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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks about her own college debt experience during a December 2, 2021 House floor speech on canceling student loans. (Photo: YouTube screen grab)
Amid reports that his administration is considering extending the federal college loan payment moratorium scheduled to expire on February 1, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday added her voice to the growing chorus of calls by progressives for President Joe Biden to cancel student debt.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) cited the Biden administration's about-face decision to distribute millions of free at-home Covid-19 testing kits, tweeting that the idea was "initially laughed at, yet now it's happening."
\u201cWe can change decisions and conditions. We just did with the idea of sending out millions of free at-home COVID tests - initially laughed at, yet now it\u2019s happening.\n\nWe can do it again. Tens of millions will get relief. It\u2019s time for @POTUS to #CancelStudentDebt.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1640123995
Politico's Michael Stratford reported Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Education "says it may postpone" its plan to restart monthly federal student loan repayments in February.
As Common Dreams reported, progressive lawmakers including Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) joined grassroots activists such as the Debt Collective in encouraging the administration to extend the moratorium.
Ocasio-Cortez--one of dozens of congressional lawmakers still paying off their college loans--is a longtime advocate of student debt cancellation. Speaking on the House floor earlier this month, she said U.S. student indebtedness is "getting ridiculous" and that she did not attend graduate school because "getting another degree would drown me in debt I would never be able to surpass."
"Growing up I was told since I was a child, 'Your destiny is to go to college. That's what's gonna lift our family up and out. That is our future,'" she said.
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"We still do that today," Ocasio-Cortez added. "It's teenagers signing up for what is often hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and we just do that. And our government allows that. We give 17-year-olds the ability to sign on for hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and we think that's responsible policy."
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. |
Amid reports that his administration is considering extending the federal college loan payment moratorium scheduled to expire on February 1, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday added her voice to the growing chorus of calls by progressives for President Joe Biden to cancel student debt.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) cited the Biden administration's about-face decision to distribute millions of free at-home Covid-19 testing kits, tweeting that the idea was "initially laughed at, yet now it's happening."
\u201cWe can change decisions and conditions. We just did with the idea of sending out millions of free at-home COVID tests - initially laughed at, yet now it\u2019s happening.\n\nWe can do it again. Tens of millions will get relief. It\u2019s time for @POTUS to #CancelStudentDebt.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1640123995
Politico's Michael Stratford reported Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Education "says it may postpone" its plan to restart monthly federal student loan repayments in February.
As Common Dreams reported, progressive lawmakers including Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) joined grassroots activists such as the Debt Collective in encouraging the administration to extend the moratorium.
Ocasio-Cortez--one of dozens of congressional lawmakers still paying off their college loans--is a longtime advocate of student debt cancellation. Speaking on the House floor earlier this month, she said U.S. student indebtedness is "getting ridiculous" and that she did not attend graduate school because "getting another degree would drown me in debt I would never be able to surpass."
"Growing up I was told since I was a child, 'Your destiny is to go to college. That's what's gonna lift our family up and out. That is our future,'" she said.
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"We still do that today," Ocasio-Cortez added. "It's teenagers signing up for what is often hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and we just do that. And our government allows that. We give 17-year-olds the ability to sign on for hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and we think that's responsible policy."
Amid reports that his administration is considering extending the federal college loan payment moratorium scheduled to expire on February 1, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday added her voice to the growing chorus of calls by progressives for President Joe Biden to cancel student debt.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) cited the Biden administration's about-face decision to distribute millions of free at-home Covid-19 testing kits, tweeting that the idea was "initially laughed at, yet now it's happening."
\u201cWe can change decisions and conditions. We just did with the idea of sending out millions of free at-home COVID tests - initially laughed at, yet now it\u2019s happening.\n\nWe can do it again. Tens of millions will get relief. It\u2019s time for @POTUS to #CancelStudentDebt.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1640123995
Politico's Michael Stratford reported Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Education "says it may postpone" its plan to restart monthly federal student loan repayments in February.
As Common Dreams reported, progressive lawmakers including Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) joined grassroots activists such as the Debt Collective in encouraging the administration to extend the moratorium.
Ocasio-Cortez--one of dozens of congressional lawmakers still paying off their college loans--is a longtime advocate of student debt cancellation. Speaking on the House floor earlier this month, she said U.S. student indebtedness is "getting ridiculous" and that she did not attend graduate school because "getting another degree would drown me in debt I would never be able to surpass."
"Growing up I was told since I was a child, 'Your destiny is to go to college. That's what's gonna lift our family up and out. That is our future,'" she said.
Related Content
"We still do that today," Ocasio-Cortez added. "It's teenagers signing up for what is often hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and we just do that. And our government allows that. We give 17-year-olds the ability to sign on for hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and we think that's responsible policy."