Self-identified socialist atheist teacher goes viral for demanding student loans be cancelled after divulging his own debt

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A person who claims to be a socialist atheist teacher went viral after posting his personal financial situation and then demanding that student loans be cancelled.

Steven Cotterill said that he and his wife had racked up $70,000 in combined student loan debt but still owed $60,000 after more than two decades.

"My wife and I left graduate school 23 years ago with a combined total of $70,000 debt. Since then we've made $500 monthly payments for 23 years ($120,000+). Today, we still owe $60,000," wrote Cotterill on Tuesday.

— (@)

"Explain to me again why student loan debt shouldn't be cancelled," he added.

While the tweet received a lot of support among those who want to see student debt cancelled, others criticized Cotterill by pointing out that the outstanding debt was likely because they chose to make interest-only payments.

"Because this isn’t the responsibility of the people who didn’t make the voluntary decisions you did," responded Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review.

"Because you borrowed at a roughly 8.5% interest rate in the late 90s, never refinanced even as interest rates collapsed, made only the minimum interest payment, and failed to take advantage of the 3-year payment pause. Bad financial planning does not merit a government bailout," replied Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute.

"If you have multiple graduate degrees in your household & don't have any clue how to manage your money, that's a you problem, not a society problem. Pay. Your. Bills," wrote historian and writer Mike Coté.

"The rest of us chose to give up things like luxuries and vacations and pay our debts. We aren't paying yours, too," responded writer Dan Gainor.

"Because taxpayers shouldn’t bail out your bad financial decisions. Ever heard of refinancing? Ever heard of paying more than the minimum? And you had an unearned three-year pause. No sympathy, sorry." replied Ilya Shapiro of the Manhattan Institute.

The original tweet garnered more than 10.6 million views on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Cotterill tried to clarify the meaning of his tweet after being heavily criticized.

"It seems that the issue of student loan forgiveness is somewhat controversial in the United States," he added a day later. "My original post does not ask that my wife and I receive student loan forgiveness. It merely states our facts and then asks a question."

President Joe Biden promised to excuse student loan debt as a part of his 2020 presidential campaign, but he has only been able to forgive selective debts. Many in the media have also been excoriated on social media for only presenting the left-wing side of the student loan debate.

Here's more about the student loan debate:

Why Biden’s student loan relief plan is a SOCIALIST FAILURE

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GOP Sen. John Kennedy points out that 'we already had a plan to repay student debt. It's called a job'



The Biden administration announced a plan to cancel massive amounts of federal student loan debt, but Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana has pointed out that "we already had a plan to repay student debt. It's called a job. And it was workin' just fine."

During an appearance last week on "Hannity," the lawmaker also said that "President Biden is inflation's best friend," and that "[i]nflation loves President Biden like the devil loves sin."

The Biden administration's plan would provide $10,000 of federal student loan cancellation for individuals earning less than $125,000 annually — married couples and heads of households would need to earn less than $250,000 per year to qualify. People who received Pell Grants and earn less than the income threshold would be able to score a whopping $20,000 of student loan cancellation.

A group of 22 GOP governors joined together in a letter urging the president to ditch the student loan cancellation proposal.

"At a time when inflation is sky high due to your unprecedented tax-and-spend agenda, your plan will encourage more student borrowing, incentivize higher tuition rates, and drive-up inflation even further, negatively impacting every American," their letter contended. "Rather than addressing the rising cost of tuition for higher education or working to lower interest rates for student loans, your plan kicks the can down the road and makes today's problems worse for tomorrow's students."

Americans have been getting walloped by soaring inflation. According to the consumer price index report released last week, "The all items index increased 8.3 percent for the 12 months ending August, a smaller figure than the 8.5-percent increase for the period ending July."

"Your aunt's Facebook page has more credibility with the American people than President Biden does when it comes to the economy," Kennedy said, adding that he believes "voters are gonna go medieval on him."

The witty lawmaker is running for another term during the 2022 election contest.

