Sincere question: Why is the argument that student loan debt relief is unfair to people who already paid their loans so resonant with critics? Critics of Obamacare didn’t say it was unfair to previous uninsured & critics of Trump tax cuts didn’t say unfair to previous taxpayers.
To be clear that is not the only argument. I’ve been mostly focused on the contemporaneous distribution for people today/future—who benefits directly, who pays indirectly. Which was a big part of how I evaluated Obamacare and the Trump tax cuts too.
Supporters of forgiveness might say the unfairness argument is bad faith. It may not actually survive moral reasoning but there must be a reason it’s more resonant than the parallel argument would have been about Obamacare or the Trump Tax cuts. Critics genuinely believe it. Why?
(I would add even supporters, like President Biden, appear to have had concerns about it being unfair in this way according to @JStein_WaPo & @DaniDougPost. He must have decided the qualms were wrong or were outweighed by the benefits.) washingtonpost.com
Opponents of forgiveness will say it is obviously unfair. It is possible they are right. But I haven’t seen any grapple w/ why the argument applies here but not to other policy changes—all of which, by definition, treat people in the present differently than people in the past.
Two possible arguments opponents could make:
1. For Obamacare & Trump tax cuts you got a flow benefit or tax change based on your flow income (& other factors). Debt relief reflects the sum of past choices. People w/ same current & past incomes can get very different amounts.
1. For Obamacare & Trump tax cuts you got a flow benefit or tax change based on your flow income (& other factors). Debt relief reflects the sum of past choices. People w/ same current & past incomes can get very different amounts.
2. Debt relief is a one-time event (note the plan also has IDR going forward). A supporter of Obamacare or the Trump tax cuts could say “would have been better to do a while ago but at least everyone will get the benefit going forward like they always should have”.
I’m not convinced by these arguments, especially #1 since most policies create horizontal differences based on somewhat arbitrary factors.
I’m very open to the argument that relief is unfair does not survive moral scrutiny. But also open the opposite conclusion.
Help!
I’m very open to the argument that relief is unfair does not survive moral scrutiny. But also open the opposite conclusion.
Help!
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