Hacker News Reader

Comment by nextstep | Hacker News Reader

So was giving millions away to wealthy people as forgiven PPP loans.

PPP loans had conditions from the very beginning for both acceptance and forgiveness. Additionally, they were a bribe to businesses to not have the government overthrown for the government actions that were going to make almost every business bankrupt. Neither is true for student loans. The "HA! GOTCHA!" talking point of so-and-so took a PPP loan and had it forgiven ignores both of these realities. They were designed from day one to be forgiven and to keep businesses from simply closing down and ending the economy, food distribution, and almost every other part of modern society.

Sorry, students. We can't forgive any debt for you because you weren't a credible threat to the government.

I'm assuming you received a PPP loan?

people were told they were not allowed to work their business. they had employees to pay for. going to college (let alone how you fund your college) is a choice. These are very different things.

This is just Biden taking tax payer money from everyone to give money to people who voted for them (vote for me again ok? I gave you money). that's what this is about, its not about 'the plight of young people'. not that they have a plight. I'd give everything I own for 10x their debt and to be young again.

Another interesting thing, where is the liberals going on about whataboutism now? hah.

Right, but this seems like a "two wrongs make a right" argument.

Except it isn't.

PPP loans were offered as a stopgap measure to stem unemployment during a pandemic. Most people just pocketed the money because they weren't actually doing that badly. I could have taken one and didn't and I regret it now, but that's water under the bridge. It's just funny that all of the opportunists out there who are crying about student loans had no problem taking many multiples worth of PPP loans to line their pockets.

The comparison between a student loan and consumer debt at the end of that article though? Utter braindeadedness.

Indeed. I recently heard that many conservative podcasts - businesses that would have benefitted from the lockdowns - took PPP loans. Railing against student loan forgiveness is just "fuck you, got mine".

I feel like so much of the sentiment boils down to some people objecting to someone else benefiting from government spending and some other people having suffered so they think everyone else should suffer too.

Mmm, not really - that’s more “an eye for an eye” stuff.

This is just calling out the kind of hypocrisy of people like MTG who got $183K of PPP loans forgiven but rails against students

It points out a hypocrisy implicit in the simplicity of "don't print money." When people complain that "you did this for them but suddenly you have a problem when it's for me?" are pointing out this hypocrisy. "This is different," requires an explanation for how, because otherwise it looks like, "Don't print money for plebs," or "Don't print money for students," or "Don't print money for non-business owners," is as accurate as it needs to be.

No, it is a demonstration that the "printing money" argument is completely empty and that we show argue about the impact of the decision.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com