\u201cWe already had a plan to repay student debt. It\u2019s called a job, and it was working just fine before Pres. Biden decided to transfer debt from coastal elites who chose to take out loans to hardworking Americans who didn\u2019t.\u201d
— John Kennedy (@John Kennedy) 1663602236

Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler references monkeypox while calling for Biden to cancel student debt



Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York raised eyebrows when he invoked the monkeypox outbreak while advocating for President Joe Biden to extend a federal student loan repayment hiatus and to nix student debt.

"With student loan repayments set to resume on August 31st and COVID-19 and Monkeypox cases on the rise, I once again request that @POTUS extends the payment pause and issues an executive order to cancel student debt," the congressman tweeted on Monday.

\u201cWith student loan repayments set to resume on August 31st and COVID-19 and Monkeypox cases on the rise, I once again request that @POTUS extends the payment pause and issues an executive order to cancel student debt.\u201d
— Rep. Nadler (@Rep. Nadler) 1659389412

Nadler is one of the lawmakers who signed a letter earlier this year urging Biden to nix up to $50,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower.

The idea of forgiving people's student loan debt remains highly controversial. Many Americans never attended college. Others who have chosen to attend college have already worked diligently to pay off their debts and would not benefit from student debt cancellation.

While many on the left have long been calling for the president to cancel student debt, Nadler's tweet struck many on social media as odd because it tied the call for student debt cancellation to the issue of monkeypox.

"What on earth does monkeypox have to do with student loans?" tweeted Allie McCandless, communications director for GOP Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina.

"What does monkeypox have to do with student loan repayments?" tweeted National Republican Congressional Committee deputy communications director Mike Berg.

"This is a weird one. Not sure what monkeypox has to do with getting working families to pay for rich kids grad school student loan debt," tweeted Matt Whitlock.

"If you had 'Monkeypox as a reason to cancel student loans' on your non sequitur bingo card, you are a winner!" someone else tweeted.

Monkeypox has predominantly been impacting men who engage in homosexual activity — World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing last week that 98% of cases involved men who engage in sex with men.

LIVE: Media briefing on monkeypox, COVID-19 and other global health issues youtu.be

Mario Tama/Getty Images

'Not every program has to be for everybody': AOC responds to question about how student debt forgiveness would benefit those who have already paid off their loans



In response to a question about how student debt cancellation would benefit people who have already paid off their loans, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) suggested that while individuals who have already paid down their student debt will not benefit from debt cancellation, they might benefit from another program — "It all comes around," she wrote.

On Instagram, @RepAOC gives a straightforward answer to the question: What about those who already paid off their student loans? Her answer: \u201cIt all comes around.\u201dpic.twitter.com/4mk3GWkgp1
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@Philip Melanchthon Wegmann) 1651429786

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: Not every program has to be for everybody. People with apartments pay for first time homeowner benefits. Young people pay for Medicare for our seniors. People who take public transit pay for car infrastructure," Ocasio-Cortez noted.

"Maybe student loan forgiveness doesn't impact you. That doesn't make it bad. I am sure there are certainly other things that student loan borrowers' taxes pay for. We can do good things and reject the scarcity mindset that says doing something good for someone else comes at the cost of something for ourselves.

"An example: If a person is blessed enough to be in a position to have paid off their loans, maybe they have a home now and benefitted from first time homeowners programs that people crushed by student loans help subsidize when they aren't able to buy a home because of student debt. It all comes around. It's okay. We can support things we won't directly benefit from," the congresswoman concluded.

Last week, the president said that he is "considering dealing with some debt reduction," though he indicated that forgiving $50,000 of debt is not on the table — many Democrats have advocated for Biden to nix up to $50,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower.

Pres. Biden on student loan forgiveness: "I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction but I am in the process of taking a hard look" at some student debt forgiveness. \n\nHe adds he'll have an answer "in the next coming weeks."pic.twitter.com/R78gMrWy8Q
— CBS News (@CBS News) 1651165155

"Canceling $50,000 in debt is where you really make a dent in inequality and the racial wealth gap. $10,000 isn't," Ocasio-Cortez said, according to the Washington Post.

But a move to cancel any amount of student loan debt would likely be highly controversial because many Americans would be outraged such a policy.

