♪.
SEAN: WELL WE EVER GET AMERICA
BACK IN FISCAL ORDER?
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN
BAILOUT PLAN ERASES DEBT FOR
SOME AMERICANS NOW ONLY TO BE
BACK AT THE SAME LEVEL WITHIN
FOUR YEARS.
JOINING US NOW IS RUSS VOUGHT,
FORMER OMB CORRECT TORE, AND
PRESIDENT OF THE CENTER FOR RENEWING AMERICA.
RENEWING AMERICA.
MICHAEL FALKAN DER, AFPI AND
VISITING FELLOW.
MICHAEL, BECAUSE JOE BIDEN AND
DEMOCRATS DID NOT FIX THE
PROBLEM OF RISING COLLEGE COSTS,
THEY’RE JUST GIVING FOLKS
$10,000, STUDENTS WILL BE BACK
WHERE THEY ARE TODAY FOUR YEARS
FROM NOW BECAUSE PRICES ARE
GOING TO GO UP.
WHAT SAY YOU?
>> I AGREE WITH THAT.
THAT IS THE REALITY OF THE
SITUATION.
IF YOU DON’T FIX THE
FUNDAMENTALS OF WHY STUDENT
LOANS ARE SO EXPENSIVE, WHY
EDUCATION AND COLLEGE IS SO
EXPENSIVE YOU WILL NOT GET OFF
THE ESCALATOR, YOU WILL ADD
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 800 AND A
TRILLION DOLLARS TO THE NATIONAL
DEBT AND THAT IS FUNDAMENTALLY
UNSUSTAINABLE.
IT IS UNFAIR TO THE PEOPLE THAT
HAVE PAID THEIR STUDENT LOANS
ALONG THE WAY, OR TO THOSE WHO
NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO
TO COLLEGE AND SEEK, ADVANCED
DEGREE.
SO THEY HAVE MADE THIS SITUATION
FUNDAMENTALLY WORSE.
ANY LAUGHABLE ARGUMENT THAT THEY
HAD THEIR INFLATION REDUCTION
ACT DID SOME GOOD ON THE DEFICIT
HAS BEEN COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY,
IF WE ALREADY DIDN’T BELIEVE
THAT IT DID SOMETHING ALONG THE
WAY AT THE BEGINNING.
SEAN: MICHAEL, WHEN I FIRST CAME
TO CONGRESS THERE WAS A GREAT
CONVERSATION ABOUT DEBT.
I THINK AT THAT POINT WE WERE AT
15,000, OR $15 TRILLION TO DEBT.
PAUL RYAN HAD PATHWAY TO
PROSPERITY.
WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT
DEBT-TO-GDP.
NO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS OR THE
MEDIA ARE NOT FOCUSING ON THE
MASSIVE DEBT WE HAVE AND THE
CONE CONSEQUENCE IT WILL HAVE ON
THE ECONOMY AND THE WEALTH OF
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
>> YOU’RE RIGHT, SEAN.
IMMEDIATELY UPON MY ARRIVAL TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY WE
WERE PUTTING OUT A REPORT TO THE
GOVERNMENT.
PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC WHICH WERE
ON AN UNSUSTAINABLE FISCAL PATH.
WE TITLED PAGE 2 OF THE REPORT,
WE’RE ON UNSUSTAINABLE FISCAL
PATH.
YOU’VE SEEN TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS
SPENT ON THE PANDEMIC BUT LONG
SINCE THE RECOVERY STARTED BY
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION CAUSING
INFLATION NOW OCCURRING YET
NOBODY SEEMS CONCERNED ABOUT ALL
THE DEBT SERVICE COSTS THAT
WILLED COME WITH IT.
WE’VE GONE OVER JUST 20 TRILLION
IN DEBT, TO NOW 30 TRILLION IN
DEBT EVEN WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL
APPROVAL THEY’RE ADDING ON TO IT
EVEN MORE WITH THINGS LIKE
STUDENT LOAN BAILOUT.
SEAN: WE HAVE TO HAVE A NATIONAL
CONVERSATION HOW WE GET OUR
SPENDING UNDER CONTROL.
RUSS, AS MICHAEL MADE THE POINT,
ALL THE SPENDING IS LEADING TO
MORE INFLATION.
HERE YOU HAVE STATES,
PENNSYLVANIA, ONE OF THEM,
NEW MEXICO ANOTHER, THEY WANT TO
GIVE THEIR CITIZENS WHETHER $500
OR $2000, GIVE THEM FREE MONEY
TO HELP DEAL WITH INFLATION
WHICH WILL ONLY DRIVE MORE
INFLATION!
