{"id":1622194,"date":"2022-08-26T06:18:58","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T10:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1622194"},"modified":"2022-08-26T06:19:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T10:19:23","slug":"biden-student-loan-amnesty-specifically-benefits-d-c-staffers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-student-loan-amnesty-specifically-benefits-d-c-staffers\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Student Loan Amnesty Specifically Benefits D.C. Staffers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/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%2Fbiden-student-loan-amnesty-specifically-benefits-d-c-staffers%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=1622194&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--><div><\/div>\n<p><em>By Philip Wegmann for RealClearPolitics<\/em><\/p>\n<p>After announcing executive action to unilaterally and retroactively wipe away $300 billion in federal student debt, President Biden looked over his shoulder to answer a question: Was this debt forgiveness fair to those who had sacrificed and saved to pay their way through college? Biden deflected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs it fair to people who, in fact, do not own multibillion dollar businesses,\u201d he replied. \u201cSome of these guys want to give them all tax breaks,\u201d he said, seemingly referring to unrelated Republican tax proposals. \u201cIs that fair?\u201d he asked the reporter. \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/biden-setting-up-student-loan-forgiveness-for-well-off-borrowers-after-pelosi-said-he-has-no-such-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden Setting Up Student Loan \u2018Forgiveness\u2019 For Well-Off Borrowers, After Pelosi Said He Has No Such Power<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Then, the president left. The fundamental question of fairness, however, remains as millions of Americans now search the Department of Education\u2019s website for guidance to see if they qualify for loan forgiveness. Or if they would have qualified had they not repaid their loans earlier.<\/p>\n<p>According to the plan, the White House will cancel $10,000 in federal student debt loans for any individual making less than $125,000 a year and $20,000 for those with Pell grants. Republicans quickly complained that the debt amnesty was \u201ca slap in the face to working Americans.\u201d For many working in Washington, D.C., however, it was a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n<p>Student debt forgiveness is personal for the Biden administration. About one in five of the White House aides required to file a financial disclosure, as Bloomberg News\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-05-19\/biden-s-student-loan-quandary-hits-home-for-indebted-top-aides\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">previously noted,<\/a>\u00a0reported owing student debt. Collectively, those 30 senior White House staffers owe as much as $4.7 million. Those personal finances are not unusual in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n<p>There is more outstanding student debt in Washington than in any other city in the country. The average debtor in D.C., according to a 2021 breakdown by the small business analyst, AdvisorSmith,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/advisorsmith.com\/data\/states-with-the-highest-student-loan-debt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">owes $54,982 in unpaid student loans.<\/a>\u00a0This includes many political staffers at the Department of Education, senior advisors as well as junior aides who moved to that agency from the Biden campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Analysis of financial disclosures by the conservative-leaning American Accountability Foundation found that the political staff at the agency that oversees the student loan program stand to benefit. The outstanding student loan debt balance among 41 education staffers evaluated could amount to between $2.8 and $6.5 million. According to the AAF estimate obtained by RealClearPolitics, the president may have wiped away as much as $512,646 of their debt.<\/p>\n<div id=\"subscribe\" class=\"email-signup inarticle\">\n<h4>Support Conservative Voices!<\/h4>\n<h5><strong>Sign up to receive the latest<\/strong> political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<p>More than 45 million Americans owe $1.6 trillion in federal student debt, a balance that the New York Times reports dwarfs what they owe in car loans, credit cards, and other consumer debt. The White House insists that the administration\u2019s plan will target low- to middle-income borrowers in particular, with 90% of relief going to earners who make less than $75,000 a year. As many as 43 million people can benefit, according to an administration infographic, and 20 million people \u201ccan have their loans fully cancelled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is precisely the kind of relief, Biden said, that the country needs post-pandemic. \u201cAll of this means people can start finally to climb out from under that mountain of debt,\u201d the president said. \u201cTo finally think about buying a home or starting a family or starting a business. And by the way, when this happens the whole economy is better off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/teachers-union-dumps-seniority-rules-will-instead-decide-layoffs-based-on-skin-color\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Teachers Union Dumps Seniority Rules, Will Instead Decide Layoffs Based On Skin Color<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mitch McConnell called it \u201cstudent loan socialism.\u201d The Republican Senate minority leader\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.republicanleader.