‘Bad Politics’: CNN Commentator Goes After Democrats Over Student Debt Forgiveness

CNN contributor Paul Begala said Sunday on “State of the Union” that forgiving student debt is “bad politics” for Democrats to pursue, especially in the middle of a midterm cycle.

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his plan to cancel certain student loans. The program would cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for individuals making under $125,000 per year. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business estimated the loan forgiveness plan could cost more than $1 trillion over the next decade.

“It’s bad policy as well as bad politics. For that amount of money, you could fund free pre-K for every 3 and 4 year old for the next 10 years. You can do a lot more good for poor people, communities of color and the underprivileged by doing pre-k. You could free all medical debt, which unlike student debt is not freely entered into,” Begala said.

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“This is terrible policy,” Begala continued. “What is my party doing with this? They’re disadvantaging the people we’re here to help – people in disadvantaged communities.” (RELATED: Joe Scarborough Takes Aim At Universities Pumping Out ‘Worthless’ Degrees)

Begala also suggested the policy would hurt Democrats during the election cycle.

Fellow CNN commentator Catherine Rampell also criticized the student loan forgiveness plan, saying it isn’t the best way to use taxpayer money.

“I think from an equity and an inflationary standpoint, it’s not the best use of taxpayer dollars,” Rampell said. “There are a lot of people who benefit who appear to have relatively lower or moderate incomes today will have a very high expected future earnings.”

“There are better ways to target the people who are actually suffering from student loan burdens who are less likely to ever be able to pay off their debts,” she continued. “I think this is gonna cost a lot of money and may be going to a lot of people who don’t really need the help.”