Those who owe school loans will at least get another five-month reprieve from federal student loan payments, President Biden announced yesterday. Via Buzzfeed News:

This is the sixth time that the government has paused payments on federally held student loans since the coronavirus pandemic began. After a two-year break, borrowers were expecting to have to start repayment on May 1, but payments will now be frozen through at least Aug. 31. Biden said he made the decision to extend the pause due to the pandemic and the still-recovering economy.

Biden’s decision means that student loan payments are now set to resume on Sept. 1, just two months before the midterm elections. Nearly 100 Democrats had sent Biden a letter in late March asking him to freeze payments through at least the end of the year.

The administration also said Wednesday that borrowers who have defaulted on student loans that are currently paused would have that default status removed to give them a “fresh start” when they reenter repayment.

Andrew Ross Sorkin was on Morning Joe today, saying it would be a problem if Biden forgave student loans, because it would "create more demand" and increase inflation.

Really? I don't think you can get much more demand in the housing market right now, and all the younger people I know are struggling just to make the rent and buy food and gas. I don't think it will "increase demand." (Unless he's talking about all that avocado toast the kids are reputed to waste money on?)

I remained astonished at all the people who say we shouldn't forgive student loans "because I had to pay them all those years." By that logic, we shouldn't have started Obamacare because you were paying exorbitant rates for health insurance all those years.

Besides, this is a political imperative. Joe Biden promised this while he was running, and young people believed him. They turned out to vote. Well, we're going to need those votes in the midterms, and if that's the price, we should be happy to make the trade.