MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-11-24 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Student Loan relief, and governance by fiat..
|
Forgive Student Loads - Yes
Do it by Fiat - NO - The Supreme Court should slap him silly
ENDING THE FRAUDULENT STUDENT LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM PERMENTENTLY - that
would be the first step to fixing out education system in the US.
Biden Plan to Forgive Student Debt Hinges on Democratic Control of Senate
Josh Mitchell
6-8 minutes
Barring that outcome—which hinges on two Georgia races in
January—Democrats have urged a second option: bypassing Congress through
executive action. It isn’t clear whether such a move would survive a
legal challenge.
During the election campaign, Mr. Biden said he would push to forgive
$10,000 in debt for every American with federal student loans to help
them cope with the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
He has also called for forgiving any student debt that covered tuition
at public colleges for borrowers earning under $125,000, and any student
debt owed by those who show they were defrauded by for-profit colleges.
Congressional Democrats sought to forgive $10,000 for all borrowers
early this year as part of a broad pandemic-relief bill known as the
Cares Act, but the Republican-controlled Senate opposed it. The two
parties compromised on a provision to suspend student-debt payments
through Sept. 30.
A Senate Republican aide recently said the party continues to oppose Mr.
Biden’s debt-forgiveness plans. Senate Republicans have opposed
Democratic proposals for large-scale debt forgiveness, which would drive
up the record budget deficit without offsetting tax increases or savings.
President-elect Joe Biden spoke in Wilmington, Del., earlier this month.
Photo: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) urged the new Biden administration to
forgive student debt through executive action in a recent Washington
Post op-ed. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate’s top Democrat,
supported the move in an interview with author Anand Giridharadas
published Nov. 3.
The pair were among 13 Democrats who introduced a resolution in
September urging the next president to cancel up to $50,000 in student
debt for each borrower through executive action. The full Senate didn’t
act on the resolution.
“I do expect that the Biden administration will take some action on
student debt outside of anything that happens through Congress,” said
Robert Shireman, an Education Department official in the Obama
administration who is now a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a
progressive think tank. “The question is how far they will go.”
A Biden campaign spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment this
month. Last summer, a Biden campaign official said Mr. Biden wouldn’t
rule out any options to forgive student debt, including executive action.
President Trump used executive action last summer to extend the
suspension of student-loan payments mandated by the Cares Act through
the end of the year. The action didn’t forgive interest or principal on
student loans.
Mark Kantrowitz, a higher-education expert who runs a website that
advises families on student-loan options, said Mr. Trump’s move was
illegal because suspending interest on student loans universally
requires congressional approval.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think would be an effective way to reduce student-loan debt
in the U.S.? Join the conversation below.
“Someone could have gone to court to block the extension,” Mr.
Kantrowitz said. But given that the move appeared to have bipartisan
support and cost roughly $15 billion in foregone interest, “nobody was
going to do that.”
Debt forgiveness is part of Mr. Biden’s broader higher-education agenda.
He also wants to make public colleges tuition-free for students from
households earning less than $125,000 a year, and to double the maximum
amount of Pell grants—which can be used to cover living expenses and
don’t need to be repaid—to roughly $13,000 a year for low- and
modest-income students. Republicans have signaled opposition to
free-college plans.
Forgiving debt—as opposed to suspending payments—through executive
action would likely face a court challenge from Republicans, Mr.
Kantrowitz said.
Mr. Biden’s plan faces other challenges. The campaign hasn’t specified
how he would pay for debt forgiveness, although he has separately called
for tax increases of about $4 trillion over a decade to pay for a
variety of programs.
About 42 million Americans owe $1.55 trillion in federal student debt,
Education Department data show. Forgiving $10,000 for every borrower
would cost roughly $370 billion, according to an analysis by Preston
Cooper, visiting fellow at the Foundation for Research and Economic
Opportunity, a center-right think tank.
Almost 15 million borrowers would see their debts wiped away, Education
Department data show. Another 9 million would see them slashed by half
or more. The rest would have $10,000 forgiven but still owe more than
half their original balance.
In a September 2019 Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 57% of
respondents opposed “immediately canceling and forgiving all current
student loan debt.”
There are also potential tax consequences. Generally, forgiven debt of
any kind is considered taxable income by the Internal Revenue Service.
Forgiving huge portions of debt could lead to thousands of dollars in
tax bills for individual households.
And without restrictions on new lending, the U.S. would risk another
run-up in student debt.
Students might yet see some relief. For example, Mr. Biden could extend
Mr. Trump’s action to suspend monthly student payments, interest free,
into next year, Mr. Shireman said. Mr. Biden could also loosen existing
rules that entitle borrowers defrauded by for-profit colleges to have
their debts forgiven, he said.
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
_______________________________________________
Hangout mailing list
Hangout-at-nylxs.com
http://lists.mrbrklyn.com/mailman/listinfo/hangout
|
|
