Tuesday, February 28: Supremes on Student Loans
A group of wealthy and powerful judges will decide how much student debt you're in
It really was too good to be true. Today, a group of nine robed judges will hear arguments over whether the president actually has the power to cancel student debt. The justices’ eventual ruling will impact tens of millions of low- and middle-income Americans, some of whom may be reading these words right now.
You’ll probably recall last year when Ol’ Joey B announced that up to $20,000 in student loans could be forgiven if borrowers were making less than a certain amount of money. Twenty-six million people applied to have their loans forgiven, and 16 million were eventually approved, according to the Biden administration. The program is estimated to cost ~$400 billion over 30 years, which should answer the question of why some lawmakers oppose it.
But what’s the real beef with helping people out of debt? Why are these wealthy and powerful bozos considering rolling back Biden’s decision? Who stands to benefit from keeping millions of Americans in debt? The answer, per usual, is a shady network of right-wing billionaires and wealthy special interest groups. The same organizations opposed to raising the minimum wage and fighting the formation of labor unions are dead-set on making people pay back every dollar they may have borrowed. But when the time comes for government subsidies for their businesses, all of a sudden it’s crickets. How convenient.
Republican-led states and lawmakers in congress, as well as these “conservative legal interests”, oppose the loan forgiveness plan as a clear violation of Biden’s executive authority. They argue that it’s presidential overreach to directly help millions of Americans. Meanwhile, liberal interest groups are backing the democratic administration in urging the court to allow the plan to take effect. If the nine robed justices agree with Biden’s critics that the loan forgiveness plan is presidential overreach, the court could end the program entirely. Sadly, this appears to be the most likely outcome of today’s hearings.
Side Items
Election Day in Chicago: Send up a silent prayer that today may be Lori Lightfoot’s last day as chief villain of the Windy City. If political polls are to be trusted (they aren’t), Lightfoot currently trails behind a few of her competitors and could be out of the mayoral race before it even goes to a runoff. This would be the only fitting end for a mayor who has somehow managed to anger every demographic of Chicagoan, young and old, rich and poor, etc. Hopefully Lori can soon return to doing what she does best, wearing ill-fitting suits and outrageous hats
Israel Releases Violent Settlers: After their destructive rampage through the occupied West Bank earlier this week, just eight Jewish settlers were arrested before quickly being released. Sunday’s attacks on villages near Nablus left one Palestinian dead and hundreds injured, while dozens of Palestinian homes and vehicles were destroyed. It’s estimated that around 400 settlers took part in the violence, but it’s evident that zero of them will be held accountable for their crimes