A Democrat staffer on Capitol Hill is going viral after celebrating getting his student debt canceled by President Joe Biden.
Ben Kamens, a communications staffer for Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), posted on Wednesday, “Just got a call to let me know my student debt has been canceled. This is why elections matter.”
“Thanks [Joe Biden],” he added.
It did not take long for some users to start looking into the details of his situation.
Maggie Howell, who worked for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), called Kamens’ post a “thorough example of why Biden’s loan cancellation is a gigantic waste of your taxpayer money.”
“Guy is a staffer, he is already getting them paid off ($800+/month) for FREE by the federal government through the employee student loan repayment program -Address listed is out of state, house is worth over half a million dollars,” she continued. “Why is someone with <$8,000 left to pay, qualified for this blanket sweep program? Why is this not concentrated to the low-income earners who absolutely need it the most?”
In a separate post, she highlighted information from the site LegiStorm that estimated Kamen is making roughly $90,000 a year before any annual bonuses.
National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke posted, “No doubt the working people of America are thrilled to step in because, despite having received the service you took out the loan to buy, you couldn’t be bothered to pay off $8,250 in principal in fourteen years—which is $589/year.”
“This guy couldn’t pay off $8,250 on loans he took at 14 years ago. That’s $48 a month. You’re paying this guys loans off so he could do one more night out with the boys every month for last 14 years,” another user wrote.
Check out some of the reactions below:
The post comes as Biden has embarked on a campaign to cancel billions of dollars of student loan debt after the Supreme Court struck down his plan for mass debt cancellation last year. The Associated Press notes his administration has canceled $167 billion in student loan debt, impacting 5 million borrowers.
