Student Loan Forgiveness vs PPP Loan – Fair Comparison?
On
Thursday, August 25 on Twitter, the White House called out the hypocrisy of six
Republican Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) recipients who had criticized President
Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Program as being unfair to other borrowers and
taxpayers.
The Student Loan Forgiveness Program would forgive up to $20,000 to PELL Grant recipients and up
to $10,000 to borrowers who make less than $125,000 per year along with a pause
in payments through the end of the year.
The
PPP was part of the CARES package intended to help businesses during the COVID-19
lockdown by keeping their people employed and to keep their business from
shuttering. Two significant differences in the two programs are that PPP loans
were intended to be forgiven if they met the terms of the agreement - they kept
the employees - and the PPP loans were approved by Congress.
There
were numerous sources of the story, but I have included one from Business Insider
reporting the White House callout of Congresspeople receiving the PPP loans and
the amount received. I contrast it with a report from Fox News illustrating the
other side of the coin claiming COVID loans and student loans cannot be
compared to one another.
It is interesting to see that many people are more upset about loan forgiveness than the ppp loan. As for going to school to get an education, that is what society judges us based on, this is a way they can judge if one is fit for a job, and sometimes going to particular colleges can be a reason one doesn't get picked for a role. Many people are equating loan forgiveness to laziness when it is indeed the opposite. How can one be lazy if they spent so much time getting a degree, which can be very costly. Majority of the Republicans that I see comment negative on this matter, either didn't go to college at all or was in school when college was what we consider cheap. The PPP loan benefits many of their businesses that they have today especially while getting the loan didn't have super strict requirements. I hope people can see that loan forgiveness is not just about giving people their money back but creating a space where people can afford to live.
ReplyDeleteThe reaction from people about loan forgiveness has been mixed. Some people are for it while others are upset. When in reality it has nothing to do with irresponsible students getting a "handout", but a way for people to attend college without the additional stress of working a full time job. I personally have worked full time and was a full time student while in college and now as a senior, I look back and wish I could enjoy being a student. The exhaustion, burn out, and stress can be overwhelming at times. Even with working and trying to pay for school, there were still times where I needed to take out loans. Often times, lesser fortunate individuals might only have loans if they wanted to pursue an education. Loans allowed people to get started on college than waiting to be able to afford it in the future.
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