The GOP's Hypocritical & Childish Attacks on College Graduates After Loan Forgiveness

After President Joe Biden announced his student loan forgiveness plan, writing off $10,000 to $20,000 in loan balances, Republicans began an unprecedented and increasingly bizarre attack on college students. Sen Ted Cruz of Texas, the master of weird political hyperbole, had this to say:

Cruz, Business Insider: "If you are that slacker barista who wasted seven years in college studying completely useless things, now has loans and can't get a job, Joe Biden just gave you 20 grand," Cruz said during an appearance on his "Verdict with Ted Cruz" podcast. "Like, holy cow! 20 grand. You know, maybe you weren't gonna vote in November, and suddenly you just got 20 grand."

"And you know, if you can get off the bong for a minute and head down to the voting station," he continued. "Or just send in your mail-in ballot that the Democrats have helpfully sent you, it could drive up turnout, particularly among young people."

And the gunslinging Rep. from Colorado, Lauren Boebert attacked Biden’s forgiveness plan on Saturday, saying the President is “robbing hard-working Americans to pay for Karen’s daughter’s degree in lesbian dance theory.”

Such inane attacks on college students will, no doubt, resonate with the GOP's less-educated base but they are insulting to a group of individuals who the nation used to hold in high esteem. Moreover, the attacks are senseless because all public higher education is subsidized to one extent or another by taxpayers. And, most of the Republican politicians attacking Biden's plan benefited from a taxpayer-subsidized education at a public university at a time when subsidies paid a much higher proportion of the total bill.

Actually, that's the point; the current student loan debt crisis resulted from drastic cuts in state subsidies to public universities, which led to our current discussion on how to help students that are awash in debt.

CNBC: "These days, tuition accounts for about half of public college revenue, while state and local governments provide the other half. But a few decades ago, the split was much different, with tuition providing just about a quarter of revenue and state and local governments picking up the rest."

Many of the Baby Boomer Republicans attacking student loan forgiveness attended college in the golden age of public subsidies, so their attacks on recent grads are hypocritical, at best. And don't think college students and grads aren't paying attention to what Republicans think of highly educated individuals. The GOP's slurs may come back to bite them. The Republican Party has been hemorrhaging college-educated voters for a generation and this may well exacerbate the problem.

#news #politics

By: Don Lam & Curated Content