Letters to the editor: Readers weigh in on student loan forgiveness
Editor's note: Last week we asked readers: What do you think about President Joe Biden's announcement forgiving $10,000 to $20,000 in debt for people with student loans? Here are some of the responses we received:
Forgiving student loan payments will lead
to unintended and adverse consequences
Making good public policy decisions in a complex environment requires the ability of a chess player to see several moves ahead. Unfortunately, Democratic policymakers aren't even good tic-tac-toe players, unable to see that “forgiving” student loan payments will likely have several immediate unintended adverse consequences: (1) working class taxpayers who are high school graduates are required to unjustifiably fund higher education for a privileged elite. (2) colleges and universities will increase tuition fees. (3) other borrowers will be encouraged to default on valid contractual obligations in hopes of a government bailout (4) inflation will be exacerbated.
It’s a profoundly dumb policy decision with far-ranging negative consequences.
Frederick Bothwell, Georgetown
A step forward in recognizing education's
cornerstone value in a democratic society
Education is central to a democratic society. College education or post-high school associate degrees are the next step in ensuring American excellence. The president’s action was another step forward in recognizing this need. Chaining our next generation with heavy debt load to pay for skyrocketing costs of post-high school education is not. Good job, Mr President.
Robert Anderson, Austin
Forgiving student loans is a mistake
for these and many other reasons
President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program is a fiasco for many reasons, including:
It is unfair to students who repaid their loans or never went to college.
It will transfer the obligation to pay the forgiven amount, estimated to be $500 billion or more, to taxpayers who received no benefit.
It will increase already high inflation, which in effect is a tax on the poor.
It is illegal because only Congress has the power to cancel federal student debt.
It is vote buying for the Democratic party.
Worst of all, it caps future payments on student loans to 5% of the borrower’s income after $30,000 per year and eliminates the remaining debt after 20 years, thereby incentivizing colleges to continue to increase tuition and enroll more students whose future job and earnings prospects are dismal.
Kevin Holcomb, Austin
It would be better to forgive student debt
in fields where there are worker shortages
We need nurses, engineers, tech workers, counselors and educators. It would be more palatable for most Americans to forgive debt in areas of worker shortages in our economy (nurses, teachers, and tech) and stem careers that are productive long-term.
Many of the debts being forgiven are for expensive school degrees that do not offer productive careers. There are not enough jobs in English, sustainability, sociology to employ the current pool of graduates. Enrollment in those areas shouldn't be further encouraged.
Also, it would be positive to have school counselors provide financial worksheets that show students how to calculate a cost/benefit analysis on the choice of a major and selection of a college. Any debt reduction should also be for a limited time, for public education institutions (not expensive private schools,) and perhaps funding for technical and trade schools that train electricians, medical technicians, plumbers and appliance repair.
Stacey Lundeen, Wimberley
EDITOR'S NOTE: Some readers weighed in on other topics. Here are some of their responses:
More fear and worry will be there online,
but Barton Springs will still work its magic
Re: Barton Springs Pool regulars keep Austin magic alive
The regulars, and Barton Springs too! I read news full of division and strife. Then I go to Barton Springs, and magic happens.
Example: We see a girl no more than three mount the diving board and fearlessly walk to the end. She hesitates and hesitates some more. All around the pool people watch enthralled. Will she jump? Will she not? Shouts of encouragement ring out, ‘Go ahead, you can do it!’ And she takes the leap, elated as she falls and more elated still to hit the water. In unison we clap for joy at what she has accomplished and at the experience we have had with her.
More fear and worry will be there when we are back online. But we can also come together as a community. Barton Springs can work its magic on us all.
Connie Haham, Austin
Supporting a national popular vote for electing
the president is a vote for preserving democracy
Support for electing the president by national popular vote is increasing among all voters regardless of party, ideology, or age according to the August 2022 PEW Research Center poll.
This is because most voters believe the principle of one person, one vote is essential to the future vitality of American democracy. A constitutional amendment is not required to have a national popular vote for president,but we can repair our broken election system with the National Popular Vote agreement.
