Pelosi rebuffs Schumer's push to get Biden to cancel student debt
Source: Politico
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected efforts by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other progressives to persuade President Joe Biden to unilaterally cancel large amounts of student loan debt, exacerbating a growing rift in the Democratic Party over the issue.
Pelosi said that Biden lacks the executive authority to cancel student loan debt and also questioned the wisdom and fairness of such a policy, which has been a major priority for the left in recent years.
Suppose
your child just decided they, at this time, [do] not want to go to college, but youre paying taxes to forgive somebody elses obligations, Pelosi said during a news conference. You may not be happy about that."
Her remarks stood in sharp contrast to the pressure campaign that Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and other progressives have been organizing for months to persuade Biden to swiftly wipe out the debt for tens of millions of loan borrowers.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/29/pelosi-schume-student-debt-501521
Not passing student loan forgiveness and being weak on climate change will literally make democrats lose in 2024
This is pathetic. Hopefully we get our shit together.
JustAnotherGen
(31,818 posts)NJ 7th - that we and Malinowski fought hard to win in 2018 and keep in 2020 - will be lost if they don't lift the SALT Cap in the reconciliation bill. It didn't exist for 104 years.
It's a good negotiation point.
Fund the IRS.
Go after people who make a million dollars a year.
Lift the SALT Cap - put it back to where it was when we bought our home.
Forgive $10K student loans.
Add in Free Trade School - would really sweeten the pot.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)Magoo48
(4,708 posts)why are they playing at all?
Solidarity is whats needed.
Cancel all student debt now.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)JohnSJ
(92,187 posts)is up to the parliamentarian and Congress, not Biden
The key provision that advocates of cancellation cite comes from the Higher Education Act, which was originally signed in 1965 and has been updated since.
Specifically, the law grants a presidential administration, via the Education Secretary, authority to "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release" government-held federal student loans. Indeed, the Higher Education Act provided the authority for President Donald Trump and Biden to pause student loan debt payments during the coronavirus pandemic.
However, experts disagree on whether the president can authorize widespread debt cancellation through an executive order. Theres enough of a legal question that any move by the president would likely prompt litigation, experts said.
"There are instances of presidents' executive orders being thrown out in the courts because they take actions that were not authorized by laws in the past," said Jason MacDonald, a political scientist at West Virginia University.
The Trump administration saw this kind of judicial pushback with its initial travel ban for people from Muslim-majority countries, MacDonald said.
While modest efforts to roll back student debt might not prompt legal obstacles, "the more ambitiously this authority is used, the greater the possibility of a legal challenge," said Judith Scott-Clayton, a professor of economics and education at Columbia University.
One of the contested issues could be Congress past changes to the Higher Education Act that cited narrow conditions under which student debt may be forgiven. Past federal legislation has addressed debt relief for teachers and workers in the public sector, cases in which schools close before a student earns a degree, and cases of a students death or disability. Its not as clear whether blanket forgiveness would pass legal muster, experts said.
Similarly, the Higher Education Acts authority to "compromise, waive, or release" has typically been used in the past for loans only in unusual circumstances, on a case-by-case basis, and for loans that are not expected to be repaid. Despite many recent graduates heavy debt loans, its not clear that all of their loans would be deemed unpayable.
"Compromise usually is used when someone cannot possibly pay a debt to the government, so the government cuts a deal," said Adam Looney, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Thats very different from mass cancelation."
Meanwhile, a different law, the Federal Claims Collection Act, provides federal agencies with the authority to collect or compromise claims and suspend or terminate collection action.
However, this law "imposes a high standard for when the government can compromise a debt, to narrow circumstances like when the debtor is unable to pay and that inability is verified, or when the cost to collect the debt would be too high to justify the collection." Looney said.
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https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jun/14/can-student-loan-debt-be-canceled-presidents-execu/
As for the assessment that this would cause us to lose in 2024, that assumes this is the only issue people care about, it isnt
George II
(67,782 posts)It wasn't in response to either Schumer's or Warren's comment the day before.
It was a correct expression of her opinion on the matter, and it was totally independent of any other comments recently made (among them Schumer's and Warren's)
Biden is on record as favoring forgiveness of $10,000, and open to going up to $50,000.
What bothers me about this issue is that it's been proposed as a blanket forgiveness, regardless of who still has outstanding debt. There are several members of Congress who are earning $174,000 per year and have outstanding loans from 20+ years ago. Should those be forgiven?
