AMAC Exclusive – By Tom Campbell
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced he is extending for the fifth time the “pause” on student loan payments and is also unilaterally canceling up to $10,000 of loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year. While liberals heralded the move as a major victory, the new policy marks the latest assault on the rule of law by Biden, while the social and economic fallout from the policy may prove to be an anchor on Democrats’ prospects this fall.
For more than two years now, Americans with student loans have not had to make their monthly payments thanks to a moratorium that began in March 2020 as a part of the COVID-19 pandemic-relief policies. But despite having moved out of the pandemic phase and away from economy-destroying lockdowns, Biden has refused to order the resumption of payments after repeatedly promising student loan forgiveness on the campaign trail in 2020.
Following Biden’s election, far-left members of Congress, from Senator Elizabeth Warren to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, aggressively lobbied for canceling student loans. Yet thanks to a 50-50 Senate and substantial Democrat opposition to wide-scale student-loan cancelation, there has been no vote on legislation to do so this Congress. As a result, those in favor of the policy turned to pressuring Biden to do it through executive action.
Conservatives have argued that by bypassing Congress in this way, Biden is violating the Constitution, which states: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” Student loans are funded by appropriations made by Congress and drawn from the Treasury. The President unilaterally writing off more than $300 billion in obligations to the Treasury in the absence of Congressional action is therefore a brazen defiance of the law, and flies in the face of the Constitution’s separation of powers.
However, supporters of this claim of executive power counter that Congress has already delegated to the Secretary of Education the authority to wipe out student loans. They cite a provision in the 1965 Higher Education Act that empowers the secretary to “modify, compromise, or waive” student-loan debts.
But it is far from clear that this would effectively allow the executive to authorize expenditures of up to more than $1.6 trillion, the total amount of federal student debt. Likely, the more “traditional” interpretation of the law is that it grants the Secretary authority to provide relief in specific situations based on individual determinations – not mass cancellation of debt. Even Biden himself has previously indicated he does not believe Congress intended to give the executive the authority to enact a wide-scale cancelation of student loans, stating in February 2021, “I don’t think I have the authority to do it by signing with a pen.”
But even if Biden’s actions were legally sound, they would still be outrageously unfair and reckless. By every metric, student loan cancellation is an enormous wealth transfer from the working class to upper-middle class Americans. Only one in three American adults has a bachelor’s degree, and college graduates make nearly 85 percent more than those who have only a high school diploma. Furthermore, 69 to 73 percent of the debt relief will go toward borrowers in the top 60 percent of the income distribution. Ultimately, this policy will disproportionately benefit the wealthy, as lower-income taxpayers will be forced to effectively pay off loans they didn’t take out, either through higher taxes or more inflation.
No doubt many Democrats will see Biden’s actions as a political win going into November, but they may be in for a rude awakening. Giving handouts to their wealthy constituents at the expense of the working class may cause significant political blowback, especially if the action fails to turn out younger voters as Democrats are apparently hoping. The move may instead just be motivation for the majority of Americans without a college degree to turn out and vote Republican.
The policy could also cause trouble for Democrats by creating skepticism of the federal student-loan program as a whole. Seeing the student-loan cancelation for what it is—a huge giveaway to upper-income Americans—could lead to consensus among voters that continued federal loan support for higher education is not worth it. After all, the cancelation of $10,000 of debt per borrower could be the first step toward canceling $50,000 of debt per borrower (as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren have called for). And with the moral hazard created by Wednesday’s debt cancelation, taxpayers may fear even more students taking out riskier, irresponsible loans, which in turn could again be transferred to non-borrowers down the road.
Many borrowers who have dutifully paid off their loans over years or even decades will also likely feel disaffected as a result of the policy. Moreover, those planning to attend college in the coming years – and their families – will likely be asking where their $10,000 is.
By acting like a king, Biden is untethering executive power even further from constitutional restraints, while also putting congressional Democrats in a potentially precarious situation. “Suppose… your child at this time decided they did not want to go to college but you’re paying taxes to forgive someone else’s obligations. You may not be happy about that,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged last year. If the Democrat Speaker of the House can figure that out, so can voters – and that could bode ill for any Democrat on the ballot this fall.
Tom Campbell is the pen name of a Washington, D.C.-based professional with more than a decade of policy and legislative experience at the state and federal levels of government.
This’s strictly a ploy to bribe those with student loans to vote for Progressive Democrat representatives this coming November. It is a political move, bribing voters to vote for more Socialism in Congress. It’s an unfair abuse of taxes.
If this is a federal loan, will the student loan payment be paid to the federal gov or the individual??
This addled old man is insane.
Congress needs to limit the emergency powers authorized by a president. The House has the authority to pass money bills. Student loan debt is not an emergency issue.
The Biden team is buying votes with your money. Trying to soften the blow in November if we have an election.