The compact will guarantee the presidency to the candidate who wins the most popular votes in all 50 states and DC. When passed by states with at least 270 electoral votes, the national popular vote winner will win the presidency everytime. The bill has already been passed in 16 states representing 195 electoral votes. Only 75 more are needed to fix the way America elects our president and help protect democracy.
Contact www.NationalPopularVote.com for more information and to volunteer to work on its behalf here in Texas.
Bob Olson, Leander
Texas has a dismal record of not meeting its
responsibility for the well-being of children
Starting soon and for unknown years to come, women who would have opted for abortion will be giving birth to unwanted children. It is a sad but true fact that many of those children will end up in Child Protective Services.
One thing the state of Texas has in abundance is children who have no place to go. We have a truly dismal and well-known record for not meeting our responsibility for children in need of help and protection. Now our legislators have taken steps forcing an increase in the number of children in that category. This is not a "maybe". It is a fact; records prove it. The governor is proud of his record of financial growth in Texas. Where is his shame for the mistreatment of thousands of children?
Diana Cox, Austin
Optics are important, council members.
Consider reducing your pay increase
City employees are due a 4% pay increase. What message does that send to city personnel if you vote yourself a 40% increase? That you are 10 times better than they are? What a morale crusher!
How about considering a 10% increase for yourselves? Keeping in mind that you are additionally getting a boost, being eligible for participation in the city's retirement system and you will continue to get a $5,400 annual vehicle and phone allowance.
Ten percent is still way more than what the non-city council employees are due, and optics are important.
Lynn McConnell, Austin
Some Republicans would like to turn
Texas into a one-party state — theirs
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, has issued a legal opinion that, if implemented, would allow anybody to access ballots the day after those ballots are counted. Access to ballots by the public so soon after they’re counted would allow some people to (contest) votes they don’t like and demand a recount.
Recently, all of the election officials in Gillespie County, where Fredericksburg is located, resigned because they have been harassed and threatened by Trump supporters, despite the fact Trump received all of Texas' 2020 electoral college votes. Apparently, some Republicans want to make sure that nobody in Texas can vote for Democrats, and they want to turn Texas into a one-party state, which is not what I want anywhere in America.
Ralph Kerr, Leander
State retirees are suffering financially;
Texas' $27 billion budget surplus can help
A former TEA official correctly noted the $27 billion budget surplus Texas now holds. Among the "deserving priorities" is state of Texas retirees. Retirees who spent their working lives serving Texas and providing essential services to its citizens have not had a cost of living adjustment in 20 years.
If you worked for the state of Texas, paid a minimum of 6% into the state retirement fund, and retired in 2002, your monthly check is the same now as it was then. Due to inflation, your purchasing power has been reduced by one-third.
For 20 years, the state Legislature has avoided the issue. Thousands of state retirees are suffering as they cope with fixed incomes and rising prices. It is long past time for the Legislature to act and use part of the $27 billion to provide a cost of living adjustment to Texas state retirees.
Luther Elmore, Austin
Yes, too much rain can be a problem,
but so, too, can too much development
I was saddened and gratified to see your Aug. 30th headline, "Less groundwater, more demand."
I have been complaining to my family as Austin rejoices over yet another high rise or big business: "Our natural resources cannot support this."
As a child of the Great Depression, I recall complaining to my mother that I could not go swimming because it was raining. She directed me to never complain about rain.
We realize too much rain can be problematic, so too can too much development.
Darlene Bauhs, Austin
Texas' Republican leaders are in effect
mandating consumption of fossil fuels
At this point it is downright embarrassing to live in Texas. Our Republican leaders appear to be so beholden to the fossil fuel industry that they are literally mandating the consumption of their toxic product.
Meanwhile, the environmental havoc wreaked by that very consumption is about to reach cataclysmic levels: to take just two examples from this week’s news: Flooding in Mississippi has so damaged the capital’s aging water treatment facilities that residents no longer have access to safe drinking water, and the west’s largest reservoir levels are now so low that the hydroelectric power much of the region depends on may be entirely cut off.
When basic services like water and electricity are no longer available for large swaths of the population of the United States, can we stop catering to political donors?
Anna Graybeal, Austin
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Letters to the editor: Sept. 4, 2022
