(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Fox News host Martha MacCallum and Biden White House economic advisor Jared Bernstein spared last week over student loan forgiveness. MacCallum asked Bernstein who was going to pay for the $20,000 in student loan forgiveness provided to Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for borrowers making under $125,000 a year, according to Daily Caller.
She cited a University of Pennsylvania Wharton model that suggested that the total cost of forgiving the student loans would be upwards to $1 trillion. Bernstein rejected this claim, claiming instead that the cost would be closer to $24 billion. His reasoning was that the government is reducing the deficit by spending less and taking in more.
MaCallum proposed a scenario where she had $15,000 in debt and $5,000 of that debt was forgiven. She still has $10,000 in debt, she argued, so who will wind up paying for it? Bernstein only said that the cost of the forgiveness will be paid for by reducing the deficit more than the cost of the student loan debt.
“The way to think about this is that the government is taking in way more in both receipts and spending way less than we have been in prior years,” he said.
MacCallum disputed his claim and said that the government was spending more than it was taking in, but Bernstein dismissed that, saying that she was making things too confusing.
“Okay, well, hold on, and let me suggest how you’re doing so,” he interjected. “The question on the table is, is it accurate to say that we are reducing the deficit more than the cost of student loan forgiveness and the answer is unquestionably yes, okay? I hope that’s pretty straight forward,” he said.
MaCallum reiterated the Wharton model that indicated the student debt forgiveness costs would reach $1 trillion, but Bernstein immediately took the defensive. “Hold on, hold on, I’m not going to let you do the thing where you recast what I said totally differently,” he said. “What I’m saying is very straightforward. We are reducing the budget deficit both in this year and last year far more, multiples more than the cost of student loan debt forgiveness.
