the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Apr 28, 2025
Starting in the midst of the pandemic, in March of 2020, and for the past five years, the federal government paused repayment requirements on federal student loan debt.
Forty-three million people, that is, 20% of all American adults, with undergraduate degrees, hold 1.6 TRILLION dollars in federal student loan debt. The pause in repayments is now over, according to the Secretary of the Department of Education, Linda McMahon.
And so, as of May 5th, no fewer than five million borrowers who had missed payments for 270 days, as well as four million more borrowers who are in so-called “late stage delinquency”—in imminent danger of defaulting—are threatened with federal debt collection. In plain terms, that means up to nine million student loan borrowers could face having their paychecks garnished. Or they could have their tax refunds, or pensions or Social Security benefits tapped for loan repayments.
The Education Department said it was resuming collections to protect taxpayers from shouldering the cost of federal student loans. McMahon said, “American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan practices.”
Irresponsible practices?! How about the irresponsible practice of the high cost of education in the U.S. that makes it almost impossible for working class and some middle class young people to go to college in the first place, without going into debt. The average outstanding student loan debt per person is nearly $39,000. And obviously many have higher debt.
How about the irresponsible practice of taxpayers being forced to serve as collateral for the huge tax breaks to billionaires and the 850 billion dollar military budget—which surpasses the budgets of all the other federal agencies combined?!