Franken Flip Flops on Student Debt
Calls Biden Plan a “Welcome First Step”
WEST DES MOINES — Mike Franken declared his support for President Joe Biden’s student loan announcement, calling it a “welcome first step,” despite earlier saying he opposed canceling student debt. Biden’s plan puts Americans who never went to college on the hook for student borrowers who took out a loan for college. What’s more, it forces lower- and middle-income people to pay off the loans for doctors and lawyers who earn up to a quarter-million dollars a year.
“What does Mike Franken actually believe? He said he opposed canceling student loan debt and now he says he supports it,” Grassley Works Communications Director Michaela Sundermann said. “Mike Franken should show Iowans more respect and be honest about where he stands on the issues. If his position is simply that he will fall in line and support whatever President Biden does, he should have the political courage to admit it. Mike Franken’s flip flopping is further proof that he would be nothing more than a Biden rubber stamp if elected. His support for transferring student loan debt to taxpayers is a slap in the face to every Iowan who didn’t go to college, paid off their own debts, or worked and sacrificed to make their own way. This decision will further fuel the fires of inflation. Mike Franken’s lockstep support for Biden’s reckless inflationary agenda disqualifies him from representing Iowans.”
BACKGROUND:
Mike Franken: “So, you know, those are all wonderful opportunities regarding education – Pell Grants, an expansion of that. I do not believe that it’s wise to zero out college debt.” (Heart of Iowa Democrats: Speaker Series, January 5)
Mike Franken: “I believe it’s a divisive issue in America to set aside student loans. For your issue with a union person who pays for that apprentice training and why ultimately they would be helping to pay for someone who may very well be their boss someday and may not even graduate from college. The logistics associated with this, that somebody who graduated two years ago, do we recompensate them? What about somebody five years from now who has a large debt? Is this an ongoing thing? And if we constantly wipe out college debt, what do you think the cost of college is going to do?” (Iowa Press Debate: U.S. Senate Democratic Primary, May 19)
