Biden Considering Student Loan Payment Pause Just In Time For Midterms

With President Biden’s approval ratings flirting with outer darkness, Bloomberg reports that the administration is mulling a scheme to pause student loan repayments, as well as forgiving $10,000 in student loan debt.

It’s no surprise why… as even Bloomberg frames the plan as an attempt “to appeal to young voters ahead of the November midterms.”

The plan is intended to appeal to voters under age 30, whose enthusiasm — or lack thereof — in November could be key to determining whether Democrats retain control of the House and Senate. -Bloomberg

Which is weird, since just yesterday Biden and his spox assured the world that America is doing great, since ‘economic indicators…do not show that we are in a recession or even a pre-recession.’

“So, if you look at the economic indicators as the president was laying out, if you look at the labor market, right now, we are seeing historic unemployment. If you look at low unemployment at 3.6, if you look at the average amount of jobs that have been created, it’s about 400 [thousand] per month. Those indicators do not show that we are in a recession or even a pre-recession,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

KJP: “Economic indicators…do not show that we are in a recession or even a pre-recession.” pic.twitter.com/krVl2xzQUp

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 25, 2022

So why would the country need student loan relief? Is it simply because when you can’t earn votes, buy em?

The current moratorium on student loan payments is set to expire Aug. 31, while the ‘fresh pause’ could last until the end of 2022 or until next summer, anonymous officials told Bloomberg.

Debt forgiveness may follow the extension, but the president hasn’t reached a final decision on either move, the people said. Biden has been weighing appeals from progressives to forgive large amounts of student loan debt almost since entering office, and the extended deliberations have frustrated some advocates. 

The people asked not to be identified discussing internal White House deliberations. A White House spokesman said Biden and his team are still assessing their options and no decision has been made.

The proposed debt forgiveness falls far short of the $50,000 per borrower called for by the NAACP, progressive Democratic lawmakers, and powerful labor unions.

Meanwhile, eligibility for the forgiveness would likely be capped at incomes between $125,000 and $150,000.