Hi, I'm Dan Pramak and welcome to Axios Recap, brought to you by the American Beverage Association.

Today is Wednesday, November 18th. Nancy Pelosi is back in as House Speaker, America's top cybersecurity official is out,

and we're focused on Joe Biden's proposal to cancel student debt.

President-elect Biden hasn't taken too many media questions so far, but one of the precious

few caused lots of ears to perk up.

It happened this past Monday when a reporter asked Biden if student loan debt cancellation would

be part of his early economic efforts.

He responded affirmatively, endorsing House Democrat

plans to immediately forgive up to $10,000 in student loans. That is a very big deal, both in

terms of the federal price tag and also for the tens of millions of Americans whose financial

burdens would be eased. Now, a majority of student borrowers

owe less than 20 grand, and the majority of those who default aren't the ones with the biggest

bills. Those were likely racked up by grad school students. Instead, it's often those who

dropped out of school along the way, maybe because of cost and who therefore have less

earning potential.

The case for Biden's plan is pretty simple, help lots of people and improve overall economic

mobility, thus lowering the cost burdens on social services. The case against Biden's plan is also

pretty simple. It'll cost too much, and people should be responsible for their own debts.

Plus the whole legislative question of whether he can really do it via executive order, as opposed to going through

Congress. So we want to dig into this with someone who's worked on student debt issues for years

and who supports Biden's plan. Mike Pierce, director of policy for the student borrower

Protection Center. That conversation in 15 seconds.

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