To reduce inflation, battle climate change, reduce gas prices, stem rising crime and to protect our southern border, President Joe Biden has forgiven $10,000 in federal student loans and extended $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year. A study by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that “Between 69% and 73% of debt forgiven accrues to households in the top 60% of income distribution” and the total cost could reach $1 trillion.
Even many Democrats are outraged.
Jason Furman, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama said: “I’ve been critical of student debt loan relief for the last two years, but the plan came in, frankly, much worse than I expected. It was supposed to be about $250 billion. I thought that was a bad idea, I expressed that. Instead, it’s probably about $500 billion. At this point in our economy, we really don’t need to be adding $500 billion of deficit spending for a purpose that frankly includes wealthy law students and business school graduates getting tens of thousands of dollars.”
Many of these grad school degree recipients work in jobs that do not even require college degrees, let alone advanced degrees from expensive colleges and universities. The cost of college has long exceeded the rate of inflation, primarily because of the availability of government money that creates an incentive to jack up tuition and hire more administrators lest the college lose millions of dollars. This will turbocharge the impetus to raise college admissions, never mind universities like those of the Ivy League with endowments substantial enough to admit students for free.
Hate to be a buzzkill, but is the debt forgiveness even legal?
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on Aug. 24, 2022, said: “President Biden’s bold action is a strong step in Democrats’ fight to expand access to higher education and empower every American to reach fulfillment. By delivering historic targeted student debt relief to millions of borrowers, more working families will be able to meet their kitchen table needs.” But Pelosi on July 28, 2021, said: “People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress.”
Charlie Rose, General Counsel, former Obama Department of Education, on May 7, 2021, agreed with Pelosi. Rose said: “If the issue is litigated, the more persuasive analyses tend to support the conclusion that the Executive Branch likely does not have the unilateral authority to engage in mass student debt cancellation.”
What, one might ask, about the suckers who paid off their student loans and the majority of Americans, many of whom are minorities, who never attended college? Let’s propose an addendum to the plan. Because most criminals will not benefit from student loan forgiveness, and to combat “systemic racism,” Biden should allow thieves of color and/or thieves from the LGBTQIA+ community to keep $10,000 worth of stolen goods, if taken from a white college graduate. Win-win.
Under the category of “you cannot make this up,” Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe tweeted, “Good news for thousands of my former students. I’m grateful on their behalf, Mr. President.” In other words, the prof celebrates loan forgiveness for Harvard law grads, those most capable of paying off their own loans. Let’s hear it for reparations for rich white people! While we have the momentum — and since legal authority doesn’t seem to matter — let’s tackle forgiving credit card debt, car loans, rent, cellphone and cable TV payments, health insurance premiums, vision and dental payments, utility bills, private and parochial K-12 tuition, tattoos and nose rings.
Will O.J. Simpson write a letter to Biden requesting that his administration forgive the $96 million, which includes interest, that Simpson owes the Browns and the Goldmans for murdering their loved ones? Thinking outside the box here.
Finally, a quick question. If one’s mortgage “identifies” as student debt, will Biden forgive it? Asking for a friend.
Larry Elder is a best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on Twitter @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
Reparations for Rich White People
More of a Vote Buying Scheme by the Radical Left
Maybe it should be reparations for the whites for a change, after all, they were the ones that formed and developed this country from the very beginning. Over the years whites have paid the government billions of dollars for them to provide handouts for the minorities, maybe it’s time for their turn at the receiving end of the government handouts.
This most likely make it past the censors because the truth might offend someone.
IT certainly isn’t a bail out for MIDDLE CLASS americans, who often are the ones WITHOUT DEGREES because they went right INTO the work force.
Well said! Those who have earned degrees should expect to earn way more than the high school grad, trade or other technical school who they are expecting to foot the bill. They may have to adjust their life-style to reflect the fact they made a binding contract to pay back the money they borrowed and spent on ‘education’, their name is on the dotted line without WE THE PEOPLE as a cosigner. They may have to dig ditches by hand before they run the company with a backhoe!
Bidumb’s blatant vote-buying seems to be backfiring.
He’s doing exactly what Castro did to gain support for his Communist Revolution. He knew he could not win with just the peasant classes, so he did things/made promises to get support from the middle class. Once in power, he chased off, killed, or locked up in jail anyone opposing the Commies.
How do I know this? Used to date a Cuban, who fled the country when she was 5. Fall of 2008, we visited her family in Florida. Obama had just won the election. One of her cousins remarked that Barry was pulling the same shenanigans that Castro did to get control of their country. Since Obama couldn’t pull it off during his 8 years, is he using his stooge Biden to accomplish that now?
The real evil in this ruse the mainstream media. It is clearly what everyone with a brain stem understands (a vote buying scheme at the expense of anyone paying taxes). The problem is there are many without brain stems that know only what the MSM tells them. The media is actually more corrupt than the democrat politicians.
Look at the history of the dummycrat party. The confederate military of the Civil War was run by rich white people, who owned the plantations, using poor white people to fight their war. Every time a dummycrat says they’ll tax the rich they always leave loopholes in the tax code to protect themselves while it’s the middleclass and working class poor who get stuck with the tax increase. The dummycrats are all about rich white people staying in power to control every one else.
AND seeing the age of most of them, OLD white people..
When THE PEOPLE finally realize that preventing discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, national origin or anything else, and neglecting to enforce government discrimination on the basis of wealth, success and personal income will not even solve have the problems of this nation designed for SELF-governing people, who are punished for working beyond what is expected to personally excel in life, creating a cumulative effect of making our nation excel in the world as well. You cannot long sustain the concept of American Self-government when you raise people of social dependency, and actually reward it in law. EVERYONE, even the poorest excuse for a human American should be taxed and rewarded at the same rate whether or not they earn 10,000 or 10 million. Only then can all Americans claim to be real contributing Americans and builders of the Republic with actual skin in the game. Anything else is just an opportunity for some people or parties to take advantage of and live off the skin of others, and decide how free Americans are supposed to behave and think. Then and then only will Americans have equal opportunity to succeed, (Or Fail) instead of unequal opportunity for some slime ball politician to determine personal and human outcomes both individual and collective.
AND you won’t eliminate racism, BY PUSHING RACISM..