President Joe Biden ran on, among other things, student debt forgiveness. It still hasn’t happened. How and why, today, on Daily Kos The Brief, our weekly show about politics. 

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Biden wasn’t exactly coy about the issue. And while he never went as far as the $50,000 pushed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others, he did promise $10,000 in loan forgiveness.

Joining us to talk about the issue is Cody Hounanian, executive director of the Student Debt Crisis Center (website|Twitter). 

The politics of student debt relief are more complicated than it seems on the surface. One poll pegged support at 62%, but the politics of resentment work well on this issue. Many people have already paid their loans off, so they feel jilted. Of course, college is exponentially more expensive these days than in the times of lore but remember: in politics, if you’re explaining, you’re losing.

Furthermore, those without a college education feel that their tax dollars just helped educate children that will have a competitive advantage over their own non-graduate children. Of course, that might be less relevant today, as educational status is one of the biggest predictors of party preference.  

And of course, rural America is heavily subsidized by educated urban America, with agriculture alone soaking up tens of billions in federal subsidies. So … yeah. The logic of it is sound, but the politics are difficult. 

Is navigating those waters the reason Biden is dragging his feet on his very clear campaign promise? We’ll try to suss that out today, with our expert guest.