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U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona was on NBC News' "Meet the Press" on August 21, 2022. (Photo: NBC/screenshot)
With just 10 days until a moratorium on federal student loan payments is set to expire, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Sunday that "within the next week or so" the American people will hear from the Biden administration about any future action it will take to address the debt crisis.
Cardona's comments to NBC News' Chuck Todd at the end of a "Meet the Press" interview that mostly focused on the nation's teacher shortage came as campaigners and progressives in Congress are ramping up pressure on President Joe Biden to support sweeping debt cancellation for all federal borrowers--not just those who make under a certain annual income.
"We know August 31 is a date that many people are waiting to hear something from," he said, noting when the pandemic-related payment pause could end. "We've been talking daily about this, and I can tell you that the American people will hear within the next week or so from the president and Department of Education about what we're going to be doing around that."
Meanwhile, activists and lawmakers who support bold student debt cancellation came out on Sunday with fresh calls directed at Biden--who, unlike some 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, ran on only canceling $10,000 per borrower.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) pointed out that "student debt cancellation will help reduce the racial wealth gap by nearly 30% and help millions of Black and brown folks build generational wealth."
"This is a racial and economic justice issue, and [the president} must #CancelStudentDebt," she said.
The Debt Collective highlighted the impact that Biden's debt cancellation decision could have on the November midterm elections, in which Democrats could lose control of Congress after two years of struggling to advance progressive priorities due in part to the party's narrow majorities and the filibuster.
"Has anyone considered that maybe we should look at student debt cancellation as a policy that will simply help Democrats keep/expand their majority?" the group said. "And that the alternative is, not to be dramatic, ecological destruction and the collapse of democracy."
"I went to a college that cost $50 a semester and had the opportunity to follow my dreams. But too many people don't have that opportunity today," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). "It's time to fix our broken student loan system and #CancelStudentDebt."
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
With just 10 days until a moratorium on federal student loan payments is set to expire, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Sunday that "within the next week or so" the American people will hear from the Biden administration about any future action it will take to address the debt crisis.
Cardona's comments to NBC News' Chuck Todd at the end of a "Meet the Press" interview that mostly focused on the nation's teacher shortage came as campaigners and progressives in Congress are ramping up pressure on President Joe Biden to support sweeping debt cancellation for all federal borrowers--not just those who make under a certain annual income.
"We know August 31 is a date that many people are waiting to hear something from," he said, noting when the pandemic-related payment pause could end. "We've been talking daily about this, and I can tell you that the American people will hear within the next week or so from the president and Department of Education about what we're going to be doing around that."
Meanwhile, activists and lawmakers who support bold student debt cancellation came out on Sunday with fresh calls directed at Biden--who, unlike some 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, ran on only canceling $10,000 per borrower.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) pointed out that "student debt cancellation will help reduce the racial wealth gap by nearly 30% and help millions of Black and brown folks build generational wealth."
"This is a racial and economic justice issue, and [the president} must #CancelStudentDebt," she said.
The Debt Collective highlighted the impact that Biden's debt cancellation decision could have on the November midterm elections, in which Democrats could lose control of Congress after two years of struggling to advance progressive priorities due in part to the party's narrow majorities and the filibuster.
"Has anyone considered that maybe we should look at student debt cancellation as a policy that will simply help Democrats keep/expand their majority?" the group said. "And that the alternative is, not to be dramatic, ecological destruction and the collapse of democracy."
"I went to a college that cost $50 a semester and had the opportunity to follow my dreams. But too many people don't have that opportunity today," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). "It's time to fix our broken student loan system and #CancelStudentDebt."
With just 10 days until a moratorium on federal student loan payments is set to expire, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Sunday that "within the next week or so" the American people will hear from the Biden administration about any future action it will take to address the debt crisis.
Cardona's comments to NBC News' Chuck Todd at the end of a "Meet the Press" interview that mostly focused on the nation's teacher shortage came as campaigners and progressives in Congress are ramping up pressure on President Joe Biden to support sweeping debt cancellation for all federal borrowers--not just those who make under a certain annual income.
"We know August 31 is a date that many people are waiting to hear something from," he said, noting when the pandemic-related payment pause could end. "We've been talking daily about this, and I can tell you that the American people will hear within the next week or so from the president and Department of Education about what we're going to be doing around that."
Meanwhile, activists and lawmakers who support bold student debt cancellation came out on Sunday with fresh calls directed at Biden--who, unlike some 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, ran on only canceling $10,000 per borrower.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) pointed out that "student debt cancellation will help reduce the racial wealth gap by nearly 30% and help millions of Black and brown folks build generational wealth."
"This is a racial and economic justice issue, and [the president} must #CancelStudentDebt," she said.
The Debt Collective highlighted the impact that Biden's debt cancellation decision could have on the November midterm elections, in which Democrats could lose control of Congress after two years of struggling to advance progressive priorities due in part to the party's narrow majorities and the filibuster.
"Has anyone considered that maybe we should look at student debt cancellation as a policy that will simply help Democrats keep/expand their majority?" the group said. "And that the alternative is, not to be dramatic, ecological destruction and the collapse of democracy."
"I went to a college that cost $50 a semester and had the opportunity to follow my dreams. But too many people don't have that opportunity today," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). "It's time to fix our broken student loan system and #CancelStudentDebt."