President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt forgiveness in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Aug. 24, 2022, in Washington. One in four Black borrowers would see their debt cleared entirely under the administration’s plan, which cancels $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those with incomes below $125,000 a year, or households that earn less than $250,000. The plan includes an additional $10,000 in relief for Pell Grant recipients, who are more than twice as likely to be Black. Credit: Evan Vucci / AP

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I watched in amazement as President Joe Biden, through executive order, decided to pay off up to $20,000 in student college loans for some people earning less than $125,000. People all over the country are asking important questions.

Estimated cost of this Democrat giveaway? It could be as much as one half of one trillion dollars. Has he screwed up our economy so badly with what I believe is his dive into socialism that the offer of loan paybacks will save him at the polls?

In February of 2021, Biden admitted on tape that he does not have the authority to dismiss large amounts of student loans. In July of 2021, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also on tape,  stated that Biden does not have that authority. Apparently knowing that it is illegal, why would he propose doing it?

It appears Biden and the Democrats have devised this plan to divert people from the administration’s failures. I think Biden knows that he will lose a court challenge, and he knows that it will take months before a verdict is rendered. How cynical. He seems to believe that this gesture will get us simple minded voters to forget about the economic and social problems he has created.

We work hard for a living and it isn’t fair, even if the scheme was legal, to pass out money like candy on Halloween. I believe this plan is nothing more than a cynical election scheme.

Mike Peters

Lewiston