Sen. Charles Schumer wanting Uncle Sam to forgive the first $50,000 in outstanding college loans sounds great. Who doesn’t want free stuff from Washington? But what about the millions of American parents who saved and sacrificed to put their children through college. What about the students who worked at part time jobs to attend college?
Millions benefited from being able to attend college on student loans. This has given them access to the middle class. Sadly, too many students then stuck Uncle Sam with the bill. Despite being successfully employed for years at well-paying jobs, there are several hundred thousand former students with ample income who refuse to pay off their student loans. Taxpayers are left with billions of dollars in uncollected debts.
Now Schumer wants Washington to just write off hundreds of billions in outstanding student loan debt. Many larger private colleges have endowment funds ranging from millions to billions. Why don’t they contribute to reducing their own graduating students debt instead of taxpayers? Collecting some of these outstanding debts from those who can easily afford to is only fair.
Given that we are now burdened with over $27.7 trillion in long-term debt, equal attention must be paid to this scandal as well. Why not start by denying federal and state tax refunds to those deadbeats who look for a free ride at our expense? When will the White House and Congress speak up on this issue as well and introduce appropriate legislation to assist in collecting these outstanding debts? Time will tell.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