>> YEAH, THAT IS NOT THE
SOLUTION.
THE SOLUTION IS DO HARD WORK TO
BALANCE THE BUDGET AND THERE ARE
TWO-WAYS THAT NEEDS TO OCCUR.
GROWTH, YOU CANNOT BALANCE THE
BUDGET WITHOUT GROWTH.
LARRY WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THAT.
YOU ALSO NEED SPENDING
REDUCTIONS.
YOU NEED SAVINGS AT THE WOKE AND
WEAPONIZED BUREAUCRACIES AIMED
AT AMERICAN PEOPLE.
YOU NEED COMMON SENSE REFORMS TO
GET PEOPLE BACK INTO THE LABOR
FORCE.
TO MAKE SURE THEY’RE OFF WELFARE
PROGRAMS AND BACK PARTICIPATING
IN THE ECONOMY SO IT GROWS.
THAT IS THE WAY TO A BALANCED
BUDGET.
IT CAN BE DONE.
WE HAD THOSE KINDS OF BUDGETS IN
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION THAT
MICHAEL AND I WORKED ON AND IT
CAN BE DONE.
THOSE ARE THE PATHS TO THE
FUTURE BUT THE CONGRESS NEEDS TO
GO FORWARD TO PUT SOME OF THOSE
THINGS IN PLACE.
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION NEEDS
TO STOP SPENDING.
SEAN: LIMIT YOUR SPENDING, GROW
YOUR ECONOMY AND OVER TIME YOU
WILL COME TO BALANCE.
IT IS PRETTY SIMPLE STUFF BUT
YOU CAN’T KEEP SPENDING LIKE
DRUNKEN SAILORS TO THINK WE’LL
GET TO A PLACE OF BALANCE THAT
NEVER HAPPENS.
MICHAEL, TALK TO BUT THE PIECE
IN "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL."
BIDEN IS COMPARING THE STUDENT
LOAN BAILOUT TO PPP LOAN
RECIPIENTS BUT YOU HIGHLIGHT
STARK DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PPP
AND THE LOAN FORGIVENESS OF
COLLEGE DEBT.
WHAT ARE THEY?
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
I MEAN IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHY WE
INTRODUCED THE PAYCHECK
PROTECTION PROGRAM, IT IS
BECAUSE WE HAD GOVERNMENT
ORDERED SHUTDOWNS OF OUR
ECONOMY.
YET WE NEEDED TO MAKE SURE THAT
HOUSEHOLDS STILL HAD ENOUGH
MONEY THEY COULD PAY THEIR BILLS
AND NOT BEING DESPERATELY
SEARCHING FOR MONEY AT A TIME WE
WERE HAVING A PANDEMIC.
SO WE ASKED BUSINESSES TO KEEP
EMPLOYEES ON THE PAYROLL AND
SAID IF YOU DID SO WE WILL TURN
THAT LOAN INTO A GRANT.
WE WILL FORGIVE THAT LOAN, IF
YOU WILL KEEP THOSE WORKERS
EMPLOYED AND ALLOW THOSE
HOUSEHOLDS TO KEEP HAVING ENOUGH
MONEY TO SURVIVE.
THAT IS STARKLY DIFFERENT THAN
SOMEBODY WHO GOES TO COLLEGE OF
THEIR OWN VOLITION, BECAUSE THEY
WANT TO IMPROVE THEIR FUTURE
INCOME, AND IS GOING TO BE
BECOME ONE OF THE HIGHER INCOME
PEOPLE IN OUR SOCIETY, THEY’RE
GOING TO HAVE PLENTY OF CAPACITY
TO PAY THE DEBT BACK THEMSELVES.
SO THERE IS ENORMOUS DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN TAKING ON DEBT TO HELP
OTHERS THAT UNDER A PROGRAM
WHERE WE GUARRANTY IT IS GOING
TO BE FORGIVEN VERSUS
VOLUNTARILY TAKING ON DEBT TO
IMPROVE YOUR OWN INCOME
SITUATION WHERE THERE WAS NEVER
A NOTION WE WOULD FORGIVE IT.
SEAN: THAT IS RAW POLITICS
COMING FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
OF COURSE PPP WAS MEANT TO BE
FORGIVEN.
YOUR STUDENT DEBT WAS NOT MEANT
TO BE FORGIVEN.
THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS.
LISTEN, GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU FOR
JOINING ME TODAY ON "KUDLOW."