Former Clinton adviser slams Biden’s student loan debt handout: ‘This is terrible policy’

Former adviser to Bill Clinton Paul Begala criticized President Biden’s student loan debt handout on Sunday during CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying it was “terrible policy.” 

“Well it’s bad policy as well as bad politics. For that amount of money, you could fund free pre-k for every 3 and 4-year-old for 10 years. You can do a lot more good for poor people, communities of color and the underprivileged by doing pre-k. You could forgive all medical debt, which unlike student debt is not freely entered into,” Begala said, adding that he was a “progressive.” 

He said that Biden’s plan was “terrible policy,” and noted Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan, who also came out against Biden’s plan. 

Begala said Ryan’s race in Ohio was “tight” and that he couldn’t “stand this idea.”

STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT: WALL STREET JOURNAL ROASTS BIDEN’S ‘INFLATION EXPANSION ACT’

He listed multiple Democrats who didn’t like the idea, as it might hurt their election chances, such as Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Col. 

“What is my party doing with this? They’re disadvantaging — I think they’re not helping the people we’re here to help, which is poor people and underprivileged communities. And they’re not helping their politicians who are running,” Begala said. 

Ashley Allison, the…