MSNBC: Key Republican congressman fears student debt relief will undercut military recruiting

In the wake of President Joe Biden unveiling his new policy on student loan debt relief, there’s been plenty of policy responses, ranging from glowing praise to condemnations....

Take Republican Rep. Jim Banks, for example, who published this message yesterday:

“Student loan forgiveness undermines one of our military’s greatest recruitment tools at a time of dangerously low enlistments.”

Once in a while, I’m surprised by what prominent Republicans are willing to put in writing. This is one of those times.

To be sure, concerns about military enlistments are legitimate. Politico recently published a report on the issue, noting that there’s bipartisan pressure on the Pentagon to address “what is widely considered the worst recruiting environment since the end of the Vietnam War.”

But for the Indiana congressman to connect student loan forgiveness to enlistments is deeply problematic.

In practical terms, Banks effectively seemed to argue that leaving millions of young adults under a mountain of debt would be a good thing, since they may turn to the military in desperation.
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