(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) In a relatively toothless rebuke of their party’s chief spender, the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate on Thursday approved GOP-driven legislation knocking down President Joe Biden’s scheme to buy leftist votes by cancelling at least $400 billion in student loan debt.
The Senate’s 52-46 vote, which came on the heels of the House last week approving the measure, passed with help from so-called moderate Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin, W.Va., and Jon Tester, Mont., and Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Ariz., who allied with Republicans to approve repealing the multi- billion-dollar shell game.
Manchin blasted the loan cancellation plan as “reckless,” adding that the country “simply cannot afford to add another $400 billion to the national debt,” a move that could hobble the economy and cripple taxpayers.
“There are already more than 50 existing student loan repayment and forgiveness programs aimed at attracting individuals to vital service jobs, such as teachers, health care workers, and public servants,” Manchin said in a statement.
“This Biden proposal undermines these programs and forces hard-working taxpayers who already paid off their loans or did not go to college to shoulder the cost. Instead, we should be focusing on bipartisan student debt reforms that reduce the cost of higher education and help all Americans.”
The Senate vote sets up a promised veto from the White House, which reportedly has little concern about facing a potential veto override with neither the House nor Senate passing the rebuke with the required two-thirds majority needed to shoot down Biden’s veto.
“It’s something of a slap in the face to Americans who chose more affordable college options or worked their way through school to avoid taking on student loans, or whose parents scrimped and saved to put them through college,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., said of Biden’s loan scheme before the Thursday vote.
“Unfortunately, the president is guaranteed to veto the measure, and there are not enough Democrats in the House and Senate to be willing to override his veto,” Thune conceded.
