The reports say Mr. Biden will cancel $10,000 in debt for borrowers making $125,000 or less a year. That would cost about $300 billion this year, and $330 billion over 10 years, says the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

That’s far more than the $102 billion the Inflation Reduction Act purportedly reduces the deficit over 10 years starting in 2027. About 70% of the loan relief would go to borrowers in the top 60% of income distribution.

As for the loan-payment moratorium, what began in March 2020 as pandemic emergency relief now rolls on and on. The moratorium so far is estimated to have cost some $115 billion. Another four-month extension could cost $15 billion to $20 billion more.

There’s more to say about loan forgiveness if Mr. Biden announces it—such as he lacks the legal authority without an act of Congress; it would benefit the affluent at the expense of those who don’t attend college; and it would benefit the spendthrift over the responsible who repaid their loans or decided to go to a school that costs less. It’s vote-buying at its most raw.