SIGN THE PETITION: Tell Joe Biden to forgive student loan debt!

[link removed]

Goal: 10,000 signatures

Hi – it’s Jack from Civic Action. I’m emailing you today because after a year-and-a-half pause of federal student loan payments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, student loan payments are set to resume in less than three months. President Biden can forgive student loans with a stroke of his pen – but we’re going to have to build a serious public pressure campaign to convince him and remind him of his campaign promise to forgive student loans.

Right now, 45 million Americans have student loan debts. Together, our loans add up to a collective $1.7 trillion. That’s ridiculous and unacceptable, and this massive debt is holding working families – and our economy – back. Borrowers were told that if they went to college and got a degree, they would make enough to pay off their student loans and find financial stability. But trickle-downers made it easier for lenders to raise rates and remove protections for borrowers. What’s more, wages haven’t kept up at all with the skyrocketing costs of education. 

The full cost of going to college has skyrocketed. Back in 1979, the cost of tuition for a year could be paid back with about 385 hours of full-time, minimum-wage work. That means a student could pay for a year of college by working full-time for one summer. But now, it would take 2,229 hours – more than a year of full-time work, without even considering their time for schooling – to pay off that same tuition at today’s price. Then throw in cost of living and the entire system just becomes unattainable without a mountain of debt for students. 

It’s no wonder that millions of Americans, most of whom are low-income and have young children, have been forced to default on their student loans. They now face lower credit scores and are denied critical social benefits like child tax credits – driving many even further into debt.

After decades of trickle-downers tearing away at our social safety net and lobbying against minimum wage increases, our system is broken. People need relief, they need action, and they need it now.

Student loan forgiveness won’t just benefit millions of Americans who are in debt; it will also stimulate the economy. Cancelling a monthly student loan payment means that Americans will have more money in their pockets to spend at local businesses or even invest in businesses of their own. According to a study by the Levy Economic Institute of Bard College, cancelling $1.4 trillion of student loan debt would increase the GDP by between $86 billion and $108 billion a year.  

President Biden knows that student loan debt has got to go. He campaigned on the promise of fixing our student debt crisis, and, once elected, he continued to delay payments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot Build Back Better and strengthen our middle class without canceling student loan debt. It’s an investment that we have to make – and frankly, it’s the right thing to do too. 

But now free public college and other critical reforms have been cut from the reconciliation bill. If Republicans and trickle-down Democrats aren’t going to fight for the 45 million Americans still stuck with student loan debt in the Build Back Better bill, then Joe Biden must turn to executive action.

President Biden’s own White House learned months ago that he has the authority to cancel student debt through executive action – meaning he doesn’t need Sen. McConnell or Sen. Manchin on board. All it takes is a stroke of his pen.

We know that powerful lobbyists and special interests will be lining up by the dozen to argue against canceling student loan debt so that they can continue to protect their steady flow of outrageous profits. But if we all raise our voices and demand change, we can build the public pressure campaign needed to win.

But we need you to stand with us, John. 

So please, can you sign our petition and demand that President Biden cancel student debt? We’re still short of our 10,000-signature goal, so we’re really counting on your support here, John.


SIGN THE PETITION: Tell Joe Biden to forgive student loan debt!

[link removed]

Goal: 10,000 signatures



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