Student Loan Forgiveness Proposal Will Be Unpopular With Many Americans

New research from the Congressional Institute finds that Americans believe ideas from House Republican Task Forces to fight inflation will have a greater impact than those the White House is putting forth. Nearly half of all Americans – 46 percent – say that the economy/jobs/inflation/and gas prices are their top issues. Americans want to see Congress focus on pro-growth tax and deregulatory policies that will increase take-home pay, reduce the cost of living, boost local businesses, and encourage innovation.

President Biden’s announcement that the federal government will forgive $10,000 of student loan debt for higher-wage earners will not sit well with most people. In addition to the perception of unfairness from those who worked through college to forego or limit the amount of loans they took out, those who did not attend college, or those who sacrificed to pay off their loans, our research shows that 43 percent believe that “cancelling hundreds of billions in student loans will increase inflation.”

• The University of Pennsylvania Wharton Budget Model found that student loan borrowers in the top 60 percent of income levels will benefit greatly.
• The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the forgiveness proposal would cost $230 billion while extending the pause on payments until the end of the year will cost an additional $20 billion.

Key takeaways from the Institute’s research:

• 59 percent believe that personal income tax cuts would increase take-home pay and fight cost of living increases.
• 58 percent believe that new policies that add trillions of dollars above current spending levels will cause more inflation.
• 58 percent believe that more domestic energy production will reduce inflation.
• 58 percent believe that continuing to pay people not to work will result in product shortages, small business closures, and rising prices.
• 57 percent believe that moving supply chains away from China and toward the U.S. and our allies will help reduce inflation.

It is also important to know what Americans do not believe.

• There is little support for the idea that the “Putin price hike” is the main cause of inflation.

Similarly, people do not think that policies designed to deal with climate change will reduce inflation.

Download the report one-pager on Inflation here!

The House Republican Task Force on Jobs and the Economy recently released solutions to secure our supply chains. You can read that here. Read about the Task Force’s other work here. You can also read about their solutions to get Americans back to work here.