"I just worked my butt off to pay off my very expensive student loans a few months ago. If Biden forgives student loans, I’m going to be livid," Kassy Dillon tweeted last week.

But while many people would likely share Dillon's sentiments on the issue, Democrats continue calling for Biden to cancel student debt.

"Canceling student loan debt for working- and middle-class Americans is the right thing to do," Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California asserted in an opinion piece. "No one should be prevented from pursuing higher education because they can’t afford the financial burden it poses. Furthermore, it makes economic sense: Relief from student debt would help young people buy homes, build wealth and otherwise grow our economy."

Kassy Dillon worked to pay off her own student loans but gets slammed as 'selfish' for saying she'll be angry if Biden forgives student debt



Kassy Dillon faced significant backlash on Twitter for saying that she worked diligently to pay off her own student loans and would be incensed if President Joe Biden forgave student debt.

"I just worked my butt off to pay off my very expensive student loans a few months ago. If Biden forgives student loans, I’m going to be livid," Dillon tweeted on Wednesday, expressing a sentiment likely shared by scads of other people.

But the straightforward and reasonable comment was met by a wave of criticism, including from celebrity Valerie Bertinelli who accused Dillon of being selfish.

"Tell me you’re selfish without telling me you’re selfish," Bertinelli tweeted in response to Dillon's post.

Tell me you\u2019re selfish without telling me you\u2019re selfishhttps://twitter.com/KassyDillon/status/1519311834611949568\u00a0\u2026
— \ud83d\udd4a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 Valerie Bertinelli (@\ud83d\udd4a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 Valerie Bertinelli) 1651091531

"This isn’t about selfishness it’s about responsibility. Forgiving student loans won’t fix the problem of schools hiking tuition costs," Dillon replied.

"Exactly Kassy focus on the actual problem," Bertinelli tweeted.

In response to Bettinelli's post accusing Dillon of selfishness, another Twitter user suggested that Bertinelli spend some of her own money to pay off people's student debts.

"Selfish for paying off one’s own loans, and not wanting taxpayers to cover the dumb decisions of others? You’ve got money, Val. Why don’t you help them pay those degrees off?" the person tweeted.

Bertinelli replied, "I’ll never be wealthy enough to not pay taxes. So, you see, dear, I am one of those 'taxpayers covering the dumb decisions of others'. I have an idea tho, how about we get tax dodgers (*coughmultibillionaires) to actually pay their fair share."

In a tweet responding to comments made by Ian Haworth, Bertinelli noted, "Dude, I don’t even have a dog in this fight, I never graduated high school. Forgiving debt that never should’ve been incurred by greedy colleges ... and changing the system should be a no-brainer."

Dude, I don\u2019t even have a dog in this fight, I never graduated high school. Forgiving debt that never should\u2019ve been incurred by greedy colleges (they have no problem paying football coaches ) and changing the system should be a no-brainer.https://twitter.com/ighaworth/status/1519415574325075969\u00a0\u2026
— \ud83d\udd4a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 Valerie Bertinelli (@\ud83d\udd4a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 Valerie Bertinelli) 1651092576

Others also criticized Dillon for feeling outraged over the prospect of the government forgiving student debt.

"The lesson of this @kassydillon person's tweet is that only SHE, and no one else, matters - yet she asks us to set aside OUR own interests and worry about her becoming livid #LividForKassy #OnlyKassyMatters #ThinkOfKassy #WontSomebodyThinkAboutKassy," Keith Olbermann tweeted.

Someone else drew the following bizarre analogy: "Here's what you sound like: My mom died from Alzheimer's disease a few years ago. If they find a cure now, I'm going to be livid. You are an idiot in my opinion. You want people to remain drowning in debt because you're a fragile little snowflake that will melt in the sun."

"Imagine thinking someone getting Alzheimer's is the same as willingly taking on a loan that you agreed to pay back," Dillon responded.

Another individual likened Dillon's position to someone who opposes Polio vaccinations because they were crippled by Polio during their own childhood: "'I was crippled by polio as a child so why the hell should you get vaccinated???'"

