“It makes it really clear to students and anyone who looks to the government for support that we are not their first priority, that overall we live in a capitalist society and therefore their first priority is always going to be where the money is,” Vivian Cormany, a pre-med student at University of California, Berkeley, who also works at the student co-op there, told The Hill.
“Helping people achieve higher education and helping people live better lives because they won’t be paying off student loans until they’re 35 falls to the wayside when it comes to bailing out big banks,” said Cormany, who added that her father was paying off student loans until he was 40 and that her mother decided not to got to college due to the cost.
Others are also expressing their upset with the recent bailouts, as uncertainty still clouds the future of a sweeping order Biden issued last year to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans for droves of borrowers.
“My own current financial expenses are taken care of by federal funding, by the university. But whenever I see these bank bailouts, I think that money could go towards improving UT or improving other Texas universities,” Mercury Robertson, who works as a resident’s assistant at a dormitory at the University of Texas in Austin, told The Hill in a recent interview.
The frustration around the government’s response to the recent bank collapses comes as taxpayers and lawmakers have taken issue with the course of action in what some have argued is a clear example of inequity.
“What am I, surprised that our economy is run by people who own banks? No, it’s not a surprise. But yeah, it’s another example of total inequity and racism,” Ellen McTigue, a retired nurse practitioner from New York, told The Hill.
“No surprises there, but it is unfortunate and it’s wrong,” she said.
Read more about how taxpayers are reacting at TheHill.com.
