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By Beth Chapman

Neither of my parents had college degrees, but they worked their entire adult lives to ensure my brothers and I did. It was important to my parents, and it was part of their American Dream, and they achieved it without a single dime from the government.

My parents paid for one of my degrees, and I paid for the other. I paid for it while attending school at night and working a full-time job during the day — also without a single dime from the government. It was all accomplished on a salary starting at only $13,000 a year. I’m not complaining. That job and that degree was a portion of my American Dream too.

My husband, not quite as fortunate, acquired a student loan to attend college. I watched him pay that debt for years, and when we were married, I contributed to paying that debt as well. Again, we didn’t take a cent from the government — in fact, it never occurred to us that anyone else was responsible for his debt. It was an obligation he signed up for – an investment. He paid his debt, and he prospered from his investment. So can everyone else.

While attending undergraduate school, I had numerous friends who had heart-breaking stories of growing up in poverty. They had great financial needs. One friend worked three jobs to put herself through school. Like my husband, she saw college as an investment in her future.

Many of my former classmates discussed their student loans. They knew the price of their education, and they knew the debt they would owe after graduation. Obviously, they thought it was worth it.

Several questions arise from these various scenarios that focused on post-secondary education. One, where is my 90-year-old mother’s money for sending me and my two brothers to school? Where is my allotment for paying for my second college degree? Where is my money for sending my son to college?

How about my friend who worked three jobs to put herself through college? Where is her compensation? How is her work to pay for her own education suddenly less valuable than the “debt relief” President Biden is proposing to give to thousands of students today? And additionally, how about the young people who didn’t go to college because they didn’t have the money and didn’t commit to a debt the knew they couldn’t pay?

Maybe all the people in favor of using government money to pay off student loans should volunteer their stimulus checks to help settle all those debts.

How much money can America afford to hand out to these former students? It’s not like we’re buying them food to eat. We’re now paying for something they signed up for and agreed to pay back. What message are we sending to them and to future students? Don’t worry about your debts, the government will bail you out.

“Show me the money,” is no longer the famous line from a movie. It’s the battle cry of many American people under the reign of a very liberal administration and you’re paying for it.