{"id":1620903,"date":"2022-08-25T17:33:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T21:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1620903"},"modified":"2022-08-25T17:34:17","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T21:34:17","slug":"bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-is-an-unjust-cynical-abuse-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-is-an-unjust-cynical-abuse-of-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden\u2019s Student Loan \u2018Forgiveness\u2019 Is An Unjust, Cynical Abuse Of Power"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbidens-student-loan-forgiveness-is-an-unjust-cynical-abuse-of-power%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1620903&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>\u201cNo Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.\u201d That\u2019s what it says right there in the Constitution. And yet, without any legislation, Joe Biden now promises to \u201ccancel\u201d up to $10,000 in student loans per borrower ($20,000 for Pell Grant borrowers), limited to those with annual incomes of less than $125,000. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start by pointing out that President Joe Biden isn\u2019t \u201ccanceling\u201d or \u201cforgiving\u201d any student loans. Those are preposterous euphemisms favored by Democrats and the media. The debt in question already exists, it has been lent <em>and spent<\/em>, and those who borrowed the money of their own volition have already received services. This debt isn\u2019t cancelable.<\/p>\n<p>The president hasn\u2019t \u201cforgiven\u201d loans, he\u2019s unilaterally broken existing contracts and transferred the responsibility of payment to taxpayers\u2014many of whom have either repaid their own student loans or never borrowed any money to begin with. Now, if you\u2019re opposed to repaying some stranger\u2019s loan, that\u2019s too bad. A <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/10\/irs-hiring-spree-is-the-biggest-expansion-of-the-police-state-in-american-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new batch<\/a> of IRS agents will be there to ensure that you do.<\/p>\n<p>It should also be stressed that capping loan \u201cforgiveness\u201d to those making under $125,000 means <em>absolutely nothing<\/em> because most borrowers are at the beginning of their careers and have yet to enjoy the durable benefits of a college degree. The average worker with a bachelor\u2019s degree ends up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/michaeltnietzel\/2021\/10\/11\/new-study-college-degree-carries-big-earnings-premium-but-other-factors-matter-too\/?sh=4e523e8a35cd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">making<\/a>, on average, $1 million more in their careers (those with graduate degrees <a href=\"https:\/\/research.collegeboard.org\/media\/pdf\/trends-college-pricing-student-aid-2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$2-3 million<\/a> more) than a worker with a high school diploma. And yet, the Biden administration is going to compel truck drivers and clerks without college degrees to pay the loans of white-collar workers on their way to six-figure salaries.<\/p>\n<p>Now, of course, even if the student loan \u201cforgiveness\u201d was a boon for the poor, it would still be completely unconstitutional, a moral hazard, counterproductive, and fundamentally unjust. But Biden\u2019s plan\u2014which is going to cost taxpayers <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/8\/23\/forgiving-student-loans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">around<\/a> $300 billion, more than all the illusory \u201csavings\u201d that were going to be found in the \u201cInflation Reduction Act\u201d\u2014is little more than a vote-buying scheme for affluent millennials.<\/p>\n<p>There already exists a slate of programs that help the poor pay for college \u2013 and most schools charge families in the lower economic quintiles less. According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/24\/studies-show-bidens-illegal-student-debt-scheme-is-welfare-for-the-rich\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new<\/a> University of Pennsylvania study, \u201c[b]etween 69 and 73 percent of the debt forgiven accrues to households in the top 60 percent of the income distribution.\u201d Another Brookings <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/up-front\/2020\/10\/09\/who-owes-the-most-in-student-loans-new-data-from-the-fed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> found that 60 percent of all outstanding school loans debt was taken by families making over $74,000\u2014with those borrowers making 75 percent of all payments. The lowest-income 40 percent of households \u201chold just under 20 percent of the outstanding debt and make only 10 percent of the payments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By the way, though there is clearly a problem with spiking higher education costs, it\u2019s a myth that most students who graduate with bachelor\u2019s degrees face debilitating debt. According to Brookings, around 30 percent of undergrads <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/policy2020\/votervital\/who-owes-all-that-student-debt-and-whod-benefit-if-it-were-forgiven\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">graduate<\/a> with zero debt, and 25 percent with less than $20,000. Only 6 percent of graduates owe more than $100,000. Half of college debt is held by a quarter of borrowers: those who go to graduate school. Which is to say, Biden is compelling American taxpayers to foot the bill for graduate degrees.<\/p>\n<p>The government\u2019s guaranteeing of student loans was one of the most corrosive policy ideas in recent history. It has incentivized schools to charge outrageous tuitions (Yale and Harvard now basically function as hedge funds, with massive endowments), encouraged students to rack up massive debt getting often useless degrees (there\u2019s no bank on earth that would lend a kid 100k to get a degree in, say, journalism), and allowed banks to hand out giant loans without concern. Loan \u201cforgiveness,\u201d which is sure to become an expectation moving forward, only exacerbates all these problems.<\/p>\n<p>Not long ago, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/biden-lacks-authority-to-cancel-student-debt-obama-admin-lawyer-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">admitted<\/a> he didn\u2019t have the authority to \u201ccancel\u201d student loans \u201cby signing with a pen.\u201d Now his administration is <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stevenportnoy\/status\/1562485537063124993\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rationalizing<\/a> this power grab on the feeble idea that we are in a national emergency over Covid. Part of me suspects that the administration understands that the president can\u2019t \u201cforgive\u201d debt, and that the effort will be stymied by any Supreme Court that adheres to the Constitution. Democrats likely see the issue as a cudgel they can use to further delegitimize the Supreme Court and hit Republicans as opposing aid of the \u201cmiddle class.\u201d There is no norm this administration isn\u2019t willing to cynically destroy for political power. \u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books\u2014the most recent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Eurotrash-America-Reject-Failed-Continent\/dp\/0063066017\/\">Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent<\/a>. His work has appeared in National Review, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reason, New York Post, and numerous other publications. Follow him on Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidharsanyi\/\">@davidharsanyi<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cNo Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.\u201d That\u2019s what it says right there in the Constitution. And yet, without any legislation,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1620903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1620903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1620903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1620903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1620903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}