Was Biden wrong to cancel student loan debt? See what readers say on this and other issues

Unfair to eliminate loan debt

I am dismayed with President Joe Biden's announced policy of providing $10,000 to $20,000 in student loan cancellation. This is unnecessary with the job unemployment rate at a very low level. Good pay increases are happening for most people, and inflation is not an issue as some claim. These are Biden's statements on the nation's economy; ergo, there is no need for loan reductions.

On top of that, what does Biden say to those millions of people who did not go to college nor take loans? Now he is telling all of us we have to pay for these loan reductions. They are going to a limited privileged few who made a conscious decision to enter into a contractual agreement to repay a loan.

I have one undergraduate degree and two graduate degrees. I paid for all of my schooling through my employment, scholarships and a loan. I paid the loan back because it was my loan and my responsibility, not anyone else's. Biden is now telling me I have to pay for someone else's student loan.

That is not fair, by any stretch of the use of the word fair. Biden is doing great harm to the citizens of the U.S. He is creating chaos and discord. I can only infer he is doing this deliberately.

Wayne Dixon, Alachua 

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Readers comment on UF's Honors Program director, Rep. Cammack's record and more

Voting problems

State Sen. Keith Perry's assertion in a recent article about a shortage of Republican ballots in some precincts that "all other voters have had the unimpeded opportunity to exercise their right to vote" was wrong.

I never received my twice-confirmed mail-in ballot, as an independent voter. Had I not called to confirm that it was mailed (it was) and then gone directly to the supervisor of elections, obtaining another ballot to vote there, I would not have been able to do so in time had I continued to wait for a ballot that never arrived.

I was told the post office had been "overwhelmed " by the 45,000 ballots mailed on the same day as mine, and that other voters had complained that they had not received theirs as well. But what about all those people unable to get to the office or voting precinct?

We'll never know how many votes were lost. But Perry's assertion that it was only Republicans is merely political hyperbole. He was wrong.

Kathryn Taubert, Gainesville 

Old school election

What a relief to read about the results of this week's local election and to see that no one complained about it being "stolen" or the voting machines "rigged." Yes, there were some small problems, but they were apparently corrected.

I was thrilled that none of the losing candidates proclaimed victory as did one in a recent presidential election. One big lie is more than we can handle.

Glenn Terry, Gainesville 

Another Trump

Gov. Ron DeSantis said that his gubernatorial opponents, Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist, were “extensions of President Biden” and that their approach “wouldn’t fly.” In a glaring instance of the pot calling the kettle black, DeSantis thinks we don’t get the fact that he is an extension of Donald Trump, less Trump’s staple red tie and expletives.

You can check off the many extensions of Trump that DeSantis hopes will earn him a second term as governor and then position him to run for president should Trump-world need a stand-in.

Immigration a problem? DeSantis proposes bussing immigrants to Delaware. Delaware? War on the “woke”? Clamp down on educators, businesses and Florida citizens who believe that issues relating to gender, women’s rights, climate, gun control and other topics central to the common good. Bully and instill fear: a page straight out of the Trump playbook

Who wins the extension game? Let us count the ways. Sorry, Gov. DeSantis, but this won’t fly.

Steve Robitaille, Gainesville 

Demand better behavior

The campaign for governor has barely begun and the incumbent is calling a federal official (Dr. Anthony Fauci) names (an elf) and advocating throwing him across a river! Is this rude man supposed to be appealing to the voters of Florida? Is this the kind of rhetoric we allow our governor to use?

What kind of voters does he think we are? Can’t we expect our state leader to respect even those with whom he disagrees?

Whether we people of Florida are Republican, Democrat or independent, we must demand better behavior from the podium from those who would ask to be our leader.

Joanne LaFramenta, Gainesville

Join the conversation

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on Biden loan plan, Alachua County voting, DeSantis, more