As the first set of Democratic candidates took the stage for the second round of presidential debates, some 2020 hopefuls criticized Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) plan to totally eliminate student loan debt by providing free college for all Americans.
During the debate, Sanders called for a political revolution to force Wall Street to pay for the crisis with a tax.
The "ultra-wealth tax" has gained steam among progressives in the race, like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Because college costs are so high, Sanders argues, the wealth gap widens as most families are unable to pay for tuition. Therefore, his plan calls for the termination of student loan debt and would make two- and four-year public and tribal colleges and universities tuition-free and debt-free.
However, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg who, in the last debate said he and his husband have a "six-figure student debt," rejected Sanders's plan to terminate all debt throughout the U.S., even though it would presumably mean his own family's debt would be forgiven.
<i>Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., from left, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. / Photo Credit: Paul Sancya/AP/Shutterstock</i>
"That'd be great for us," Buttigieg said. "And then the next day there would be a student loan program and people would be out taking student loans wondering why they weren't lucky enough in timing to get theirs wiped away completely too."
Rather, the youngest candidate in the race proposed a plan to enact debt-free college for low- and middle-income students by expanding Pell Grants and "compelling states to pick up more of the burden." He also said he would open up access to a public service loan forgiveness program.
Like Buttigieg, former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke also disagreed with Sanders's plan for free college.
O'Rourke said he supports free two-year colleges, and debt-free four-year programs. He noted that his plan includes free board and books, a difference from other candidates' proposals.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, has said that taking on student debt is personal; however, she is wary of whose debt should be forgiven.
"I want to make it easier for kids to go to college, and I think we do it by using our resources on the people that need it the most," Klobuchar said Tuesday night.
Klobuchar critiqued Sanders's plan that would pay for all Americans to attend college, including students who are not in need. "It would literally pay for wealthy kids, for Wall Street kids, to go to college for free," she said.
Rather than providing free college to all young adults, Klobuchar said she plans to refinance loans and expand repayments for teachers.
The only candidate to offer support for Sanders' plan was author Marianne Williamson, who said a candidate must focus on stimulating the economy: "The best thing to do to stimulate this economy is to get rid of this debt."
Warren spoke briefly about her plan to end student debt, which includes universal, tuition-free college for all kids, increased Pell Grants and increasing funding in historically black colleges and universities by $50 billion. "It cancels student loan debt for 95 percent of the kids with student loan debt, and helps close the black-white wealth gap in America," said Warren
For more on 2020 candidates' plan to fix the student loan debt, click here.
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A new report from ProPublica and the Washington Post found that Facebook Groups played a major role in the spread of misinformation linked to the January 6 insurrection with more than 650,000 posts claiming that Joe Biden's election victory was illegitimate.
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Several Silicon Valley insiders are being accused of contorting a 1990s-era tax break to avoid taxes on millions of dollars of investment profits. The tax break is known as the qualified small business stock exemption, and it allows early investors in certain companies to avoid half of the taxes on up to $10 million in capital gains. A piece recently published in the New York Times says venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz replicated the tax exemption by giving shares of companies to friends and family, who would otherwise face a 23.8% capital gains bill. The CEO of Roblox is also accused of replicating the tax break for his family members at least 12 times. Although the loophole known as 'stacking' is considered to be legal, the Times piece implies that the exemption has been manipulated for the ultra-wealthy to become more wealthy. Greycroft co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Alan Patricof joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Chris Sommerfeldt, City Hall reporter for the New York Daily News, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses both the wins and losses of Bill de Blasio's eight years as New York City Mayor.
The push to regulate the gig worker economy is gaining steam as the share of workers who participate in freelancing through businesses like Uber and Lyft have also exponentially grown during the pandemic. Employment attorney Mark Kluger, founding partner at Kluger Healey, LLC, joined Cheddar to break down how the battle to reclassify gig workers will continue in the new year, and why the issue continues to generate conflict. "More and more workers are using gig work as their primary source of income and as a result of that they are not like employees in the sense that they don't have benefits like health insurance," Kluger noted.
