On Thursday’s broadcast of NBC’s “MTP Now,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) defended President Joe Biden’s student loan program and said she’s “really tired of these armchair economists who love to take the shots and get attention, but aren’t really working hard to try to solve some of our nation’s problems.”
Host Kristen Welker asked, “I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you about the other big news today, which is the President’s announcement on student loans. He’s extending the pause. He’s giving relief of $10,000 to those who make less than $125,000. Some economists, though, are warning that it could add to inflation, including Jason Furman, who tweeted, ‘Pouring roughly half [a] trillion dollars of gasoline on the inflationary fire that is already burning is reckless. Doing it while going well beyond one campaign promise…and breaking another’ what is your reaction to what you are hearing from some economists who worked in the Obama administration who are concerned about inflation? Is this the wrong time to extend the student loan pause?”
Dingell answered, “I have a lot of feelings about this because I don’t think it solved a lot of the problems, but President Biden made a promise and he is trying to help those most in need reduce the stress that they have on them about how they’re going to pay this debt. And it’s really, quite frankly, keeping a lot of young people up at night. But I think we’ve got to do more real things, like, we look at other countries, we look at the state of Tennessee under a Republican governor that gives [two years of free tuition to community colleges]. We need to look at how we incentivize people to go into fields where there are real shortages, so that, perhaps, we pay for their tuition, and in turn, they give us their public service.”
Welker cut in to say, “Congresswoman, it sounds like you’re saying that the President hasn’t gotten to the root cause and root issue here.”
Dingell responded, “We’ve got to work at it more. I agree with that. And you know what I think of these armchair economists who like to get a lot of attention? It’s really easy to take the shots. Let’s get something concrete. I’m really tired of these armchair economists who love to take the shots and get attention, but aren’t really working hard to try to solve some of our nation’s problems. And I think President Biden has done a lot in the last few weeks to address many of the problems that are facing us in this country.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
