How canceling student loan debt would be strategically smart for Biden
为什么取消助学贷款是拜登的一步好棋？
As rising coronavirus cases and the derailing of the Build Back Better bill dampened holiday cheer, the Biden administration made an announcement last week that inspired some hope for the new year.
新冠病例增加，再加上“重建美好法案”受阻，节日气氛低迷，拜登政府上周发布的一项声明无疑为新年带来了一些希望。
After sustained public pressure, it extended until May the moratorium on student loan repayments that was scheduled to end in January.
在持续的公众压力下，政府将助学贷款的暂停偿还期限从原计划的1月底延期至5月份。
With 89 percent of borrowers reporting that they are not “financially secure” enough to resume payments in the immediate future, the extension will provide vital relief.
据报道，89%的借款人认为他们收入不够稳定，无法在近期内恢复还贷，这项延期政策提供了重要的救济援助。
But the move also raises the question:
但是该举措也随之引出这个问题：
Why restart payments at all?
为什么要恢复还贷？
Though many of the administration’s solutions to social, environmental and health crises must be filtered through our gridlocked Congress, student debt is different.
对于社会、环境、健康危机这些问题，政府的法案都必须递交陷入僵局的国会进行审查，但是助学贷款则另当别论。
The Higher Education Act gives the administration broad authority to end the crisis — without Biden having to have Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) to dinner even once.
《高等教育法》赋予了行政委员会解决这个危机的权利—否则拜登就得和西维吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦三世共进晚餐了。
Biden should act now.
现在拜登应该行动了。
Not just because the country desperately needs relief — and Biden just as desperately needs a political win — but because canceling student debt is as strategically smart as it is morally urgent.
原因不仅仅在于绝望的国家需要救济—当然绝望的拜登也需要赢得政治胜利—还在于取消助学贷款是一步好棋，这个决策在道德上也是紧迫的。
Today, nearly 1 out of every 6 American adults — 43 million people — have outstanding federal student loans, adding up to $1.73 trillion in debt.
如今，将近六分之一的美国成年人—4300万人—还背负着未偿还的联邦助学贷款，负债总额高达1.73万亿。
As Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a longtime advocate for canceling this debt, explains:
马萨诸塞州民主党参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦早就倡导取消助学贷款，她解释道：
“I spent my career studying why so many hard-working middle-class families were going broke.
“我用了整个职业生涯来探究这个问题，为什么那么多努力工作的中产家庭会破产。
I discovered that they weren’t reckless or irresponsible — they were being squeezed by an economy that forced them to take on more debt to cling to their place in America’s middle class.”
我发现，原来他们并不是在蛮干，也不是缺乏责任感—他们被经济政策压榨，被迫背负重债以维持中产水平。”
Student debt is Exhibit A.
助学贷款就是第一证据。
Students took out loans, Warren says, “on the promise that a college education would justify their debt and provide a ticket to the middle class.”
沃伦谈到，“学生去贷款，前提是大学教育能将债务合理化，并提供中产入场券。”
But for millions of Americans, that has turned out to be untrue.
但对上百万美国人来说，理想终究化为泡沫。
Every year, about 1 million people default on their education loans.
每年大约有一百万人拖欠助学贷款。
The burden isn’t limited to finances:
这不仅仅是财务负担：
A 2021 survey found that 1 in 14 people had suicidal thoughts because of student debt.
2021年的一份调查显示，十四分之一的人因为助学贷款起过自杀念头。
And people of color often bear a larger burden:
有色族裔背负的压力更大：
On average, Black borrowers owe $25,000 more in student debt than White borrowers.
黑色族裔借款人借的学生贷款比白色族裔平均多出2.5万美元。
Early this year, Warren, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led a resolution urging the president to cancel up to $50,000 of federal student loan debt, which would help 36 million Americans become debt-free.
2021年年初，纽约州民主党派参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默和马萨诸塞州民主党参议员阿亚娜·普莱斯利领导了一场革命，迫切要求总统取消高达5万美元的联邦助学贷款，这将帮助3600万美国人免除债务。
Rather than inject a one-off stimulus into the economy, as some critics have charged, cancellation would likely prompt Americans to reevaluate their long-term spending plans and invest in a better future.
有些批评者指责道，这是在向经济注入一次性刺激。然而，取消助学贷款可能会促使美国人重新评估他们的长期支出计划并投资于更美好的未来。
It could give millions a chance to finally buy a house or start their business or help their kids get an education, too — investments that are good both for families and the overall economy.
这为上百万人提供了一个机会，他们最终或许能够买房、做生意、或让孩子们受教育—这些投资对家庭和整个经济都有益处。
And the policy would help narrow the wealth gap between those of different races:
这项政策将有助于缩小不同族裔之间的贫富差距：
One think tank’s study found that canceling up to $50,000 in student debt per person would immediately increase Black wealth by 40 percent.
有个智库研究发现，取消个人高达5万美元的助学贷款后，黑色族裔的财富将会立刻上涨40%。
Biden appears to be at least partially on board:
拜登似乎至少参与了一部分：
On the campaign trail, he promised to cancel a minimum of $10,000 in student debt.
在竞选总统时，他承诺要取消至少1万美元的助学贷款。
So why hasn’t he done it?
但是为什么他还没做到呢？
One stated reason is that he’s waiting for Congress.
其中一个冠冕堂皇的原因是他在等国会拍板。
Which is an absurd proposition:
这个观点真是荒谬：
After Congress has obstructed numerous Biden campaign promises, he is now inviting lawmakers to obstruct yet another such promise?
国会已经阻拦了拜登的许多竞选承诺，而他现在是准备邀请他们也阻拦这个（取消助学贷款）竞选承诺吗？
It’s like the fable of the scorpion and the frog:
这就像蝎子与青蛙的寓言：
Biden knows that relying on members of Congress is a surefire way to get stung.
拜登明白倚赖国会议员绝对会被蜇。
Yet he keeps getting duped into crossing the river with them.
但他继续被骗着与他们一起过河。
Given the downturn in Biden’s approval rating, canceling student debt would be an opportunity to, as historian David Walsh put it, “staunch the bleeding of his political base” and simultaneously capitalize on huge grass-roots momentum.
由于拜登支持率下滑，取消助学贷款可能是一个契机。就像历史学者大卫·沃尔什所说的那样，这是在给他的政治基础“止血”，同时，巨大的“草根”力量可以为他所用。
Groups such as Debt Collective, the Student Borrower Protection Center and others have been organizing toward this end for years.
多年来，债务集体、学生借款人保护中心和其他组织一直在为这项政策组织动员。
Taking this step would be a much-needed victory that could stoke enthusiasm for Democrats heading into the midterm elections.
走这步棋将会实现一场亟需的胜利，因为它会激起民主党人进入中期选举的热情。
With so much of his agenda in jeopardy, Biden should help Americans in the ways he can right now: by building on grass-roots energy, making good on his word and giving tens of millions of people greater ability to invest in their futures.
拜登的许多竞选承诺都举步维艰，现在他应该竭尽所能帮助美国人：巩固“草根”力量，履行承诺，并为上千万民众对未来的投资赋能。
Executive actions speak louder than words.
坐而言不如起而行。
This is Biden’s moment to go beyond talk about a more equitable future and start building it.
拜登是时候履行“打造更公平前景”的承诺并着手实干了。
