SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"People deserve a future unencumbered by the burden of student debt," said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). (Photo: Joe Brusky/flickr/cc)
By Wide, Bipartisan Majority, New Poll Affirms Key Progressive Demand: Congress Should Act to Lessen Crushing Student Debt
New poll comes on heels of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) saying that students are "shouldering a trillion and a half dollars in student loan debt and it's crushing an entire generation."
Jan 06, 2019
A new poll out Monday points to a progressive mandate for the 116th Congress--it's "extremely important" to do something about the crushing student debt crisis, now at a record high $1.465 trillion, a bipartisan majority says.
The Politico/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health survey asked Americans to prioritize six educational policy areas, and according to a bipartisan majority--79 percent--"finding ways to lessen student debt" should be the top priority. That belief was backed by 87 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans who said tackling student debt was "extremely important."
\u201cIn a new @politico poll, 87% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans indicated that, among education priorities for the #116thCongress, combating #studentdebt was "extremely important."\nhttps://t.co/7ax13oEk8K\u201d— Higher Ed, Not Debt (@Higher Ed, Not Debt) 1546878663
The poll also revealed strong support for "increasing spending on K-12 public education." Overall, 76 percent of respondents said it was an extremely important priority, landing it the number two spot. That strong backing came from 88 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans.
As Siona Peterous recently laid out at Inequality.org, "With more than 44.5 million people in some type of student loan debt, it's increasingly becoming part of the platforms of high-profile progressive policymakers."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), for one, has denounced the "grotesque amounts" of education-related debt plaguing former students, while newly-sworn in Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) recently declared student debt "nothing but a continuation of class divides that persist because of structural inequity."
"People deserve a future unencumbered by the burden of student debt," she said, "and the money they save will be immediately put back into our economy."
For her part, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who recently threw her name into the 2020 presidential race, said on Saturday that students are "shouldering a trillion and a half dollars in student loan debt and it's crushing an entire generation."
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A new poll out Monday points to a progressive mandate for the 116th Congress--it's "extremely important" to do something about the crushing student debt crisis, now at a record high $1.465 trillion, a bipartisan majority says.
The Politico/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health survey asked Americans to prioritize six educational policy areas, and according to a bipartisan majority--79 percent--"finding ways to lessen student debt" should be the top priority. That belief was backed by 87 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans who said tackling student debt was "extremely important."
\u201cIn a new @politico poll, 87% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans indicated that, among education priorities for the #116thCongress, combating #studentdebt was "extremely important."\nhttps://t.co/7ax13oEk8K\u201d— Higher Ed, Not Debt (@Higher Ed, Not Debt) 1546878663
The poll also revealed strong support for "increasing spending on K-12 public education." Overall, 76 percent of respondents said it was an extremely important priority, landing it the number two spot. That strong backing came from 88 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans.
As Siona Peterous recently laid out at Inequality.org, "With more than 44.5 million people in some type of student loan debt, it's increasingly becoming part of the platforms of high-profile progressive policymakers."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), for one, has denounced the "grotesque amounts" of education-related debt plaguing former students, while newly-sworn in Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) recently declared student debt "nothing but a continuation of class divides that persist because of structural inequity."
"People deserve a future unencumbered by the burden of student debt," she said, "and the money they save will be immediately put back into our economy."
For her part, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who recently threw her name into the 2020 presidential race, said on Saturday that students are "shouldering a trillion and a half dollars in student loan debt and it's crushing an entire generation."
A new poll out Monday points to a progressive mandate for the 116th Congress--it's "extremely important" to do something about the crushing student debt crisis, now at a record high $1.465 trillion, a bipartisan majority says.
The Politico/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health survey asked Americans to prioritize six educational policy areas, and according to a bipartisan majority--79 percent--"finding ways to lessen student debt" should be the top priority. That belief was backed by 87 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans who said tackling student debt was "extremely important."
\u201cIn a new @politico poll, 87% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans indicated that, among education priorities for the #116thCongress, combating #studentdebt was "extremely important."\nhttps://t.co/7ax13oEk8K\u201d— Higher Ed, Not Debt (@Higher Ed, Not Debt) 1546878663
The poll also revealed strong support for "increasing spending on K-12 public education." Overall, 76 percent of respondents said it was an extremely important priority, landing it the number two spot. That strong backing came from 88 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans.
As Siona Peterous recently laid out at Inequality.org, "With more than 44.5 million people in some type of student loan debt, it's increasingly becoming part of the platforms of high-profile progressive policymakers."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), for one, has denounced the "grotesque amounts" of education-related debt plaguing former students, while newly-sworn in Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) recently declared student debt "nothing but a continuation of class divides that persist because of structural inequity."
"People deserve a future unencumbered by the burden of student debt," she said, "and the money they save will be immediately put back into our economy."
For her part, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who recently threw her name into the 2020 presidential race, said on Saturday that students are "shouldering a trillion and a half dollars in student loan debt and it's crushing an entire generation."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.