"Student loan forgiveness isn't a vaccine to a disease. It's enabling the universities that are overcharging because they know they'll get government help. These people willingly took on these student loans, no one willingly takes on polio. This is a ridiculous analogy," Dillon noted.

President Biden said on Thursday that he is "considering dealing with some debt reduction."

Pres. Biden on student loan forgiveness: "I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction but I am in the process of taking a hard look" at some student debt forgiveness. \n\nHe adds he'll have an answer "in the next coming weeks."pic.twitter.com/R78gMrWy8Q
— CBS News (@CBS News) 1651165155

Roth: Canceling student debt doesn’t fix the problem



The government, particularly at the federal level, has morphed from a protector of individual rights to a bizarre game show. It is consistently giving away cash and prizes to a small group of people at the cost of the unwitting sponsors, the taxpayers. One of those giveaways that has resurfaced is the call to cancel student debt. While the costs of college have become enormous and in many cases exceed the value of what students receive in benefits, canceling debt for some or all graduates does not fix the problem.

The problem, not surprisingly, begins with the government itself. The federal government took over the majority of college lending under President Obama, and it has become the largest predatory lender in the country. It preys on teenagers and saddles them with tens of thousands of dollars in commitments that are not generally dischargeable in bankruptcy court (another government decision) for accreditations that often aren’t able to produce a commensurate return on investment (“ROI”).

This has hurt, not helped, the wealth creation opportunities for many young individuals.

Providing easy and available financing to young people, who have not been taught in our government-run schools how to evaluate ROI, increases the demand for college educations, driving up costs.

Furthermore, there is no underwriting process for student loans. There aren’t more favorable terms for an A student pursuing an engineering degree with strong job prospects vs. a C student pursuing an underwater basket-weaving degree with fewer prospects.

This process of evaluating risk and pricing it appropriately is done for just about every other type of loan that one takes on for a reason. Also, built into every other underwriting process is typically the chance of full or partial default, which creates a mechanism for the allowance of bankruptcy.

The government has completely upended this. Without underwriting and bankruptcy, young people are on the hook, allowing the colleges to continually increase their prices without themselves having any skin in the game or any recourse directed back at them.

This has caused the cost of college to skyrocket, far exceeding inflation or the potential increase in wages students might get for their degrees. One 2021 study showed that the cost of college had exceeded the rate of inflation by almost five times over the last 50 years.

So, how does the government picking some group of people to have their debts “forgiven” solve anything? It would unfairly shift the burden of the costs (via more national debt, inflation, etc.) from the person who took on the obligation and received the benefits from it to all taxpayers. Those who passed up college, went to a cheaper school, made sacrifices to pay down their college debts, or carry other types of debt burdens would be unfairly penalized by the government picking winners and losers.

It would do nothing to help get college costs under control and prevent the same situation from happening in the future. It wouldn’t put any schools on the hook for selling degrees that aren’t worth their costs.

All it does is give the government power to play game show host and ultimately buy more votes.

Moreover, the suggestion by some Democrats that President Biden go around the legislative branch and its powers to forgive debt with a stroke of the pen is once again showing that they have no desire to uphold the Constitution.

Nothing regarding the college cost burden changes until we get the government out of the school lending arena — an arena that it had no business being in to begin with. Debt should be created via a market-based underwriting process, and with that, the ability of individuals to discharge their student loans through bankruptcy courts should be available to all debt holders.

Students who are taking out loans should be shown, at every step of the process, what their expected return on their investment is, based on their major, school, and other factors, and they should be required to sign off on that as part of the process.

Colleges need to either be part of the underwriting process and hold a piece of the loan or be allowed to be sued if graduates aren’t able to use their degrees to better their professional outcomes.

In the meantime, given the cheap debt that has been given to the government and corporations alike for more than a decade, students who do not have the ability today to go through bankruptcy should either be given that option or the rate on their interest paid should be recalculated to an appropriate market rate, and interest paid above that over the past five years should be allowed to be applied to reduce their principal balances.

We need to stop focusing on the symptoms and address major problems. For student loans, as it is for most everything, it starts with getting government out of the way, not with it buying votes.