Student Loan Forgiveness in Exchange for Delayed Social Security

A new Republican proposal would allow young people to choose a reprieve on student debt in exchange for delaying the age when they can collect social security.

While the nation’s eyes were fixated on a major tax overhaul that passed Congress before Christmas, a freshman Republican has introduced a bold, yet practical, plan to deal with the student debt crisis.

Student debt is a top concern for young Americans, and it is preventing them from making the most of their future. With college tuition continuing its astronomic rise, young graduates are becoming saddled with more and more debt as the cost of their college degrees increases.

Young people have looked to their elected representatives for help, but they have received pandering from one side and impractical policies from the other. They are looking for leadership. Virginia Congressman Tom Garrett’s H.R. 4584, dubbed the Student Security Act of 2017, shows how conservatives can truly be the leaders for the next generation.

Student debt is a very real problem for an overwhelming number of young Americans. Since 2010, student loans have surpassed credit card debt, becoming the second largest source of personal debt in America. Today that figure exceeds $1.3 trillion in debt. Four-in-ten Americans under the age of 30 owe student loans. There are over 44 million borrowers, and the average 2016 graduate owes more than $37,172. Terming the student debt problem a “crisis” would, unfortunately, be more than accurate.

Solutions posed by many on the Left, however, are far from realistic. Even the editorial board of The Washington Post has criticized what it termed “Democrats’ loose talk on student loans.” Hillary Clinton’s plan to offer free tuition to families making $125,000 per year or less would have cost American taxpayers $350 billion over the span of ten years (the more ambitious plan proposed by Clinton’s primary rival Bernie Sanders would have cost taxpayers over twice as much).