For months, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has pressed Joe Biden to cancel student loan debt, should Biden become the next president.
In September, Schumer said, “Education is supposed to be a ladder up, but for too many the burden of student debt has become an anchor holding them down.”
Schumer added, “Massive student loan debt is exacerbating the historic and overlapping crises our country is facing, especially for communities of color, which have been hit hardest by the health and economic consequences of COVID-19. Our resolution lays out a way for the president to change that. Canceling student loan debt would help boost our struggling economy and close the racial wealth gap that has persisted for far too long.”
Apparently, Schumer is getting impatient and is now imploring Biden to singlehandedly cancel student loan debt soon after he is inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
On December 7, Schumer said, “We have come to the conclusion that President Biden can undo this debt, can forgive $50,000 of debt the first day he becomes president.”
Harkening back to President Obama’s infamous threat that he could do a lot with a pen and a phone, Schumer added, “You don’t need Congress. All you need is the flick of a pen.”
Apparently, Schumer is happy to cede legislative authority to the president, when the president happens to align with his political agenda.
However, this bodes badly for the future of the republic.
Schumer’s proclivity to increase executive power when it suits his political purposes undermines the fundamental principles of our nation’s founding, such as the separation of powers and our system of checks and balances.
Schumer’s short-sighted attempt to placate students who are in debt by cancelling their loans is just another step in the direction of socialism, and in the long run, it will do absolutely nothing to solve the student debt crisis.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is the editorial director and a research fellow at The Heartland Institute, as well as a researcher and contributing editor at StoppingSocialism.com.
