The idea that the government could wipe out billions in student loans with the stroke of a pen was once considered fringe, a leftist dream with roots in the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2010. But as the nation’s debt burden has grown and efforts to ease repayment have disappointed, the idea has gone mainstream, with more than half of Americans in a 2019 poll saying they’d support eliminating all existing student debt. More than 230 organizations, many of which backed the Biden campaign, have signed onto a letter urging Biden to cancel student debt on Day 1 of his presidency. (Trump-administration lawyers in the Education Department argued in a memo earlier this week that the move would require an act of Congress, The Wall Street Journal reported.)