|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Last year, president Joe Biden‘s student loan forgiveness plan was resoundingly struck down by the U.S. supreme court. However, despite framing his campaign and presidency as a fight to save democracy, Biden announced the same day as the ruling that he would ignore the nation’s highest court and find another way to forgive as many student loans as possible.
Within days, his administration launched the “SAVE” program, which turns the traditional student loan repayment system into a mass forgiveness program that will cost South Carolina taxpayers and those nationwide at least a half trillion dollars. Hardworking South Carolinians who paid off their loans – or avoided them entirely – will now be forced to repay others’ loans.
***
Unlike the original one-time forgiveness program, this new effort will be permanent. And because forgiveness is tied to a college borrower’s income, it will provide the largest forgiveness to the most expensive colleges in expensive cities that do the worst job at preparing students for the workforce. These incentives will encourage colleges to raise prices further and – because students can borrow for living expenses (not just tuition and books) – it could be abused as a new welfare program.
Despite the successful effort by states to stop the original forgiveness program last year, it looked like the SAVE program would go unchallenged. The Cicero Institute focuses on state policy in South Carolina and elsewhere and has been sounding the alarm over this unconstitutional and wildly reckless plan. South Carolinians should be proud that attorney general Alan Wilson has answered the call.
Along with numerous other states, South Carolina will be bringing a case that could soon make its way to the supreme court. If successful, it could save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and prevent the state’s colleges and universities from being forever broken by strong incentives that, incredibly, prioritize low-performing and expensive programs over ones that are affordable and prepare students for later life.
The multi-state challenge rightly points out that Biden administration officials were careless in creating the SAVE program and failed to estimate its cost correctly. They ignored legitimate questions about the program’s fairness and constitutionality. And, as the complaint notes, the president “openly boasted about his defiance of the supreme court.”
***
***
South Carolinians paying federal taxes will be harmed in the long term by this plan, but the 11 states argued their tax revenue will also decline because loan forgiveness is usually taxable – but student loan forgiveness has been exempted. They also noted that SAVE’s forgiveness, which has no strings attached, will make other forgiveness programs tied to service as a teacher or public defender even harder for states to attract good people to those roles.
The federal student loan system was designed to help make college accessible for more people. But loans, by definition, are supposed to be paid back, and there is no good reason to saddle taxpayers – particularly those without the benefit of a college education – with this massive debt load. The SAVE program threatens to forever destabilize this system and make it more difficult for future students to get a college education.
***
“The Biden administration knows that a court could put a stop to this soon …”
***
There is a long road between now and a court hopefully striking down the SAVE program as an unconstitutional act that exceeds the president’s authority. The Biden administration knows that a court could put a stop to this soon, so they are scrambling to enroll as many students as possible in the plan and have even started forgiving some loans. That’s why this challenge by states is so critical.
South Carolinians should voice their support to their attorney general for doing the right thing.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Michael Brickman is Education Policy Director at The Cicero Institute and a national public policy leader specializing in developing cutting-edge innovations in education reform, skills-based hiring and the future of work. Previously, Michael was senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Education and National Policy Director of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
10 comments
What the hell is the world comin to? Sleepy Joe can’t debate or run on his record so he has to resort to buying votes by forgiving student loans. Well I along with other American citizens did not sign for those loans so maybe S… Shoe Joe, his sidekick and Pothole Pete can pay them off with their money. Why not refund some of the money for to those of us who paid their, or their childs student loans off? Better yet why don’t he forgive our mortgage loans or reduce them if we have been paying all along. When you sign on the line for a loan you agree to the terms of the loan and the payments. Plain and simple. Part of the American way. Don’t make your car payment. What happens? You commute using Pat and Charlie! Don’t pay your mortgage payment. What happens? Well you come home and find the neighbors dog pissing on your stuff cause its sitting at the street!
You Trump Cult members are a joke.
Trump’s record
1. First President since Hoover to actually lose jobs during his presidency.
2 Record deficits
3. Mishandled Pandemic
4. Attempted Coup.
5. First time since the war of 1812 that our Capitol was invaded.
6. The Average Annual Growth rate of GDP under Trump was 1%, the lowest since WWII
7. Only President in history to be impeached twice.
8. Only President in history, to ever be accused of rape under oath.
9. Only President in history to say he wants to be a dictator.
10. Only President in history to brag about molesting women.
11. Putin sycophant.
12. First President in History to be indicted by a Grand Jury for multiple felonies.
13. President with the most documented lies of any President in history.
14. Guilty of having multiple affairs on multiple wives.
I could go on and on, but why? We all know the guy is a scumbag. I’ll take Biden’s record any day over this one.
Wow, no big Trump fan here, but every item of your list is factually wrong except #7, #11- which is sheer opinion, and #12. The Pravda is strong in this one. I bet her Che Guevara T-shirt is tier- one designer quality.
Now come on Catfish, while Mary may have been slightly off on a couple of these, most are correct.
Even you admit 7 and 12 are correct. So let’s look at some of the others
1. First President since Hoover to lose jobs during his Presidency. According to Wikipedia Hoover and Trump are the only two Presidents to lose jobs during their terms since the Great Depression. So True.
2. Record deficits – Trump added 8 trillion to the deficit in four years, I think that is a record. So true.
3. Maybe just opinion, but I would agree with Mary. Trump lied about the pandemic when it first arrived in this country and then tried to constantly downplay its effects, resulting in unnecessary deaths and disruption.
4. No doubt in my mind January 6 was an attempted coup.
5. Ok you tell me. When was the capital invaded between 1812 and January 6?
8. Only President to be accused of rape under oath. I think that is true. Republicans will say Clinton was accused of rape, but that was not under oath, and when his accuser was asked to swear to the rape under oath she refused.
9 & 10 – Trump did say he wanted to be a Dictator and did brag about molesting women. Do you have evidence of another President who did the same? If not, I rate those as true.
13. Most lies of any President. I think that the NY Times did an article that supports that allegation. I have no problem believing it since he lies almost every time he speaks. But I think both Ted Cruise and Lindsay, called him a pathological liar, so I think this assertion is true.
14. Multiple affairs on multiple wives. Surely you are not contesting this one. He ran around with Marla Maples while he was married to Ivana. He ran around with Melania while he was married to Marla Maples. And he slept with Stormy and others while married to Melania. So True.
Where do you get your information/
This is the kind of late-stage republic hijinx that history has repeated over and over…. the corrupt elites raiding the treasury to bribe off the masses just before the barbarians breach the gates and burn the citadel. Of course, in our case, the barbarians have already breached and we have oh about 30M of them accumulated since 2000. But at the same time, RINOs in Congress que up more give-away funding for Ukraine and Israel before addressing our own border. All you can do is try to live in a financially strong red state, with a conservative county sheriff and local prosecutor, and have as little personal debt as possible. Oh, and only put your money in a local bank or non-federal credit union.
Sorry everyone, it’s OK for me to get my loans forgiven, but not you.
If you don’t care enough about your degree to pay your student debt, then what the hell makes you think I care enough to pay it off?
Already been ruled unconstitutional and yet he persisted. Some doofus up there said “record deficits” – this and his earlier give away will add almost a trillion to the deficit in one fell swoop, while also devaluing a college education and creating (or continuing) another generation of “gimmeees”.
We know this is political BS. If Trump did the same damn thing, Wilson would be on TV praising his leadership and how he’s helping the fine working Americans here in SC.
I’m guessing none of the dumbfucks commenting here actually went to–let alone graduated from–college.