Biden IS A pos DEMENTED FOOL
Biden is scamming America! Well, I should say the Dems/libs are scamming America in plain light side; because Biden is just their figure head. Behind de scenes the kaval prepares the paper work and just when it is ready; they call Biden to sign the papers to make it official, to make believed that their (demented, creep, senile, liar, cheater, etc, etc.) looks like his in command of all his faculties. The level of perversion from this so call “Democratic Party”, is shameful. I should hope that the leadership of the opposite party (Republicans +) do better; but, so far, I haven’t seen anything worth of cheering their efforts. It is going to take the efforts of regular Americans outside DC, along with DJT to fight back to save America. More then ever now, I miss DJT! Best POTUS ever.
Come on man, is this an attempt to gain votes in next elections? Bunch of Malarkey……..
This is an obvious ploy to try to gain votes in the next elections. News media yesterday said this would impact 45-million people that owe student loans & I guess that is a lot of potential voters….as I estimate it was about 150-million voters in 2020 POTUS election. This move is a slap in the face to many, many Americans that take out loans knowing that they are responsible to pay it back someday.
Congress & POTUS should be doing a study on why College costs have risen so much in the last 30-years. The answer to me is obvious in that some of the top people like President & football coaches are making +$1- million per year. They are doing the same thing that US corporations started doing in 90s & paying CEO millions per year, while the employees hardly keep up with inflation. News media yesterday said college costs have gone up 400% vs. inflation. I guess the private colleges can continue to do this, but write your representatives & tell them to pressure any college that is getting any funds from state or Federal govt. This greed of the top management must stop as it is destroying America. And taxpayers that paid back their loans or did not go to college should not have to pay one cent of Biden’s loan forgiveness.
How in the world can Biden do this? These students signed a contract promising to repay the debt. They chose the schools they attended and their course of study. They chose to take out student loans and they signed contracts to that effect. Hold them responsible for repaying the debt. Student loans are the only thing you can’t file bankruptcy on. Biden is clearly buying votes and everyone can see it. I worked full time and went to school. I paid for my tuition. I don’t feel sorry for those who took courses that wouldn’t give them a decent job. Grow up and pay the debt. It is not for the taxpayer to bail you out.
What he did is illegal. He does not have authority over our money and loans to students. The Students need to be responsible for paying it back.
The so-called loan forgiveness Biden announced this week is in reality a vote-buying scheme in which the administration is shifting the responsibility for the loans from the people who SIGNED CONTRACTS in which they promised to pay back the loans to the taxpayers who did NOT SIGN THESE CONTRACTS. Democrats like to talk about fairness. Where’s the fairness in that?
There is no such thing as loan forgiveness, all this is, is the transfer of debt and putting on the backs of those of us who had better sense than to borrow money that we knew we couldn’t pay back. This is setting a bad precedent, the next thing they’ll be doing, is buying new homes, and expect someone else to pay for them.
If you’re all thinking government will get less corrupt after this election, don’t hold your breath! The best I hope for is to live long enough to survive this BS and die happy knowing the communist and socialist anti-America Nazis get exactly the government they dream of… and it bites them in their pampered candy behinds!
Suspect this will be overturned on appeal. It does not qualify under the statute he used to do this.
After mid-terms, Republicans have to get off their hands and impeach this crook for subverting the US Constitution and Congress. Charge Harris with dereliction for allowing the border to be wide open and causing the safety of American’s to be in jeopardy and impeach her also. The then Republican speaker can become president and get this country back. We cannot allow this destruction to continue. Never happened before? Neither has an ex-presidents home been raided by our own FBI.
AN ILLEGAL ORDER BY AN “ILLEGALLY” ELECTED “PRESIDENT” ! . . . TREASON AWAITS, THAT’S “ONLY” IF REPUBLICANS HAVE GUARANTEED “HONEST” ELECTIONS AND I DON’T SEE WHERE THEY HAVE! . . . MCCONNELL MUST GO!
I think everything that is being done by Joe-Joe The Puppet is being done for votes. Virus is not working; Monkey Pox is not working to get mail-in paper ballots. MO said when BO was elected the first time, “This is the first time I’ve been proud of America.” That was another clue of their hate for America. She admitted in 2008 that she did not love America by using the word proud, did not want good for America. She wants socialism in place. We The People must stand strong and vote the democrats OUT of office. People that support the college loan forgiveness are the people that have the loans. It, to me, is a slap in the face for the people that worked two or more jobs for their education. The forgiveness money will be paid for by the taxpayers and that is just plain wrong. We The People should not pay for other peoples’ college loans. Simple as that. Who will be on the list of $10,000.00 knocked off their load? Strange this is being done around the mid-term elections.
