Why not cancel student debt?
Re: “Don’t yank away lifeline for people drowning in student debt,” March 2
The Times fails to explain why and how student loan debt was impacted by the pandemic. Did it suddenly increase? No. Did students lose their degrees and employment opportunities? No. There is no legitimate reason to assume that the average student suffered as much as the average worker.
Mike Post Winnetka
So, if I understand Justice Neil M. Gorsuch correctly, if the rich and middle class can pay off their loans, then the poor should also — don’t the banks deserve what is rightfully theirs? Never mind that the federal government saved the banks not that long ago. If the loans are forgiven, doesn’t that money get spent in the marketplace, where it will do more to help the economy than the banks currently do?
Charles Donaghho
Ontario
Supreme Court adjudication of student debt relief requires standing in this case and a legislative act that authorizes such forgiveness, not an emotional outpouring by those who want relief, no matter how compelling their stories. Standing is problematic here, as is the authority of the HEROES Act. These are the only questions our nine wise justices should assess.
Paul Bloustein Cincinnati
While student debt cancellation is essential to begin to address the systemic inequalities of our higher education system, another component that continues to destroy lives of borrowers is the gutting of the constitutional right to declare bankruptcy from student loan debt.
Until these rights are fully restored to student loan debt, the lending industry will continue to operate in bad faith, all but guaranteeing that principal balances will never be paid off and the middle and working class remain stuck in perpetual cycles of predatory debt.
Lisa Ansell Beverly Hills