, many of the 13 Democrats aren’t shy about pushing SLC, as the tweet below reflects.
It certainly would be good for Bartender Sandy.
Then there’s Omar’s input (below).
At least she was pithy. But when a reporter or commentator writes on a matter in which he has a personal stake, journalistic ethics demand he disclose his vested interest. Shouldn’t these politicians be honorable enough to follow suit?
Then, none other than Geraldo Rivera, a liberal, made some very valid points on this matter on a recent episode of Fox News’ The Five. SLC is “unfair to everyone who has paid their student loans off over the generations, so I think there’s a question of equity,” he said. “Also, you forgive it now, what about next year’s students and the year after that and the year after that? Do you keep forgiving because you forgave it in 2022?” (video below).
In the least, if Congress passes SLC, its members should exclude themselves from the program. After all, Congress has already exempted itself from things such as the Freedom of Information Act, investigatory subpoenas to obtain information for safety and health probes, and protections against retaliation for whistleblowers, as Fox News informs. (Oh, yeah, these exemptions benefit the pols.)
Returning to Rivera, he also opined, “I think college is often a scam. But it’s all those lawns, all those fountains, all those swimming pools, all those parks … someone’s paying for it.” Yes, long ago having strayed from their original purpose, colleges today are to an extent party playpens. But it’s worse than that.
They’re also left-wing propaganda mills, where young people may learn little of value while being educated out of whatever wisdom they might have had going in. They’re taught about critical race theory and the “transgender” agenda, as the focus is on the three R’s: racism, revisionism, and relativism. These institutions are the Left’s atheological seminaries, churning out the high priests of progressivism.
In fact, college-loan payoffs could be viewed as an indirect, in-kind contribution to the Democratic Party.
