Biden gives the Supreme Court —and taxpayers — the finger with his latest student-loan bailout
By: Brad Polumbo
When the Supreme Court struck down Joe Biden's attempt to unilaterally "cancel" (i.e., force taxpayers to absorb) $400 billion in student loans and blasted the president for overstepping his power by trying to circumvent Congress, he listened and, like a serious statesman, acknowledged his authority's limits and tried to get the legislative branch to pass his agenda, as the Constitution demands.
Just kidding.
Congress, which has the "power of the purse," has repeatedly rejected Biden's plans to force taxpayers to eat the loss for millions of Americans' student loans.
But instead of taking "No" for an answer, the president — who, recall, was supposed to put the "grown-ups back in charge" and restore "rule of law" — just keeps trying to cancel the debt anyway, first through a backdoor giveaway vastly expanding income-based repayment systems and now through another sweeping forgiveness proposal.
Under Biden's latest scheme, announced Monday, roughly 25 million more Americans will see student-loan windfalls, including the "cancellation" of interest owed for households earning as much as $240,000 a year, cancellation for anyone who's had student loans for a long time and a number of other targeted relief efforts.
"President Biden from Day One has worked to fix the student loan system and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class — not a barrier to opportunity — because he knows that debt cancellation not only benefits borrowers, it benefits the entire economy," the White House stated.
This is, as Joe loves to say, malarkey.
The real rationale behind this continued bailout push has nothing to do with economics or "fixing the system."
It is a raw, cynical, blatant gambit to bribe young voters to get back on the Biden train after many have become increasingly disillusioned with the administration over its position on the Israel-Hamas war.
This isn't some theory; it's apparent from the Biden administration's own actions.
To tout the initiative Monday, Biden himself went to Wisconsin, while Vice President Kamala Harris went to Pennsylvania, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff went to Arizona, and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona went to New York.
Notice anything about those states?
Except for New York, they all just happen to be swing states that will prove vital in November's presidential election.
Biden is really not hiding the fact he's intentionally trying to work around the Supreme Court and Congress to abuse the powers of his office to bribe young voters at taxpayers' expense — all with a policy that solves nothing and costs everyday Americans dearly.
Remember, there's no such thing as student-debt "cancellation."
Almost all student loans are owed to the federal government, meaning that if taxpayers aren't repaid, we're on the hook for the difference via more taxes or debt.
So every dollar Biden "generously" gives out in "relief" to college graduates comes directly or indirectly out of the pockets of working Americans who didn't go to college, already paid off their loans or made smart choices to avoid debt.
What's more, simply forcing taxpayers to eat the loss for people's loans does nothing to address the very real problem of exorbitant tuition rates.
It's essentially putting a Band-Aid on a bullet hole.
It might even worsen the problem, as colleges may respond to the administration's repeated bailout efforts by further jacking up their tuition prices.
Biden is doing all this and essentially giving the Supreme Court the middle finger.
Rather than accept the limits of his power after his last defeat or try to persuade Congress to support his agenda, he's simply seeking to exploit a different old statute to work around the system.
And if this effort, too, eventually gets struck down by the Supreme Court, well, it'll probably be after November!
It's simple: The president is touring the country to brag about wasting our money to bribe young voters while circumventing our constitutional order and making our actual problems worse.
With a campaign like that, who needs opposition research?
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Borderline dictator?
No. Not even close. He's not breaking the law, he's trying to work ways around it like any other Administration has on a signature issue.
Pandering to young educated liberals? For sure. Giving the finger to Republicans? Definitely.
That said I think I read 11 states or more have filed suite to stop the newest idea. We will see if it holds up.
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I can't believe anyone would say that.
How do you not understand the difference between the legality of loan forgiveness and the ruling about mechanisms used to fund it? The Supreme Court did not say student loan forgiveness was illegal. They ruled -
Now they are exploring other ways to fund it other than the HEROS Act. It's not that hard.
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I thought the rule of law applied?
No, not for Joe Biden. He tossed out immigration law on day 1 and has repeatedly violated Constitutional laws on separation of powers. It is election time and he needs to buy the votes of young people who have student loans. He intends to pay it with money from many Americans who weren't fortunate enough to attend college and if he is overruled by the SCOTUS again it may not matter, as long as it helps him win another election.
So, as I suspected, it's selective.
I wonder, would these student loan forgiveness 's show up on say a credit report?
That could make things rather interesting when it comes to loans of any kind, even applications for rentals or housing.
Interesting but probably not. Probably some woke MBA running those agencies right now.
Who needs Congress when you have a dictator?
This is a bad policy. Use the money (that we do not have in the first place) to help those with the aptitude and attitude but lack the financial resources to pursue the higher education they seek. That helps grow a strong workforce and contribute better to the GDP. Everyone wins.
Retroactive loan / interest forgiveness is counterproductive (and unfair).
As I posted on another thread yesterday... life is not fair and people get breaks for all kinds of good and bad reasons.
As for policy - I'd rather see something like Missouri's Public Service policy. There are areas, like health care (especially rural health care), that are underserved and finding ways to incentivize people to work in those areas would better serve the country.
But how dare he attempt to help out anyone who is not already a millionaire or a multi-billion dollar corporation.
