'No such thing as a free lunch': Internet calls out Joe Biden over his student loan relief plan

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: President Joe Biden took to X (formerly Twitter) on February 25, 2024, to highlight the importance of student debt relief in growing the economy.

However, the internet did not seem to be impressed with the move and questioned the incumbent on how he plans to make up for the lost revenues at a time when the United States is already suffering from inflation.

Joe Biden's student debt relief plan

President Joe Biden had pushed for doing away with student debts during his presidency. His initial debt cancellation plan, which was tabled in 2023 and would have cost more than $400 billion, was blocked by the US Supreme Court.

Since then, the administration has been working on a new program called Savings on Valuable Education (SAVE) policy. As a part of the program, the White House announced the elimination of $1.2 billion in student loans for more than 150,000 borrowers on February 21.

The policy cancels debt for enrolled borrowers who have been in repayment for at least 10 years and hold $12,000 or less in student debt. Those with larger debts are set to receive relief after an additional year of payments for every additional $1,000 they borrowed.

With his latest executive order, President Biden has unilaterally cleared nearly $138 billion in federal student loans for almost 3.9 million borrowers without ever going through Congress.

Joe Biden tweet about his student loan relief plan

On his personal X account, Biden wrote, "When people with student debt get relief, they buy homes, start businesses, and engage in the community in ways they weren't able to before—growing the economy."

"That’s why we’re taking significant action to provide student debt relief to as many borrowers as quickly as possible," he added.

Internet reacts to Joe Biden's tweet about his student debt relief plan

Netizens seemed reluctant to buy into the President's narrative of the benefits of providing student debt relief.

"When you 'cancel' their debt by transferring it to the taxpayers, we have a harder time buying homes, starting businesses, and engaging in our communities," argued a user.

"Translation: The Supreme Court ruled canceling student loan debt is unconstitutional but Biden is doing it anyways knowing it’ll be blocked. But in the meantime he might get some students to vote for Democrats," expressed another.

"They can not pay their existing debt, but buy home & get into more debt!! Bidenomics!" jibed a third.

"No such thing as a free lunch. When the government pays off these loans, you either have to raise taxes or just print money (raise inflation). They’re not 'forgiven' - the government still has to write a check to the loan servicers. You’re just saddling the rest of us with the debt," wrote a fourth.

"But you’re not asking permission from the people footing the bill? What part of that don’t you get? It’s not your money. That’s why the SCOTUS said you couldn’t do it. But please, tell us more about how Trump is going to be a dictator," mocked another social media user.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.