Sen. Bernie Sanders is expected to introduce a new student loan debt elimination plan rivaling that of his Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren. The proposal would effectively cancel out student loan debt for every American.
Sanders is expected to submit the new legislation on Monday. It would specifically cancel $1.6 trillion of student loan undergraduate and graduate debt for approximately 45 million people.
“We are going to forgive student debt in this country,” Sanders told a crowd in South Carolina Sunday night. “We have for the first time in the modern history of this country a younger generation that if we don’t change it, and we intend to change it, will have a lower standard of living than their parents, more in debt, lower wages than their parents, unable to buy the house that they desire.”
“Congress voted to bail out the crooks on Wall Street, do you remember that?” he asked. “They provided seven hundred billion in federal loans and in addition trillions of dollars in zero or very low interest loans. So I think the time is now for Wall Street to repay that obligation to the American people. If we could bail out Wall Street, we sure as hell can reduce student debt in this country.”
At first glance, there appears to be no limitation slated for eligibility purposes and would be paid for by a new tax implementation on Wall Street.
Warren has her own debt relief package on the line as well. Her plan offers support to Americans based on income eligibility levels. The goal being to close the racial wealth gap versus student debt relief for all Americans regardless of pay status.
It definitely makes the Sanders plan more appealing for most because the minute the legislation is signed into law, student loan debt of any kind is erased.
Sanders is expected to announce the legislation Monday with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Whether it has legs to put him over the top of the Democratic candidates remains to be seen, but how do you argue with student loan debt relief for all Americans?