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/mcconnell-student-loan-socialism-a-slap-in-the-face-to-working-families-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accused the president<\/a>\u00a0of delivering \u201ca slap in the face to every family who sacrificed to save for college, every graduate who paid their debt, and every American who chose a certain career path or volunteered to serve in our Armed Forces in order to avoid taking on debt. This policy is astonishingly unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tom Jones echoed that criticism. The founder of AAF pointed to the \u201cwindfall\u201d that political employees at the Education Department were set to receive, calling it \u201cshameful\u201d evidence of \u201cthe gap between the people and the ruling class in Washington, D.C.\u201d Press spokesmen for the department did not respond to RCP requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Susan Rice dismissed gripes about fairness as \u201cinaccurate\u201d and part of a \u201cdouble standard.\u201d The director of the White House domestic policy council,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.belfercenter.org\/publication\/former-un-ambassador-and-national-security-advisor-susan-e-rice-joins-harvard-kennedy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">previously a visiting fellow at Harvard,<\/a> an institution with an untaxed $53 billion endowment, told reporters that \u201cRepublicans didn\u2019t complain when certain small businesses during the pandemic got extraordinary financial relief without having to pay back those loans.\u201d The forgiven federal loans in question, from student loans and from the pandemic, were part of the same principle.<\/p>\n<p>Rice said it \u201cis fantastic\u201d that some individuals were able to repay their loans already, but \u201cthat doesn\u2019t mean that because some people were able to do so, nobody should help those that weren\u2019t. By that logic, we wouldn\u2019t help anybody in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats repeatedly met Republican criticism with the same rebuttal: What about the GOP tax cut? But criticism wasn\u2019t just coming from the right. Jason Furman, the chairman of Barack Obama\u2019s White House Council of Economic Advisors, accused Biden of \u201crecklessly\u201d pouring \u201cgasoline on the inflationary fire that is already burning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoing it while going well beyond one campaign promise ($10K of student loan relief) and breaking another (all proposals paid for) is even worse,\u201d Furman\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jasonfurman\/status\/1562503985529233410\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tweeted.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The White House was eager to highlight the sympathetic cases on Wednesday, the \u201ctypical nurse\u201d who brings home $77,000 a year and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2022\/08\/24\/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-student-loan-relief-for-borrowers-who-need-it-most\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201ctypical construction worker\u201d<\/a>\u00a0who makes $38,000. \u201cBut then why design a policy that would provide up to $40,000 to a married couple making $249,000,\u201d Furman asked.<\/p>\n<p>When RealClearPolitics asked Bharat Ramamurti if forgiving a portion of the federal debt owed by law school and business school graduates was really building from \u201cthe bottom-up and middle-out,\u201d the deputy director of the president\u2019s National Economic Council replied,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2022\/08\/24\/rcps_phil_wegmann_to_wh_why_include_people_with_graduate_and_law_degrees_in_student_debt_relief_plan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cYeah, it is.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/the-master-of-politicizing-schools-says-education-is-too-politicized\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Master of Politicizing Schools Says Education is Too Politicized<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we\u2019ve made clear, nobody in the top 5% of incomes is going to get a single dollar under this proposal,\u201d he said, adding that the administration had \u201cgood data\u201d that high earners \u201cnear the top of the income cutoff are much more likely to be experiencing distress after repayment starts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ramamurti again compared Democrat debt amnesty to the Republican tax cut. \u201cIt is basically the reverse,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2022\/08\/24\/rcps_phil_wegmann_to_wh_why_include_people_with_graduate_and_law_degrees_in_student_debt_relief_plan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he told RCP,<\/a>\u00a0where \u201c15% of the benefits went to people making under $75,000 a year, and 85% went to people making over $75,000 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Education Secretary Miguel Cardona insisted that the aim of Biden\u2019s executive action was to provide pandemic relief. \u201cSpeaking to the fairness question,\u201d he told Fox News, student debt relief was no different than pandemic small business loans. \u201cIt\u2019s about making sure we\u2019re taking care of Americans and investing in our economy and in our people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the people that already paid their student loans, they don\u2019t get anything out of this deal,\u201d asked Peter Doocy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/6311356475112#sp=show-clips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cCorrect,\u201d replied Cardona.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Syndicated with permission from Real Clear Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\">The opinions expressed by contributors and\/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Political Insider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Philip Wegmann for RealClearPolitics After announcing executive action to unilaterally and retroactively wipe away $300 billion in federal student debt, President Biden looked over his shoulder to answer 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