Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is pushing forward with his proposal to provide a $10,000 payoff to all federal student loan borrowers.
“The next round of stimulus, we want to do that,” Brown told Cheddar from his home in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday.
Brown said that he and other Democratic senators have already been partially successful with bringing relief to those burdened by student loan debt.
“Senator Warren and I wanted two major things. We wanted a freeze on payments so nobody had to pay during this six-month or so period,” Brown explained. “We also wanted $10,000 in forgiveness of federal loans. The Republicans wouldn’t accept that. Trump opposed that.”
Brown also lobbied for $4,500 in direct payments for every American adult and child, with restrictions on higher-income families. The $2.2 trillion stimulus package included a one-time payment of $1,200 to most adults and $500 for every child.
When asked about Republicans accusing Democrats of trying to use the coronavirus crisis to push long-sought progressive legislation, Brown shrugged off the criticism saying the government is obligated to take action.
“This is the role of government to help people that are unemployed, to help people that are sick, to help people that are struggling, to help people that are hungry,” he said. “I don’t apologize for a second for any of that.”
With COVID cases rising in many places, governments are facing the dilemma to push on with a vaccine that is known to save lives or suspend use of AstraZeneca over reports of dangerous blood clots in a few recipients.
As a worldwide semiconductor shortage hammers American industries, trade groups are reaching out to the Biden administration with pleas to boost production in the U.S.
More than a dozen congressional Democrats from New York, as well as both senators, put out statements in what appeared to be a coordinated release Friday morning, calling on the state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, to resign.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Four former presidents are urging Americans to get vaccinated as soon as COVID-19 doses are available to them, as part of a campaign to overcome hesitancy for the shots.
