Please give me one good reason: forty-plus million American students should have their education debt forgiven. For decades, bright-eyed students have matriculated from high school onto colleges and universities, thinking they were preparing themselves for a life of prosperity. They went to community and state colleges with low tuitions and fees or Ivy League institutes with exorbitant annual tuitions and fees. That was their choice based on the investment they wanted to make in their future.

These young people took out Student Loans to fund their quest for a fulfilling future. They took the money and invested in themselves with dreams of a good life. Whichever path they took, either the $20K or $75K a year, these students signed on the bottom line that they would be responsible for their education debt. Whether it was poor planning or counseling, many of these students achieved degrees in subjects that did not give them the opportunities and rewards they had envisioned. They were left with a sizable debt and insufficient income to pay it back. They felt deceived by the system and wanted relief. In reality, they wanted the debt to disappear.

Then came the Pandemic. Money is flowing out of Washington in the name of COVID Relief. What does that mean? Free rent, mortgage forgiveness, unlimited funds to replace lost wages, or simply money to bridge life from lock-down to normal. There was no limit to the money Washington would print to ease the pain of a Global Pandemic. The spoiled and entitled young generation seized the opportunity to put their hand out and say me too, please. Actually, they did not say please

The students are getting support in their mission to have the taxpayers absorb their debt from politicians like Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Elizabeth Warren. These three represent the Socialist thinking, which believes that every student should receive a free college education. Sanders and Warren have been promoting state-funded college education for some time as part of their campaign. Free to the student but paid for by taxpayers. This campaign platform has made them very popular with the young and helped secure their support and vote. AOC is just a symbol of a younger generation that feels that the government should pay for everything in life. She does not understand that the government does not have money. It has the people’s money. That is not her concern.

Along with no justification for forgiving this debt, there is the exorbitant cost of doing so. It is estimated that the cost to taxpayers would be $1.5 Trillion, or approximately $13,000 per taxpayer. Over 45% of these taxpayers never went to college, and of the others, they paid for their education and student loans. There was no free ride for these millions of people who are now told they should pay for someone else’s ride.

Joe Biden is contemplating this debt forgiveness be achieved by Executive Order. He knows it will never pass through Congress, and he made this promise during his campaign. Biden wants to free these students of their debt and pass it on to every other American with the simple stroke of his pen. He hopes to secure their vote. But he is also paving the way for a free college education for all in the future.

This effort by Biden and the Progressives is ethically not fair to Americans who have already funded their education. We can not afford this burden now or in the future. Biden plans to decide and act on it before the mid-terms. He sees this as a way to secure votes for all Democrats, but he must be stopped. Before the ink dries on his Executive Order, the Republicans have to have a Judge ready to shut it down.

 This article was first published on The Liberty Loft thelibertyloft.com