Building Back Together, a lobbying group that promotes the agenda of President Joe Biden, will spend six figures on a midterm advertisement campaign highlighting the commander-in-chief’s decision to nix student loan debt.
The White House announced two months ago that the Department of Education would cancel $10,000 in student debt for millions of borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year, as well as $20,000 for students who attended college via a Pell Grant. The advertisement promoting the policy is designed to reach young borrowers from Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
“Millions of Americans making less than $125,000 a year will be able to get much-needed relief through this simple online form, which takes less than five minutes to fill out,” Building Back Together Executive Director Danielle Melfi said in a statement. “This is a game changer for so many young Americans, who will now have more money in their pockets to start a family, open a business, or buy a house. This campaign celebrates this win for working families and thanks the president for his commitment to getting it done.”
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Featuring electronic dance music and remixed commentary from various cable news outlets, the advertisement rapidly flips between distorted images of the White House and Biden while emphasizing that students will receive either $10,000 or $20,000 in their pockets. The video also features the Dark Brandon meme, which attempts to portray Biden as gritty and tough.
Viewers are told to visit the online application through which borrowers can now apply for loan cancellation. Biden said during a recent speech that the online application takes “less than five minutes” to finish, adding that more than eight million people have filed for loan forgiveness “without a glitch” on a beta site launched Friday.
Building Back America is staffed by a number of Democratic operatives and campaign veterans, according to a fact sheet from Influence Watch. Although the White House claimed that the group works separately from the administration, reports suggest that officials helped determine structure and staffing.
Critics of the policy indeed argue that canceling student debt was merely an attempt to secure support from young voters ahead of the midterms. The Pacific Legal Foundation said in a legal complaint that the move was an “election year ploy” and will not address the issues truly driving expensive tuition among postsecondary institutions.
Democratic candidates facing difficult midterm campaigns in swing states have nevertheless distanced themselves from the policy. As progressives attempt to shake Biden’s particularly poor economic record, a survey from CNBC revealed that 59% of Americans are concerned that student debt cancellation will worsen inflation.
“As someone who’s paying off my own family’s student loans, I know the costs of higher education are too high,” Ohio Senate candidate Tim Ryan remarked in a statement. “And while there’s no doubt that a college education should be about opening opportunities, waiving debt for those already on a trajectory to financial security sends the wrong message to the millions of Ohioans without a degree working just as hard to make ends meet.”
An estimate from the Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the overall cost will be $400 billion, with another $20 billion incurred by the extended pause on repayments. Analysts at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School likewise contended that a permanent loan cancellation announcement might lead students to “reorganize their financing toward additional borrowing.” Although the policy could increase access to higher education, universities themselves could benefit the most “in the form of higher prices” as they raise tuition.
