Restoring Our Nation

This week, President Joe Biden delivered one of the most divisive addresses to the nation I’ve seen in my lifetime. Our country is headed in the wrong direction, and those who oppose the Biden administration’s radical policies do so because of our desire to leave a better, more prosperous America for future generations. Like you, I love this great country, and I couldn’t be more disappointed by the president’s decision to point fingers and call names. This is not the leadership we need at this time, and this is not the kind of president Joe Biden vowed to be. I appreciated hearing from Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy before President Biden’s speech. Leader McCarthy addressed the nation with a message of accountability, hope, and optimism. The stakes are high, and Republicans are focused on putting forward a positive, pro-growth agenda and holding the Biden administration accountable for their countless failures. Name-calling from the president’s bully pulpit will not distract us from the task at hand.  

The federal student loan debt cancellation proposal announced by President Biden last week is disappointing news for American taxpayers in an already hurting economy. To unilaterally enact a debt transfer of this magnitude is not within the president’s authority. In fact, in July of 2021, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the President of the United States does not have “the power for debt forgiveness…That has to be an act of Congress.” I disagree with Speaker Pelosi on most things, but she is correct. This giveaway at the expense of those working hard each day to make ends meet is not acceptable, and I joined nearly 100 of my colleagues in sending the Speaker a letter expressing our opposition to the proposal.

In Nebraska, Bidenflation is already costing households an additional $600 each month, yet the president continues to advocate for unfair and cruel economic policies that push the cost burden of his reckless agenda onto Americans who can least afford it. New data from the Congressional Institute underscore what we already know: the majority of Americans are worried about out-of-control government spending and want less, not more. Nearly 60 percent of Americans believe adding trillions of dollars of spending will cause more inflation.

While the true cost of this plan is unknown, this plan is projected to cost more than the deficit reduction Democrats claim their recently enacted Inflation Act will achieve; and we already know who is footing the bill. National Taxpayers Union estimates this student loan debt transfer scheme would cost a whopping $2,000 per taxpayer while benefiting the top 60 percent of earners most. Even Harvard faculty members and former economic advisers to President Obama, Larry Summers and Jason Furman, have warned this plan will worsen inflation.

Not only will this reckless move drive up the national debt and drive down the value of a college-level or technical education, this proposal leaves expensive colleges and universities with little incentive to lower exorbitant tuition costs. President Biden also announced he is asking the Department of Education to publish an annual list of colleges he says are to blame for unmanageable debt; however, public shaming will do nothing to address universities leveraging their non-profit tax status to accrue enormous endowments while they simultaneously ratchet up the cost placed on the backs of students.

This is why I am a cosponsor of H.R. 8006, the Student Loan Accountability Act, a bill to prohibit the mass cancellation of student loans, as well as H.R. 7058, the Federal Student Loan Integrity Act. The Federal Student Loan Integrity Act would prohibit the Secretary of Education from extending the student loan repayment moratorium and prevent any future administration from carrying out widespread student loan forbearance for more than thirty days at a time.

President Biden’s unlawful loan forgiveness will cost nearly three times the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state of Nebraska. It’s unfortunate the administration can’t curb their spending addiction and disappointing the president continues to sow seeds of division across our country.