President Biden is now attacking any entity that received a special forgivable loan that was part of a bipartisan relief effort for those suffering from government COVID-19 lockdown policies – and claiming forgiveness of these loans is similar to his unilateral student loan amnesty.

This is false. The government forcibly locked down hairdressers, family restaurants, and other small businesses, and jeopardized the livelihoods of their employees–as well as their access to employer-provided health care. To address this, Congress worked in a bipartisan way to offer Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to help these businesses and their workers stay afloat. As a result, the program supported 51 million jobs to get through the pandemic across the economy.

By contrast, President Biden’s student loan giveaway largely benefits the wealthy, forcing this debt onto lower-income American taxpayers in the form of higher taxes and more inflation.

READ: Analysis: Biden’s Student Loan Giveaway Would Benefit Highest Earners Most

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Paycheck Protection Program loans saved workers and Main Street as government lockdowns threatened to permanently shutter small businesses.

• The Paycheck Protection Program kept workers connected to their workplaces, ensured they received paychecks and access to employer-provided health care, and  prevented the closure of Main Street businesses across the country.
• PPP loans were a first-of-their-kind tool to help small businesses receive federally backed cash-flow assistance. If the business used the money to maintain payroll, the portion of the loans used for covered payroll costs, interest on mortgage obligations, rent, and utilities would be forgiven.
• PPP was one of the tools that Congress used to ensure that many of the workers affected by the recession would be able to get back into work quickly instead of becoming permanently laid off.

READ: Small Biz Loan Program Saved Jobs, Businesses, New Study Finds

President Biden’s student loan giveaway will be paid for at the expense of lower-income earners.

• Even former Obama-Biden top economic advisor Larry Summers issued a warning that Biden’s mass student loan giveaway will worsen inflation. “Student loan relief is not free. It would be paid for. Part of it would be paid for by the 87 percent of Americans who do not benefit but lose out from inflation,” Summers said.
• Americans are rightly concerned – at least 59 percent of Americans worry the plan will worsen inflation, according to a new CNBC poll.

Pursuing mass student loan forgiveness ignores the very problems most Americans are facing.

• Workers and families are getting crushed by Biden-Flation – an average family is spending $6,000 more this year to pay for exactly what they bought the past year.
• Rather than prioritizing inflation raging for Americans and Main Street businesses, President Biden’s student loan giveaway puts the economy on the back burner once again.

READ: Brady: Unfair Student Debt Giveaway Will Drive Inflation and College Costs Higher

READ: President Biden Repeats Zombie Tax Reform Claims to Justify Student Loan Giveaway to Wealthy