In addition to the blatant unconstitutionality of this move, there is one additional issue to consider. Student loans are the result of a contract, signed voluntarily and willingly by the borrower; in other words, the loan is a legal contract. Perhaps someone can show us where in the Constitution – or anywhere else – a President (phony or otherwise) is given the authority to cancel legal contracts. I am waiting…
This article is mostly accurate. The author errs in adopting Democratic and MSM mislabeling of Biden’s TRANFER “of up to $10,000 of loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year” to ALL TAXPAYERS, as “cancelling” the debt. Instead, Biden illegally saddled every man, woman, and child in the country with about $1K in student loan debt, sticking 90% of us (who either paid our loans in good faith or never took them in the first place), with debt 10% of the population willingly accepted and contracted to pay back but, now, doesn’t want to. It’s more shameful vote buying from the party that specializes in it.
Well first we have a illegal President in the office who needs to be IMPEACHED. He is a complete IDIOT crooked to the core a lying individual who is destroying this beautiful country of ours.Peple wake up.
Everyone should be afraid of this dictatorship action, if you’re unsure where even the best intentions lead when using dictatorship, just watch star trek season 2 episode 21
I a friend who thinks that if we as a nation can afford to pay for 12 years of school why can’t we pay for 4 more years? Simply put Not Everyone wants to go to College or has the academics to be able to handle college. Second, Not Every College Costs The Same. 3rd At Some Point In Time The Apron Strings Have To Be Cut From “WE THE PEOPLE’ Paying For Other People’s Kids Going To College!!! That’s Why There’s Scholarships, Which Is An Incentive To Work Harder In High School And Of Course There’s Grants!!! I’m Retired And I’m Tired Of Paying For Other People’s Kids!!!
Since Biden cancelled so many of President Trump’s EO’s, can’t the next president cancel Biden’s EO’s including this one?
This is illegal and a effort to commit a crime so can’t he be held accountable for this action?
Bet Carter is happy. Now he is not the worse one that had that office.
Burn in Hell Biden and if you do not believe there is such a place, rot very slowly you disgusting Traitor
So if he does not have the legal right to do this then it cannot be enforced so it is not relevant.
I have always respected the office of President, no matter who held that office; that is, until now. I cannot respect the current officeholder because he has no respect for the American people and Constitution he is sworn to serve. This moronic excuse for a president has made it clear that he has no love for this country. Any reasonable person knows that he is no more than a front man for wealthy socialist elites who seek total domination over the American people. He has done so poorly in office that his behind the scenes handlers are now scrambling to prop him up by pulling out all the stops to do whatever is necessary to buy votes. In essence, that is what this unconstitutional executive action does; it takes money from hardworking Americans and gives it to students so that they will feel obligated to vote Democrat. That play action is nothing new for the Democrats, as they have been doing the same thing with welfare recipients for decades. The difference is that now their actions are on full display, whereas in the past they covertly passed the money through bloated legislative bills.
Biden has never performed by the rules..this is no surprise..just another of his stupid “deals”. Don’t firget…when he was a Senator he tried to end Social Security…Vote on November 8!
This is totally illegal!!!
But they got away with adding a tax to the people who did not want ACA health insurance.
A new tax can only be added by Congress through legislation. They got away with it then. So they think they can get away with this now.
It is clear that the Constitution only allows Congress to create the spending bills.
But, in order to get more votes, Biden is doing and end-around to do this.
I wonder what the real specifics are. I know undergrad degrees are costing more than $50,000. So how much is owed by the people who got loans to complete their graduate degrees?
Why do the Democrats hate our country and way of living so much?
Their time is coming!!!!!!
Uncle Joe & his Happy Band of Clowns strikes again. Will he forgive part of my car or home mortgage? NOT! This was pushed by the Demorats in Congress that still owe and won’t pay, AOC, Eric Swalwell, etc!
That President dummy will bankrupt this country I paid my student loans did not need his help. People need to start to get mad he is doing it to look good but will make those that pay taxes to foot the bill he does not care and if the White House goes along with it they are just as bad time to get them out of office.
Mike Gallagher played a clip of Nancy Pelosi saying that the President is not allowed to do this; only Congress has that power!
I believe this move will come back to bite biden’s boney backside.
The puppet Biden and his ‘merry band’ of budding communists will, unless stopped, continue to destroy everything this nation was built on and turn it into a third world poverty stricken country. All so they can rule on the rubble. Many believe this demented soul is being handled by a previous “president” who during his presidential bid opined “I’m going to transform America. This is but one of many of the dirty, treasonous acts these traitors have already done and will continue to do unless stopped…but unless it is to late, We The People have to do a lot more than comment about it…at this point unless there’s a miracle from Heaven, this nation will cease to exist as it was created to be.
The DemonRats are insane. They are buying votes with OUR tax dollars.
