The challenges ahead (Biden's America)

[N.E. Brigand]

Biden has not proposed 'University is Free'. Here's an article from the NYT, Biden Says He Is Taking a ‘Hard Look’ at Student Loan Relief. A few quotes from the article:

(...)“I am considering dealing with some debt reduction,” Mr. Biden said after a speech in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

The comments were the clearest signal yet from Mr. Biden that he may make good on a promise to cancel at least some debt for student loan borrowers. During the campaign in 2020, he said he would “make sure that everybody in this generation gets $10,000 knocked off of their student debt.”
(...)
“I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction,” Mr. Biden said. But he added that he was “taking a hard look” at debt forgiveness.

“I’ll have an answer on that in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
(...)
The president has in the past expressed concern that forgiving $50,000 would amount to a giveaway to well-off college graduates, a position that has led to pushback from advocacy groups.

I'm not up on the latest costs of attending a university, but about 10 years ago costs in my state for a small public/in-state university 4 year degree was about $60,000-$65,000 (that includes housing).

A "couple weeks" turned out to be nearly four months, but President Biden is announcing his student loan relief plan in about an hour. Per a message he sent out earlier today, these are the highlights:

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Like with the Build Back Better Inflation Reduction Act bill, the best that can be said is that it is not nothing.

[N.E. Brigand]

And you can believe that plenty worse is being said. My mom tells me that my cousin, an electrician who never graduated college who considers himself a freethinker and who voted for Jill Stein in 2016, is complaining on social media that his taxes shouldn't be going to pay other people's student debt.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

my cousin, an electrician who never graduated college who considers himself a freethinker and who voted for Jill Stein Donald Trump in 2016

Fixed it for you.

[N.E. Brigand]

And you can believe that plenty worse is being said. My mom tells me that my cousin, an electrician who never graduated college who considers himself a freethinker and who voted for Jill Stein in 2016, is complaining on social media that his taxes shouldn't be going to pay other people's student debt.

In these comments, Jason Furman, who chaired President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, explains why he thinks that this will hurt the economy.

And this article in The Atlantic from curmudgeonly anti-Trump conservative Tom Nichols outlines some political risks in today's move: Biden's Student Loan Gamble. "It could have been worse. Some Democrats were pressing the president to write off $50,000 of debt, an idea that I said more than a year ago would have been a political disaster. The current plan, by comparison, is merely bad and politically obtuse." Among other things, Nichols points out that most people don't go to college.

On Twitter, Nichols summarizes his position more bluntly:

1. Stop telling every kid in America that they have to go to college

2. Stop handing over limitless amounts of loan money to children

3. Make colleges bear some of the risk

4. Make parents exercise some parental responsibility over the choices of teenagers

Edited to add: On the other hand, consider what's noted here: the amount people spent repaying student loans last year -- and President Biden's plan will forgive only some of that -- is about as much as the House of Representatives spent last year just sending mail to constituents.

[N.E. Brigand]

I see that some legal analysts believe that Biden's student debt forgiveness order is likely to be struck down in court.

If that happens soon, it could help Democrats in November: "Give us firm control of Congress and we'll pass a law enacting the president's order!"

I mean, the president just gave lots of people $10,000. They aren't going to be happy if it's taken away.

[N.E. Brigand]

Public opinion sure is something else:

[N.E. Brigand]

Some clever framing here:

I think it was the right call in the middle of a pandemic to pause student loan payments. But Trump’s move probably did contribute to inflation. And now by restarting payments next year, Biden is making moves to curb that excess.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Marcy seems to be turning into a Biden fangirl.

[Maria]

One of my kids still has student loans, so she's quite happy to be getting them cancelled.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Well, as N.E.B. noted, it remains to be seen whether it will survive the inevitable court challenges.

[Dave_LF]

There are coherent arguments to be made against loan forgiveness, but this particular one is pretty deranged
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[RoseMorninStar]

I am not a number cruncher and I don't know enough about the topic (costs of a higher education/loan forgiveness) to comment on the proposed legislation, but I am aware that in the 1960's-1980-ish it was possible to attend college, PLUS pay for food and housing working a part-time job with little to no debt. It was affordable. The system(s) (like our health care system and costs for medical care) are broken. Should they be fixed from the ground up? That makes the most sense to me, but because that won't generate profit to those in power that is not likely to happen. Without some reconciliation we will be losing the next generation of medical personnel and other professionals or it will only be for the wealthy. The class divide will widen and that is not a good thing. Wages are not keeping up with higher education and employers don't want to pay a wage that supports someone who has a huge debt to pay off.

I don't know what the answer is, but there must be someone who can work it out.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I am not a number cruncher and I don't know enough about the topic (costs of a higher education/loan forgiveness) to comment on the proposed legislation ...

To be a bit pedantic, we are not talking about a proposed legislation here, we are talking about an executive order that has already been issued. As N.E.B. hinted at earlier, the legal challenges are likely to be centered on the idea that the president does not have the authority to take this action without Congress's approval. (And, of course, the very people who will be making these challenges are the ones that were in favor of increased presidential power when Trump was in office [e.g., his executive orders on immigration].)

[RoseMorninStar]

No, not pedantic. Thanks for the correction.

[N.E. Brigand]

"U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a broad overhaul of doctrine, training and planning aimed at better protecting civilians in future U.S. combat operations -- not just counterterrorism drone strikes, but conventional wars, space, cyber, etc." (New York Times)

That sounds like a good thing.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

In theory, at least.

[N.E. Brigand]

Joe Biden's administration continues to try to show how government can work for the people. The spokesperson for Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttigieg today said that:

"Two weeks ago, none of the ten largest airlines in the U.S. guaranteed meals or hotels if they caused your delay or cancellation. The United States Department of Transportation stepped in and demanded more. Now, two weeks later, eight of the ten airlines cover hotels, and nine of the ten cover meals."

[N.E. Brigand]

Some supposedly neutral journalists (including at least two at CNN) are objecting that President Biden's speech in Philadelphia tonight improperly used the military as a backdrop, blending political and governmental issues. But as noted here, it's pretty easy to find pictures of other presidents, from Kennedy to Reagan to Obama, in similar settings. (Trump did this frequently, but we don't need to go there.) Some of today's concerned reporters say they object to those examples as well, but as far as I have seen, they're not pointing to any actual statements they made at the time or subsequently decrying, say, Ronald Reagan for speaking with a dozen military officer behind him.

Also, indicating how absolutely crazy recent years have been, I had completely forgotten that part of the Republican National Convention in 2020 was held at the White House, in a major break with tradition. (Sure, that was largely in response to Covid, but the Republicans could have done what the Democrats did and held a mainly virtual event.)

[N.E. Brigand]

Also I would take exception to the idea that the speech is political.

If someone who wasn't a former president exhorted his terrorist followers to overturn American democracy, and the current president harshly criticized that person, that wouldn't be political. The fact that the terrorist leader is a former president doesn't make the current president's remarks political.