Bernie Sanders and Mitt Romney Spar on Student-Loan Forgiveness

• After Sen. Romney called student-loan forgiveness a “bribe,” Sen. Sanders pushed back.
• “I know he thinks corporations are people, but does he know people are people?” Sanders said.
• Romney later told NBC that Sanders “needs to go to Econ 101,” amid news Biden will soon decide on debt relief.

Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican Sen. Mitt Romney don’t see eye-to-eye when it comes to canceling student debt.

On Wednesday, after President Joe Biden had indicated to some Democratic lawmakers that he is open to forgiving at least $10,000 in student debt, Romney called the relief a “bribe” for voters. Sanders — an advocate for complete student-loan forgiveness — didn’t agree.

“Mr. Romney supports ‘bribes’ in the form of tax cuts for the wealthy and billions in welfare for corporations, but is shocked by the idea that working Americans might get help paying off student debt,” Sanders wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “I know he thinks corporations are people, but does he know people are people?”

—Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 28, 2022

Romney later told an NBC News reporter that Sanders “needs to go to Econ 101. And I keep suggesting that’s a good idea, that it’d be helpful for him to understand that money does not grow on trees.”

The student-loan forgiveness debate has been buzzing this week, with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers on high alert. After a speech on Ukraine aid on Thursday, Biden told reporters that he will “have an answer” on student-debt relief in the coming weeks. He noted that $50,000 in relief is off the table, but he’s considering some form of debt forgiveness prior to the resumption of student-loan payments after August 31.

Republicans have consistently slammed the notion of student-loan forgiveness due to its cost to taxpayers and the economy. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine criticized the potential Biden move on Thursday, arguing any debt relief would be unfair to people who paid it back.

Sanders and his Democratic colleagues have maintained forgiving student debt will be an economic stimulus and benefit those who need it the most.  “This is a problem in our society,” Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii told Insider. “We should fix it.”