I believe Congress needs to be involved with this. It seems JB is just buying votes. Many of us worked hard to pay off college debts ourselves and many of us did not even go to college. Nothing was given to us. So why then are we paying for others schooling. Our country is in debt! Perhaps if we did not give so much money away to foreign countries, we could help fund the kids in school. Overall, this is another corrupt scam by the Commie Democrats. Our country is in too much debt now. I would like to know who is picking up the tab for schooling, housing, medical etc. for all these illegals JB is letting into our country. Maybe he can sell a few of his houses and get some financial advice from the Pelosi’s to offset this mess. Perhaps these Commie Dems will forfeit their taxpayer paid retirements, after all many of them have not earned it. I am sick of this!
DEMONRATS ARE TOXIC TO THE U.S.A…..ERADICATE THEM!
That is appropriating tax money. ONLY Congress can direct funding I any kind. The President can NOT direct funds, outside of funding all ready in a passed bill.
A sickening, immoral move. Nothing short of extortion.
Joe Biden is a total Moron! No President can authorize forgiveness of debt. That takes Legislation from the House of Representatives. Creepy Joe has violated the US Constitution again and again and must be impeached now! But once again the Republicans will not unite to impeach him. How can anyone vote for this fake and fraud!
This Administration told us inflation is due to us having to much money. Problem solved!
If Biden does not have the authority, can it be taken to court to overturn an executive order? People who graduated from college make a lot more than those of us who didn’t, yet we will be paying for THEIR school loans.
Call or write your Senators and Congressman and demand Congress assert their authority and demand the separation of powers that is supposed to define our Republic:
7 Ways Biden’s Student Loan Bailout Is Immoral
washingtonstand.com/commentary/7-ways-bidens-student-loan-bailout-is-immoral
“The president of the United States does not have the legal authority to cancel contract, and that is exactly what he is doing: He is voiding a repayment contract, and he does not have the ability to do that,” Rep. Bryon Donalds (R-Fla.) told “Washington Watch” guest host Joseph Backholm on Wednesday. Not so long ago, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) agreed. “People think that the president of the United States has the power for [student loan] debt forgiveness,” Pelosi told the media last July. “He does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress.”
Biden’s plan also violates existing statutory law. When former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos inquired whether she had the legal right to grant mass student loan cancellation, her department’s general counsel analyzed all relevant laws — including the HEROES Act — and replied that the executive branch does not have the “statutory authority to cancel, compromise, discharge, or forgive, on a blanket or mass basis, principal balances of student loans … and/or to materially modify the repayment amounts or terms thereof.” Any bill to write-off a debt is a spending bill which must originate with Congress. On the contrary, the federal government has a legal requirement to “try to collect a claim of the United States Government for money.” The opinion noted that Congress does not “hide elephants in mouseholes.” That is, Congress does not “impliedly delegate a policy decision of massive economic and political magnitude — as blanket or mass cancellation, compromise, discharge, or forgiveness of student loan principal balances … to an administrative agency.”
anyone with a brain knows the dumo is doing this to get votes – they either lie or cheat or promise things! i am not happy that i have to pay for others when i myself have no money. i’m sick of it – that’s all the dumos are known for – is spend spend spend
I started and finished my engineering curriculum, graduating in 2.5 years. 12 to 15 hour days/nights … and weekends attending class and studying. I paid back all my loans. No party time. $$ went for only basics (food, apt., utilities, phone). Little $$ was need for gas for the car as I didn’t have time to go anywhere. What about the person who only went to college for only 1.0 year and accumulated loan debt? Now, they had college fun for a year at no cost. Hundreds of thousands of dollars (maybe millions, I don’t know) spent by those in the industrial sector, e.g. electricians, plumbers, welders to educate themselves to become state licensed specialists should be livid, as it seems there’s no $10,000 rebate for them. Hey everyone, I’d like to believe this event is another positive for the Republicans. They’ve already rolled many democrat votes to republican votes with this raid on President Trump’s home. Now, hopefully, this $10,000 BS will make the roll become larger, longer and faster. I don’t preach the Bible, but many passages refer to having Faith. Please all, retain faith. And, by the way, I’m thinking about purchasing a new car and not making payments. If the dems lose excessively on Nov. 8th, then my auto loan may be paid off in an attempt to buy my vote for a Dem president. I’ll take the $$, but no way would it sway my vote to dem.
Nancy pelosi has already said that lyin Biden can’t do that. It takes an act of Congress. Sooo, why is Congress sitting on their lazy butts doing nothing about it. They should be up in arms. I guarantee, if President Trump had tried this, we’d still be hearing about it.
It’s Illegal and the Supreme Court should call a Special Session and deal with it. on behalf of the American Taxpayer.
The MAGGOT Joe Biden is not a King, he is not above the Constitution, He and that moron Obama Think they can do as they Damn well please and need to be put on a tight leash and while they are on a leash, potty train them so they quit Cr*pping on the Constitution.