Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) called Wednesday for Republicans to turn their sights on President Joe Biden’s renewed push to transfer student loan debt to American taxpayers, and he’s arming them to do it.
Hern, chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest conservative bloc in Congress, issued a call to arms to RSC members Wednesday with a detailed breakdown of Biden’s latest “extreme, costly, unfair, and potentially illegal plan to ‘cancel’ student loan borrowers’ debts” and an articulated analysis of the “conservative position” on the issue.
The Oklahoma Congressman calls out Biden’s plan for what it is: a massively expensive and irresponsible vote-buying scheme.
“This debt transfer scheme does nothing to lower the cost of a college education, it simply passes the burden on to the American taxpayers,” Hern told Breitbart News. “It’s a slam dunk issue for conservatives – for taxpayers of any ideology, really.”
The memo clearly summarizes Biden’s intent and the consequences: “Put simply, the Biden administration is trying to buy votes during an historically important election year, which will require the government to borrow money and exacerbate inflation further. Taxpayers will ultimately be on the hook to pay down this increased debt.”
Hern’s RSC memo, which Breitbart received in advance of its release, can be read below.
Republican Study Committee Memo on Biden Student Loan Bailouts by Breitbart News on Scribd
In the memo, Hern details the outlandish costs of Biden’s plan, which the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget pegs at anywhere from $250 billion to $750 billion. He says that by forcing the federal government to borrow money, Biden will further exasperate runaway inflation.
“The Biden Admin is doing everything in their power to make life more expensive and difficult for hardworking families,” Hern told Breitbart, correctly calling the plan a “slap in the face” to millions of responsible borrowers whose tax dollars must cover the cost of the newly “cancelled” debts.
Hern also explains how Biden’s plan is deeply regressive. According to the memo:
Much of the financial benefit would go to those in the top half of the income spectrum. Graduate students in particular, including students enrolled in or who have completed programs in lucrative fields such as medicine and law, would disproportionately benefit as they owe approximately half of outstanding student loan debt.
Hern argues Biden’s mass debt cancellation plan will drive up the cost of higher education and delay necessary reforms, as well as “encourage future student loan borrowers to take out even more debt with the expectation of loan forgiveness.”
Biden began rolling out his student loan “cancellation” schemes, some of which have been ruled unconstitutional, in October 2022. Hern analyzes each of the steps the president has taken in what he calls Biden’s plan “to buy votes during an historically important election year, which will require the government to borrow money and exacerbate inflation further.”
The document makes a compelling case for Republicans to make mass student debt transfer a focus and combat Biden’s election year exploitation of the issue.
“Republicans must remain vigilant and stand together against such reckless, costly, unfair, and potentially illegal actions by the Biden administration,” the memo says in closing.
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Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.