On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stated that he doesn’t know anything about a survey showing that 73% of applicants for President Joe Biden’s student loan plan said they are likely to spend the money they receive on nonessentials like vacations, drugs, alcohol, clothing, and eating out, but there have been other giveaways and “these young people are leaving school deeply in debt, they are struggling economically. They deserve a break.”
Host Bill Maher said, “[T]his is, again, why people sometimes, I think, question some of what you’re saying. This is a survey, student loan forgiveness recipients, 73% of applicants say they are likely to spend their extra money on nonessential[s] including vacations, smartphone[s], drugs, and alcohol. They admitted that to the pollster NBC News. 52% [said] they are very likely or likely to buy new clothing, 46%, they would use the money for vacation and to eat out at restaurants. This is why people have a thing about — I would never call it free money — oh, I guess I just did.”
Sanders responded, “Let me respond to that in two ways, Bill: You talk about giveaways, under Trump, the Congress voted for a trillion dollars in tax breaks for the richest people in this country and the largest corporations, that’s a giveaway. We just increased military spending, with very little discussion…by $80 billion. … So, when you talk about giveaways, you have major corporations in this country that make billions in profit, don’t pay a nickel in taxes. Billionaires have an effective tax rate lower than that of a truck driver or a nurse. You have a generation — you talk about this younger generation right now — I get around the country and I talk to a lot of people, I don’t know anything about that poll, but I can tell you, I’ve talked to nurses who are working their asses off doing the right thing, they leave school $70,000 in debt, they can’t afford now to get married and have children. They can’t afford the housing that they desperately need. So, the truth is, you’ve got a generation that, everything being equal, the younger generation will have a lower standard of living than their parents. You and I…can remember, 50 years ago, what did it cost to go to the University of California? … Virtually free, City University of New York, virtually free. And right now, these young people are leaving school deeply in debt, they are struggling economically. They deserve a break.”
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