I put and unfair in parenthesis for a reason. I was noting that as a secondary concern.
I agree. That now, is similar to the point I was making.
Sure. I get it.
Great minds and all that... LOL.
By punishing all the non millionaires (and realistically, their kids) and corporations who will now have to pay it.
Taxes have already paid for it, and wouldn't you prefer your taxes to go to the benefit of the average American? The money will be spent one place or another.
HOw have they paid for new debts just incurred? and you understand we don't have the money to pay for the debts we already have right?
you prefer your taxes to go to the benefit of the average American?
I would prefer not burdening my descendants with the debts of people who borrowed unwisely.
Yeah, like all the people who didn’t go to college. For any like that who are paying attention Biden just crapped in his Cheerio’s again.
If that were true he would be pandering to the real majority of Americans. Americans that didn’t go to college.
Something republicans only worry about during democrat administrations.
And yet you vote republican?
Something Dems never worry about as we can just borrow more money.
The [✘] has nothing but false grace regarding our deficit spending. Clinton left Bush a surplus and the rest is history!
Keep in mind that 2020 and 2021 fiscal years were Trump signed and and gop passed spending...
Lol. Reality is still reality.
And yet you vote republican?
So Presidents are solely responsible for the economy. At least for this post.
Never mind that your little charts have nothing to do with debt, nor bear any relationship to a decision Biden made on his own to burden future generations with debt.
t 2020 and 2021 fiscal years were Trump signed and and gop passed spending...
Nancy Pelosi was speaker of the house for those budgets. This is incredibly recent history.
What a disingenuous piece of crap that meme is.
I think it's comedy. Only explanation.
Yes for Dems, Democrat Presidents are responsible for all good financial news during their Presidencies but not for any bad financial news.
It’s an amazing achievement. Really amazing …..
The ping ponging from "Joe Biden created X amount of jobs" to "Presidents have no control over the economy" when discussing inflation is a sight to behold.
And giving presidents credit or blame for deficits is the height of ignorance. When was the last time any Congress passed a president’s budget?
It's even sillier, especially when there's rarely even unified control of Congress by the President's party and only Obama in the last 50 plus years has been able to pass a budget without having to worry about a filibuster from Senators who don't caucus with him.
Al Gore doesn’t get enough credit for the Clinton economy:
Nope, it truthfully illustrates that Democrats give a lot back to the working class while the gop always sells workers out to give huge tax breaks to the very wealthy and big multinational corporations!
If so then you could easily disprove it. We will all be waiting...
The US leading the world economically post-Covid is the sight everyone is beholding, along with their retirement accounts...
Republican thinking =
If a republican is POTUS, the democratic congress is responsible for spending.
If a democratic is POTUS, POTUS is responsible for the spending.
Who is responsible in 2022-2024?
Responsibility is always shared between Congress and the PotUS. The PotUS recommends, Congress authorizes spending, the PotUS signs the legislation.
IMO, the credit for fiscal responsibility in terms of authorizing limited spending goes mostly to Congress. Thus the blame for authorizing excessive spending goes mostly to Congress.
The credit for responsible spending execution (where judgment is allowed) goes to the PotUS. Thus the blame for excessive spending execution (where judgment is allowed) goes to the PotUS.
Putting this together, my opinion is that Congress should bear the majority of the credit / blame for spending. I think mine is the majority opinion on this matter.
The government, both sides of the aisle. DUH
As for policy, we need to get the Education Department out of the lending business and send it back to private institutions. Ever since Obama got government money involved the universities have continued to jack up the tuitions. Right now, we are on the verge of $100,000 a year to go to elite schools.
That was the bad policy.
Nah, it’s disingenuous garbage. Nothing more.
Ah yes, the “lock box” Who could forget that stroke of genius.
More sleight of hand ….. presto chango …. Poof …. All better …..
Funny you never say that when a Republican is in charge.
Democrats control the Presidency and Senate.
The Republicans have a very narrow control of the House.
Look at the spending bill that just passed the House- it is a Democrat wish list of stupidity. Establishment Republicans sided with Democrats rather than their constituents to get the POS bill passed.
You’re preaching to the choir.
I’ll continue the defense of the Army’s portion of Biden Budget Request for 2025 with SAC-D staffers next week.
My son got forgiven of all his student loans in 2017. Unfortunately that was when he passed away. Then they came after me and threatened to take me to court. I was not even a co signer on his loans. I laughed at them and pleaded with them to do. They stopped their harassment after that.
Which asshole department was this?
Collections Dept at Fannie Mae.
Shifting the burden onto the taxpayers is not good idea, and will ultimately raise tuition costs and borrowing rates.
It already has. The explosion of tuition is largely due to fed backing of student loans. All Biden's done is make the problem exponentially worse by helping some random borrowers while ignoring the long term cause of the issue.
Giving money to people who actually need it = bad.
Giving money to big corporations who already have billions in profits = good.
The GOP mantra.
The largest amount is going to people with over $300,000 in annual income. Per Penn Wharton:
EV tax credits redistributes income upwards, AMTRAC Joe becomes the car guy.
What is a fair profit margin?
Did you not read my post at all?
I did, now, what’s a fair profit margin?