President Joe Biden has come under fire from manufacturing workers in Pennsylvania after they called his $500 billion student loan handout a slap in the face to blue-collar America.
Several workers from Donsco, Inc. iron foundry in south-central Pennsylvania spoke with Fox News about the student debt scheme.
“It’s not going to affect the people that are here, the people that are actually out doing all the work,” said Jim Davis, a supervisor at the Donsco plant.
Biden’s “going to help the people in the bigger cities because that’s what [he] wants,” he added.
Another worker, Francisco Hernández, a cancer survivor forced out of retirement due to soaring inflation, was highly frustrated with Biden’s handout.
Attack on the working-class
“A lot of those families are rich,” he said. “They have the money to pay it off, so they get a break and they get to sit on their couch and their kids are stuck with a degree they can’t even use.”
Biden plans to forgive $10,000 in student debt for those making less than $125,000 annually.
Pell Grant recipients will receive $20,000 in debt handouts if their income falls below the same threshold.
“Donsco is always hiring people, these college kids can always come here on their time off and work and pay their debt back,” he said.
The White House is also extending a pause on student loan payments through he end of 2022.
The Education Department is capping undergraduate loan repayment at 5% of a borrower’s monthly income, adding to the cost of the taxpayer-funded handout.
Taxpayer-funded handout
“An entire generation is now saddled with unsustainable debt in exchange for an attempt, at least, at a college degree,” Biden said when announcing the handout. “That’s what today’s announcement is about. It’s about opportunity. It’s about giving people a fair shot.”
Tony Bell, an employee at the Donsco foundry, said the handout is a “bad idea.”
“Donsco is always hiring people, these college kids can always come here on their time off and work and pay their debt back,” Bell said.
“If they signed the contract they should pay for it,” said Kevin Wasileski. “Why should I pay for somebody else’s college?”
Wasileski argued that Biden’s student loan handout would benefit white-collar professionals at the expense of blue-collar workers.
“I don’t think a plumber should be paying for a doctor’s free medical school,” he said.
The cost of handouts will cost between $440 billion and $600 billion, the Committee for a Responsible Budget estimates.
But according to White House officials, the proposal is fully paid for because the deficit is already shrinking.
But economists argue the White House’s unwillingness to outline offsets for the student debt handout signal it plans to just throw the money onto the $726 billion federal deficit.
Donsco workers say this means they are on the hook for the handout.
“The sad part is the rich aren’t going to pay for this [handout], we are,” said Hernández. “Everything is a gift, but that goes on the back of our debt and the taxpayers are the ones who have to cover it.”
