Biden and the Democrats Better Fight Like Hell for Student Debt Relief

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision today to shoot down President Joe Biden’s Student Debt Relief plan, all elected Democrats and all people of conscience need to rally around the issues of Student Debt relief and affordable higher education. This doesn’t mean vague generalities but specific action, as outlined below, with President Biden taking the lead.

The student debt crisis is outrageously unjust. In mid-20th century America, public higher education was virtually free for students. This history shows us what is possible. A return to free public higher education for all—as well as universal student debt relief—is the appropriate corrective to what has unnecessarily been inflicted on recent generations of college and university students.

As such, all Congresspeople should support Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s (D-Wash.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) College for All Act, as well as legislation modeled after Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) Student Debt Cancellation Act. We also invite all American residents to join the growing movements for universal student debt cancellation and for nationwide fully-funded free public higher education.

The Democratic Party needs to commit to making student debt relief a signature part of its platform going forward until the student debt crisis is fully resolved.

We must also respond to this moment with pragmatism. We recognize that one of the two main political parties, the GOP, vehemently opposes Student Debt Relief and is fine with stranding generations of recent students in hopeless debt peonage. Thus, it is incumbent upon Democrats to take immediate action, to signal that they are not abandoning the tens of millions of Americans who were poised to receive relief through Biden’s plan.

As such, it is incumbent upon President Biden to act. President Bident must do everything in his power immediately to protect the people holding student debt, which is even more urgent now because they had been promised much-needed relief by his plan.

Therefore, while Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) remains committed to universal student debt relief, we call upon President Biden to consider strategies, other than the one shot down by the Court, to take executive action to provide immediate relief for all people holding student debt, at least at the level of his latest Executive Action debt relief plan.

However, given that we must also anticipate right-wing legal challenges to any Presidential action, and given that such challenges could delay the implementation of such action, we also beseech Democratic leadership in Congress to draft legislation that, at least, effectively replicates Biden’s student debt relief package. It seems clear that the courts would be unable to negate an act of Congress.

Finally, the Democratic Party needs to commit to making student debt relief a signature part of its platform going forward until the student debt crisis is fully resolved.

Indeed, if the Democrats hope to continue to receive overwhelming support from young Americans (which has been consistent in recent election cycles), the party must commit nationwide to support such measures and legislation—just as they must highlight the party’s support for codifying Roe v Wade and The John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Thus, it is incumbent upon Democrats to take immediate action, to signal that they are not abandoning the tens of millions of Americans who were poised to receive relief through Biden’s plan.

Free, or almost free, higher public education was the norm across America only a few decades ago—and it was central to the unprecedented wealth and growth of American society in the mid-20th century.

On top of that, it is essential that we seize this key moment to highlight the root cause of the student debt crisis—the outrageous cost of higher education in the United States. Thus, we are also calling on all Americans, young, old, and in-between, to join in a nationwide movement for Universal Fully-funded Free Higher Public Education.

PDA is proud to be a founding member of a coalition convened by Higher Education Labor United (HELU) that is calling for exactly that. Free, or almost free, higher public education was the norm across America only a few decades ago—and it was central to the unprecedented wealth and growth of American society in the mid-20th century. Just like half-a-century ago, free higher public education in the 21st Century will be easily affordable and will provide unparalleled benefits for the general society.

Indeed, taken collectively, the network of public higher education facilities across America are, by an order of magnitude, vastly superior to any other public higher education system in the world. In an era when higher education is a prerequisite for ever-more jobs, it is common sense that these public institutions be available cost free for all residents, just like public high schools. The society-wide benefits will be unparalleled, just as they were in the decades after the GI Bill.

The recent high-cost regimen is simply unjust. It has condemned generations of Americans to a life of virtual debt peonage for the ‘crime’ of pursuing an education. While we condemn today’s decision by the Supreme Court, we must redouble our efforts for economic justice in higher education and invite all Americans who want to live in a society with a rekindled sense of hope and possibility to join in a campaign to make higher education available and affordable for all—and eliminate the scourge of student debt.