The Final Word On Student Loan Debt

You KNEW it was going to end up with SCOTUS, right? I mean, when Biden announced that he was going to wipe some $400 billion off the books, which was basically another lie because he was transferring it to the rest of America, you KNEW that the states weren’t going to go for that.

And they didn’t.

Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments on why the government should and shouldn’t be allowed to wipe away the student loan debt. Initially, the plan is to drop up to $10,000 from anyone making $125,000 a year or less, or with a married filing jointly income of $250,000 or less. If the person had a Pell Grant, they could take up to $20,000 off what they owe.

OK, so that’s the plan, the numbers say that it’s going to cost us (you and me) about $400 billion over the next 30 years. Now, can anyone tell me the last time the government got the estimated cost of anything right? Buhler…Buhler… That’s right. The answer is never. They usually are two to five times below what the final costs are going to be. So, count on paying up to $2 trillion! The good news is, I’ll probably be dead in 30 years!

There are 40 million student loan borrowers in the country that are eligible for at least some forgiveness. If there is a silver lining in this anywhere it’s that 53% of them owe less than $10,000.

But the high court heard arguments Tuesday on two different levels. First there is the lawsuit from two students that have loan debt, but they wouldn’t benefit from all of the provisions. I really expect the high court to deny both of these petitioners their day. One of the students claims that they were denied because back in the day, their parents made too much money to qualify them for any relief. The other says she didn’t qualify because the loan was “privately held”.

The second part of the lawsuit is from six states, mostly in the midwest. They are fighting this on the basis that it’s not loan forgiveness, but rather a loan shift. It will still be paid back, only the US taxpayers will be the ones doing the paying. The fly in the ointment for the Biden administration (among others) is the fact that the President cannot pass new taxes. That requires Congress to get involved. So, if the money is being shifted to the taxpayers, that’s a tax increase. That’s illegal.

Of course, there is the moral aspect to this as well. No one held a gun to the head of these students and told them they HAD to take out a loan in the first place. They were totally free not to accept the terms of the agreement and to walk away. They chose not to do that. Another problem I personally have is that it sets a terrible precedent. If I take out a new mortgage loan on my house now, and decide in two years that I don’t have the money to pay for the loan, can I ask for a bailout? Why not? It’s been given to students because they were dumb enough to take it. Why not me?

And then of course, there is the fact that those are people that chose to get a higher education. It’s not like they were forced to go to college. And they could be forcing people who didn’t go to college to pay their debt. They also are forcing people like me that actually DID go to college, and DID pay back debt, to pay more debt. That’s debt that I frankly, didn’t incur, and shouldn’t have to pay back.

And finally, the straw that will break the camel’s back in this situation is the fact that Biden chose to use the “Emergency Clause”, which isn’t even written for students. It became law because of people serving overseas in the armed services. If they got into trouble paying back a loan because they were serving their country, they could have the loan or a part of it forgiven. It has nothing to do with college students. And of course, the fact that Biden tied it to the COVID pandemic, when he claims is over, and is officially set to end (according to the government) on May 11th. If there is no longer an “emergency”, then why do we need to have loan forgiveness? The students haven’t had to make payments on the loan since Donald Trump incorporated the waiver back in 2020 when the pandemic first hit. Biden keeps kicking the can down the road with extensions on waiving payments.

I would be very surprised by anything less than a 6-3 repudiation of Biden’s attempt to bypass the Constitution and impose a tax on America without Congress’ consent. Mark my words, no one will be getting their student loan debt forgiven. Bet the kids’ college fund on it! You can collect in early July when the ruling is released.

Carry on world…you’re dismiss.

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