Bernie Sanders offers blistering assessment of Ted Cruz’s proposal to reinstate student loan debt

21 September 2022

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is offering a blistering assessment of Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) latest push to have student loans reinstated.

Under President Joe Biden's plan, more than 40 million student loan borrowers will have up to $20,000 in student debt canceled. Although the initiative will be life-changing for a substantial number of Americans, many Republican lawmakers aren't pleased with the plan.

Per Mediaite, the president is "forgiving $10,000 in government debt for every borrower making less than $125,000 a year. Borrowers with Pell Grants will have up to $20,000 canceled."

On Tuesday, September 20, Sanders appeared on All In with Chris Hayes where he weighed in with his take on Biden's move. Although he noted that he likely would have offered more relief, he did commend Biden for the $20,000 in student loan debt relief that he offered.

“You know, I have the radical idea that good policy is good politics,” Sanders responded. “And it is good policy to cancel student debt in this country. I cannot tell you, Chris, how many young and middle-aged people I have talked to who have hesitated having children, can’t afford to buy a house, whose lives are in economic trouble because they’re paying off these huge student debts.”

He added, “I’m not gonna tell you it’s 100 percent popular, but it is what the people want. And you know what? If you do what the people want and not what the corporate world wants, or billionaire campaign contributors want, you win elections.”

Hayes went on to discuss Cruz's latest scheme in hopes of overturning Biden's student loan relief initiative.

“Ted Cruz has been plotting with folks to try to challenge it in court,” Hayes noted. “Republican legal challenges are expected to start once the applications start rolling out. Legal experts say it’s possible the administration’s plan could be frozen by a federal judge. What do you think about this plot to try to find someone that has standing to block this in court?”

According to Sanders, that idea will likely be a political loss.

“I think it sounds to me very much what happened with the Supreme Court ruling on abortion,” he replied. “It turns out that the overwhelming majority of the American people think it is women who have the right to control their own lives, not the Republican Party. Strong majority of the American people think we should cancel student debt. And if Senator Cruz and others want to challenge that, I think that’s gonna hurt them politically. It’s the wrong thing to do and I think it hurts them politically.”

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