Featured image courtesy CNBC
Since President Biden announced his Student Loan Forgiveness Plan, Americans have taken to social media to debate the legality, feasibility, and precedent of such a far-reaching executive action. Millions of borrowers stand to benefit from student debt relief, but many social media users are wary of the potential consequences of student loan forgiveness.
If you make under $125,000, you're eligible for up to $10,000 in student loan debt relief.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 24, 2022
And almost ninety percent of the benefit will go to folks making less than $75,000 a year.
Biden’s student debt cancellation plan was first announced on Wed. Aug. 24, 2022. According to WhiteHouse.gov, “The Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education, and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000”. Some government officials, like former President Obama, were quick to voice their support.
This is life changing news for millions of borrowers working to pay back their student loans. It’s also a testament to @POTUS, his administration, and all the activists who’ve been calling for student debt relief for years. https://t.co/n4wBnHNP1E
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 25, 2022
However, sentiment surrounding the loan cancellation conversation was 90% negative, with users casting vitriol on existing predatory student loan practices as well as the President’s forgiveness plan. Many users compared student loans to PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans provided to corporations and businesses during COVID. Many businesses had their PPP loans forgiven, and social media users were quick to point out potential hypocrisy by elected officials who benefitted from PPP forgiveness yet oppose student loan forgiveness.
if you publicly come out against student loan forgiveness, the federal government should come to your house with 87,000 new irs agents kitted up with bayraktars and force you to repay every single dime you got from the PPP loans that were forgiven. pic.twitter.com/Kj997TpVXg
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) August 24, 2022
Marjorie Taylor Greene got $180,000 in business loans forgiven from the PPP program but said it’s “completely unfair” for us to forgive student loans for working- and middle-class Americans.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 27, 2022
You can’t make this stuff up.
Conversation about loan forgiveness also concerned itself with class issues as users worked to articulate their support or opposition depending on who they thought benefited most from the plan.
It’s unfair to force a truck driver to pay a loan for someone who got a PhD in gender studies.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) August 25, 2022
Taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for student loan relief and Biden’s order isn’t constitutional.
If anything, universities handing out worthless degrees should be on the hook. pic.twitter.com/wZuH6GxPII
Governor Ron DeSantis’ above tweet about “gender studies” began a rhetorical thread in the discourse that some users chose to adopt and repeat, while other users responded critically.
Notice how many conservatives are using student loan forgiveness as an opportunity to voice their disapproval of “gender studies.” When people show you who they are, pay attention.
— Eric Vanden Eykel (@evandeneykel) August 25, 2022
Conversation picked up around November 11, 2022 as users speculated that the loan forgiveness plan might be a ploy to spark a blue wave during the midterm elections. However, soon after the elections, the plan was officially blocked by Republican lawmakers from Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina who filed suit against the Biden administration, arguing that the debt cancellation plan skirts congressional authority.
It’s almost like the Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan (which has now been ruled illegal) was ploy to get people to vote blue in the midterms…
— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) November 11, 2022
Federal appeals court just blocked Biden’s unconstitutional student loan forgiveness.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) November 14, 2022
Why did they sit on this until after midterm voting?
🤔
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case on Feb. 28, 2023, and as we approach that court date social media users continue to argue about whether or not the President has the authority to enact such a wide-reaching fiscal policy. While some major political figures such as Elizabeth Warren have used the popular hashtag #CancelStudentDebt to argue that Biden has the authority through the Higher Education Act, others strongly disagree. Tweets arguing that Biden lacks authority are far less popular and gain less reach than those arguing for the legality of the plan.
380,000 borrowers across Massachusetts would have already had some of their student debt cancelled if it wasn’t for baseless lawsuits from Republican officials. The President’s legal authority to #CancelStudentDebt is clear. Hard-working Americans deserve this relief.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 30, 2023
@POTUS DOES NOT have the authority to forgive student loans on his own. The executive branch cannot spend money that has not been appropriated by Congress, per 31 USC 1301 et seq (Antideficiency Act (P.L. 97-258)) and Article I, Section 7, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution.
— #NeverForget our troops. 🇺🇸 (@willo1246) December 1, 2022
As we await the Supreme Court’s decision on this vital issue, many Clemson Tigers hold their breath as up to $20,000 of debt relief hangs in the balance. While popular opinion on social media seems eager to push the plan forward, fiscal conservatives worry that the outcome might be more than we bargained for. Keep checking the SMLC blog for more updates on the issue as we approach the Supreme Court hearing.
Author: Molly Riddell
