Mike Rowe has spent much of his career getting down and dirty with the men and women who bust their butts every day to do the jobs many would pass on performing, so when President Joe Biden issued a decree that amounts to “the biggest pre-Labor Day slap in the face” to the people who really keep this country running, Rowe took to Facebook to express his anger.
Commenting on controversial political talking points on his Facebook page is not something Rowe typically likes to do, preferring instead to focus on the work of his foundation, but after Biden announced his plan to cancel student loans, the “Dirty Jobs” host made an exception.
“I work hard on this page, (not as hard as I could, perhaps, but pretty hard), to avoid the politics of the moment, and comment only on topics that impact the foundation I’m proud to run – a foundation that awards work-ethic scholarships to individuals who choose to forego an expensive, four-year education in favor of a skilled trade,” Rowe wrote. “When I do weigh in, I try to acknowledge both sides of the argument, and make my points with as much respect as I can muster.”
“Today, however, I can see only one side,” he continued. “Today, I can find nothing to respect in the President’s decision to transfer billions of dollars in outstanding student loans onto the backs of those people my foundation tries to assist – the same people I’ve spent the last twenty years profiling on Dirty Jobs.”
Rowe stated that, instead of writing the piece he’d originally intended on writing, he would simply attach an article written by National Review Online senior writer Charles Cooke, who, Rowe claimed, “writes better than I do, and shares my disdain for what just happened.”
Rowe urged his followers to share Cooke’s article, adding that Biden’s decision to wipe out up to $10,000 in debt for those earning less than $125,000 per year “is without question, the biggest pre-Labor Day slap in the face to working people I’ve ever seen.”
As BizPac Review reported, economists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business believe Biden’s “slap” could wind up costing taxpayers more than $300 billion over the next decade.
On Twitter, House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee — tasked with overseeing fiscal legislation — cited the Wharton report and stated that the plan would “benefit top earners” and “worsen inflation” for Americans, 87% of whom “don’t have student loans.”
While 87% of American adults don’t have student loans, Biden’s student loan giveaway would benefit top earners & highly educated grads most & worsen inflation, according to new analyses by the University of Penn Wharton Budget Model and the @BudgetHawks.https://t.co/hIxzoaVQnI
— Ways and Means Committee (@WaysandMeansGOP) August 24, 2022
In his article for the National Review, bluntly titled “Biden’s Student-Debt Bonfire Is a Classist Message to the Uncredentialed: Screw ’Em,” Cooke notes that “Congress has provided no authorization for the executive branch to arbitrarily write off some of the money that borrowers owe to taxpayers.”
“As of yet, Congress has passed no rules that allow down-on-their-luck presidents to throw money at people for political gain,” he writes. “As of yet, Congress has given no instruction that if the president’s friends might like a little more cash, he can raid the Treasury to give it to them.”
According to Cooke, in burdening those who opted to forgo college in favor of starting a small business or learning a trade with billions of dollars in unpaid student loans, the President made “absolute chumps” out of America’s workers and “a mockery of his oath to uphold the Constitution.”
It’s a sentiment shared by many.
Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro slammed Biden for calling the deal “fair.”
“By fair, he means that if you didn’t get a college degree, you’re subsidizing people who went to college,” he stated. “And that if you paid off your college loans, you’re subsidizing people who didn’t.”
Joe Biden: Cancelling student debt is "fair"@benshapiro: "By fair, he means that if you didn't get a college degree, you're subsidizing people who went to college. And that if you paid off your college loans, you're subsidizing people who didn't." pic.twitter.com/cqxgjnxAhT
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 25, 2022
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.