Biden’s lawless bailout of credentialed elites continues
Washington Examiner
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Other than unmarried women, no demographic was a more reliable vote for President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party this Election Day than college-educated voters. So it should come as no surprise that Biden once again showered this constituency with federal money this week when he announced that the Department of Education would, for the sixth time, delay all student loan payments.
To be fair, former President Donald Trump first delayed these payments before Biden did. But that was at the height of the COVID shutdown. No one could pay because no one was allowed to work. Biden has since assured the nation that “the pandemic is over.” Inflation is still rising faster than real wages, but the unemployment rate has fallen to near pre-pandemic levels. Everyone, especially the most privileged and wealthiest among us who hold college degrees, should be able to pay their bills by now.
REPUBLICANS BLAST BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT PAUSE EXTENSION
Biden’s new excuse for delaying student loan payments is that federal courts need time to decide whether or not Biden’s separate but related student debt amnesty plan is legal. It is most certainly not legal. The 2003 HEROES Act, the law Biden claims gives him the power to issue student debt amnesties, was passed by Congress after 9/11 so that National Guardsmen called to duty to fight a war wouldn’t have to pay their student loans while they were serving their country. In no way whatsoever did Congress intend to give any president blanket authority to cancel all student debt at any time for any reason, which is what the Biden administration argues.
If a federal court ever recognizes a plaintiff’s ability to establish standing, Biden will lose this lawsuit. That would be a huge win for the American taxpayer since Biden’s student debt amnesty is terrible public policy.
First of all, at a time when the Federal Reserve is doing everything it can to reduce inflation, Biden’s debt amnesty pours $400 billion in federal spending on the existing inflation fire. Worse, the vast majority of this cash will be going to the wealthiest. The Penn Wharton business school estimates that approximately 70% of Biden’s debt amnesty will benefit the top 60% of income earners. This means that while those without college degrees continue to see their paychecks eaten away by higher inflation, their wealthier college-educated peers will be getting unearned cash from the government. How is that fair?
Then there is the question of whether or not this will be a one-time amnesty or a new policy for financing college going forward. Because if Biden wants to make this a new permanent policy, it creates terrible incentives for universities to jack up prices.
Since colleges will know that the federal government is picking up the tab, they’ll just raise tuition even higher. Students will have no incentive to shop around for the most cost-effective degree. And since many student loans are used not just for tuition but also for housing, taxpayers would be subsidizing lavish student lifestyles in the most expensive cities. Rich graduate students studying at Columbia University would be getting twice as much money from taxpayers as low-income workers living in Section 8 housing.
Republicans will control the House of Representatives this January, so they are no longer dependent on the courts to stop Biden’s illegal debt amnesty. House Republicans should not provide a single cent to the Department of Education until Biden rescinds his bailout to the elite credentialed class.
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