Ben Bernanke on forgiving student debt:

[Caliman73]

55. Same response.

Same reason that stupid ass Proposition 13 has not been repealed or amended. Wealthy people have made the situation a third rail in the state. California is fairly solidly Democratic, however there is a big red streak throughout the state. Shifting the burden for education back to the wealthy would likely be political suicide for many people and would tip the balance of power back to what it was prior to the 2nd Jerry Brown administration. The reason why California has some better policies is that we have a 2/3rds majority in both houses of our legislature. If we lose that then everything we can do to push the state forward is basically stalled as you need 2/3rds super majority to do any revenue legislation (again, thanks Proposition 13).

Unfortunately we are not the FDR Democratic Party any more, we are the Democratic Party of Kristen Sinema and Joe Manchin where holdouts can wield a great amount of influence, even in Blue California.

Same reason we are having this discussion on Democratic Underground. Some people have bought into the Conservative framing around "It's not fair that you have your debt forgiven or reduced because...." They think (with good reason I suppose, that the burden of debt would be shifted to the middle and working class). The proposal is to make a small tax on high speed stock transactions (the kind that billionaires and corporations use) to offset the cost, or to do a 2% wealth tax on the highest asset holders in the country. Naturally the middle class and working class are afraid that the wealthy will balk and the burden will be shifted down.

Like it or not, the wealthy have an influence in the Democratic Party too. They shouldn't, but they do.