Last week, a senior Department of Education official tendered his resignation and urged forgiving federal student loan debt held by millions of Americans, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Initially appointed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as a chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid in 2017 and later assigned with additional roles, A. Wayne Johnson called the loan program system “fundamentally broken” after witnessing the increasing defaults during his stint with the department.
Johnson who calls himself a moderate Republican pitches for canceling $50,000 held by anyone which will bring relief to nearly $37 million student loan borrowers.
Dr. Wayne Johnson is spot on:
1. Cancel student loan debt up to $50,000–completely eliminating debt for 97% of borrowers.
2. Give up to a $50,000 tax credit to those who've repaid their loans.
3. Get the Feds out of the student loan lending business.https://t.co/CoFYbw3GgI
— Don Adams (@AssemblyRoomUSA) October 24, 2019
“We run through the process of putting this debt burden on somebody…but it rides on their credit files – it rides on their back—for decades,” he told WSJ.
“The time has come for us to end and stop the insanity.”
In recent months, many Democrats running for Presidential office in their education plans have called for partial or complete student loan forgiveness.
In June, Bernie Sanders had introduced a bill that would completely eliminate student debt by imposing a tax on Wall Street and make two and four-year public and tribal colleges and universities tuition-free and debt-free.
Johson has revealed his intentions to try for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.),
A recent survey by The Pew Charitable Trusts found 58 percent of Americans strongly pitching for government intervention in making student loan repayment easier for student borrowers.
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