President Biden’s student-loan debt forgiveness plan is one of the worst decisions I’ve seen this president make. This debt “forgiveness” would have Robin Hood rolling in his grave—it takes from the poor to give to the rich while making things worse for American taxpayers across the country.

Let me be clear: there is no such thing as canceling or “forgiving” student loan debt. This debt will be transferred to hardworking American taxpayers—many of whom did not take out student loans—and will only worsen inflation while rewarding overpriced colleges. Indeed, the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates that President Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan could cost America’s taxpayers anywhere from $500 billion to $1 trillion—all in the midst of a recession and on top of the $730 billion radical tax-and-spending spree that Democrats passed just a few weeks ago.

Let’s look at the facts: according to the Federal Reserve, as of June, American households held more than $4.5 trillion in consumer debt (excluding home mortgages), most of which was not student loans. And, fewer than 1 in 4 households have student-loan debt. In fact, student loan debt is more commonly found among those with higher incomes.

It’s true that there are many issues with our higher education system, from predatory loaning practices to a culture fostered by the progressive elites that everyone must have a college degree. While there’s much to be said about how insulting that mentality is to the millions of intelligent American men and women who provide so much for our country without a college degree—including 77.8% of Central Washingtonians, to be precise—President Biden’s approach of simply erasing the debt treats the obvious symptom—the debt—in the quickest, easiest, and costliest way, while doing nothing to address the underlying problem.

This approach is also a slap-in-the-face to the many American veterans who put their lives on the line so they could attend college without debt. While joining the military is not the only way to attend college, it’s a vital option for service members who want a degree without having to saddle themselves with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Now, the men and women who served our nation are being told they have to pony-up and pay for the college educations of the elite.

We know that canceling student-loan debt takes money from the broader tax base—mostly made up of workers who did not go to college—to subsidize the education debt of people with “valuable” degrees. We know that higher-income families tend to borrow the largest amounts. And we know that the income cap included in the plan does not reflect need or earnings potential, meaning white-collar professionals with high future salaries stand to benefit the most. 

While it’s the elite who will benefit the most from President Biden’s student-loan debt forgiveness plan, every single American taxpayer will be faced to bear the brunt of its costs. Inflation will continue to rise, taxes will go up, and the American people will suffer.