Letters to the Editor: Is canceling student debt fair?

To the editor: The Times fails to explain why and how student loan debt was impacted by the pandemic. Did it suddenly increase? No. Did students lose their degrees and employment opportunities? No. There is no legitimate reason to assume that the average student suffered as much as the average worker.

Mike Post, Winnetka

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To the editor: So, if I understand Justice Neil M. Gorsuch correctly, if the rich and middle class can pay off their loans, then the poor should also be expected to — after all, don’t the banks deserve what is rightfully theirs? Never mind that the federal government saved the banks not that long ago. If the loans are forgiven, then doesn’t that money get spent in the marketplace, where it will do more to help the economy than the banks currently do?

Charles Donaghho, Ontario

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To the editor: Supreme Court adjudication of student debt relief requires standing in this case and a legislative act that authorizes such forgiveness, not an emotional outpouring by those who want relief, regardless of how compelling their stories are. Standing is problematic here, as is the authority of the HEROES Act in this context. These are the only questions our nine wise justices should assess.

Paul Bloustein, Cincinnati

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To the editor: While student debt cancellation is absolutely essential to begin to address the systemic inequalities of our higher education system, another component that continues to destroy the lives of student loan borrowers is the unique gutting of the constitutional right to declare bankruptcy from student loan debt. Unless and until these rights are fully restored to student loan debt, the lending industry will continue to operate in bad faith, imposing usurious compounding interest and all but guaranteeing that principal balances will never be paid off and the middle and working class remain stuck in perpetual cycles of predatory debt.

Lisa Ansell, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: Why should I, who pay my taxes, be forced to pay for another person’s not keeping their word? Student loans are a commitment by the student to help them get through college and then pay back what was loaned to them. We may be going through hard times now, and delays of payback may be in order, but not cancellation of such debt. Repayment in other forms would be acceptable, but not cancellation.

Ed Krojansky, Lake Balboa

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To the editor: Conservative justices suggested that Biden had overstepped his authority, questioning the fairness of Biden’s plan to forgive student loans for millions of people drowning in debt. The word “fairness” coming from this largely Trump-appointed Supreme Court is something they had conveniently and purposely forgotten while deciding that Roe vs. Wade was to be overturned.

Breaking with a 50-year-old solid law, the justices told women they have no rights at all when it comes to making health decisions and personal choices about their own lives and bodies. The particular scales of justice and “fairness” they pretend to carefully weigh are unbalanced and in desperate need of recalibration.

Frances Terrell Lippman, Sherman Oaks