Sanders' student debt forgiveness plan could give 100x as much to future lawyers, execs and doctors [View all]

[highplainsdem]

as it gives to the poorest students who might owe only small amounts.

That's because typical law school grads, as well as typical grads of the best business schools for MBAs, usually have more than $100,000 in student loans. Med school grads usually have over $200,000.

These are loans that weren't forced on anyone. They were taken out in the expectation that they wouldn't be that hard to pay off, given the high incomes those graduates can expect.

Forgiving those loans, as if these graduates need as much help as someone stuggling with student debt while working a minimum-wage job, is NOT socialism, or even any kind of social safety net.

This is an extremely regressive proposal.

Warren's plan is also regressive, as was pointed out in an analysis by an Obama Treasury Dept official now with Brookings:

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/04/24/how-progressive-is-senator-elizabeth-warrens-loan-forgiveness-proposal/


But the Sanders plan is much worse. Much more regressive.

And the attack ads write themselves.

Democrats are usually skeptical, if not sharply critical, of spending that primarily benefits people with higher incomes.

We shouldn't let concern about student debt blind us to how regressive these plans, especially the Sanders plan, really are.

It's important to help people who are genuinely struggling with student debt.

But people who took on hundreds of thousands in student debt in the expectation of making hundreds of thousands a year (if not more) in the future because of those degrees do NOT need to be bailed out.

Btw, this is a separate problem from funding public colleges, including community colleges, and bringing the costs for those down as far as possible to help students.

That's something that would help college students in general.

Forgiving $100,000+ in student loans for people who will likely make millions more than others with student debt is simply a bad use of money.

And God knows we have enough other needs for that money, from infrastructure to the environment.