AOC Likens One Argument Against Student Loan Forgiveness To ‘Hazing Mentality’
The idea that a student loan forgiveness program would be unfair because some people have already paid off their student debt and some chose to attend a less costly school represents a sort of “hazing mentality,” according to U. S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
“I think it’s kind of this hazing mentality, like, because I was hazed now everyone else needs to be hazed in the future,” Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez told Nicholas Ballasy when he asked her about this issue. “As someone who’s paid off thousands of dollars for student loans, I don’t think that repeating the same mistake and perpetuating it for the next generation is fair,” she explained.
When Ballasy asked the Congresswoman whether she believed that loan forgiveness removes “the incentive…for colleges to actually lower tuition,” she said that loan forgiveness should pass in tandem with legislation making public institutions tuition-free.
“So I actually believe that student loan forgiveness should be passed in the same fell swoop as public, tuition-free public colleges and universities. Because if you don’t pass tuition-free public college then you do recreate the problem, then it’s just kind of a, a one swoop forgiveness but then the costs continue to mount for, for people,” she noted.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez revealed during a recent hearing on student loan debt that she still has $19,000 in debt after she made a payment.
“I literally made a student loan payment while I was sitting here at this chair,” she said noting the loan balance of $20,237.16 and adding, “And I just made a payment that took me down to $19,000 so I feel really accomplished right now.”
The freshman Congresswoman from New York has supported legislation introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) that would wipe out student loan debt and make public institutions tuition and fee free.
Student loans are a scam.
That’s why I join @BernieSanders, @RepJayapal & @IlhanMN to forgive ALL student loans AND make colleges tuition-free.
PS: for the cost of the GOP tax scam (~$2 TRILLION), we could’ve already forgiven every student loan in America w/ billions left over. https://t.co/GXRHHWoKai
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 24, 2019
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Alex Nitzberg
Alex Nitzberg is a senior writer for Accuracy in Academia. His writing has been published at Townhall.com, NewsBusters.org and elsewhere. In 2016 he was an intern with the American Journalism Center.
