Student loan forgiveness ought to be coupled with reforms for higher education

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MINOT, N.D. — I am opposed to President Joe Biden’s decision to forgive student loan debt.

This is me speaking against personal interest.

My household stands to benefit substantially from Biden’s actions. My wife has some student loan debt that would seemingly qualify for forgiveness. Seeing it eliminated would be a burden off our backs.

But President Biden simply doesn’t have the authority to forgive this debt. He’s using, as justification for his actions, the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act of 2003 which was passed by Congress to “provide assistance with [military personnel’s] transition into and out of active duty and active service” during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Biden is using what was supposed to be a temporary program of student loan forgiveness for military veterans to forgive a half-trillion dollars in student loan debt for just about everyone with student loan debt.

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