An extreme of that is a member of Congress who is worth almost $30 million and has outstanding debt. Should THAT be forgiven?
What really needs to be done is an assessment of who has outstanding debt, how much it is, and how long ago it was incurred, and base any forgiveness on a combination of those factors.
JohnSJ
(92,187 posts)litigated
There is also no consensus among Democrats on this, and even if the parliamentarian said this could be included in reconciliation if they would have the votes
I am very mixed on this. When people borrow money, they agree to pay it back. This could open up a whole set of issues if this were to happen
This is an interesting discussion of the issue, and it isnt as straight forward as some would like
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/12/11/22167555/biden-student-loan-cancellation-poll
Bayard
(22,063 posts)Which members of Congress are you referring to?
Response to peoli (Original post)
Post removed
George II
(67,782 posts)....in response to Schumer's comments. They were independent of his, and were reiterating her position on this all along.
She did NOT "rebuff" Schumer.
I wish Politico was more responsible in the way the report.
cilla4progress
(24,728 posts)I read her ostensible reason yesterday - that taxpayers shouldn't have to pay your kids' student debt, something like that.
WTF??!!
FoxNewsSucks
(10,429 posts)Including Democrats.
Will I be getting a reimbursement for my paid-off loan and collection fees? Will anyone else? That will create resentment that will be used.
I and many others also get nothing from the monthly child payment, even though I make FAR LESS than $400k. I have no problem with paying property tax to fund public schools, but damn, can't people making 400K buy their own diapers etc without sticking their hand in working people's pockets to help pay for their kids? It's a somewhat separate issue, but shouldn't we be discouraging more population? The planet is over-populated anyway.
They should lower the cost of state universities, and go after scammers like tRump U. And programs like these should be limited to people who actually need help.
choie
(4,111 posts)for getting vaccinated. So what? Why should the fact that someone paid for their student loan prevent others from being forgiven. It's called progress.
cilla4progress
(24,728 posts)Called civilization, community.
Think about it.
SharonClark
(10,014 posts)SharonClark
(10,014 posts)The fastest way for Dems to lose votes is to "forgive" college loans above a minimal amount because people made bad decisions on how to save money (they didn't when they could have), what colleges they choose (the expensive or elite), career choices (that pay very poor salaries), or want to live "high on the hog" NOW.
Any forgiveness should only go to people whose lives are truly harmed by their college loan debt.
George II
(67,782 posts)....still outstanding that need to be addressed.
There are members of congress that have been for 20+ years that still have outstanding student debt. Should we forgive their debt? There's even a congressman with a net worth of about $30M with student debt. Forgive that?
Pobeka
(4,999 posts)Why? -- because we struggled, lived in a crappy house, drove low end cars, lived at the library for free entertainment, did all those things so we could get two children through college and have no debt. And, it wasn't easy -- there were a lot of sacrifices.
There are people who did not live like that, bought expensive houses etc, then took out student loans, (which by the way no one forced them to do,) who could now get them paid off and essentially get a free education when we had to pay full price? Adding insult to injury, I have some of my tax dollars going to pay for their education as well?
There is no way that is a fair deal. It is decidedly unfair.
If college loans are going to be paid off for those who had loans, then also pay people for college expenses who didn't take a loan too. That would be fairer. But even that would not be fair to people who chose not to go to college decades ago because they didn't have the money and chose to not get a loan.
I am not opposed to two things though:
1. Front line health care workers since at least Jan 2020 and have worked through the pandemic, pay any residual student loans for those folks. That's the least we can do.
2. For students who got bad rates on their loans, pay off piece of the loan caused by the unfair rates.
cilla4progress
(24,728 posts)good!
JohnSJ
(92,187 posts)So if Biden did it, I suspect this would eventually be decided by the courts
In addition, there is not a consensus on this among Democrats, or if the votes are there for reconciliation on this
Here is an interesting discussion on this
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/12/11/22167555/biden-student-loan-cancellation-poll
peoli
(3,111 posts)I just clicked it on the front page to get here.
Tarc
(10,476 posts)PSPS
(13,594 posts)Charles Pierce hits the nail on the head, calling Politico "Tiger Beat on the Potomac."
Elessar Zappa
(13,975 posts)would very likely help us in 2022 due to people happy about their debt being erased.
llashram
(6,265 posts)not to the benefit of every student. But a fair compromise nonetheless, I hope. We will not shoot ourselves in the foot? With a crucial election season that is rapidly approaching. We do understand the singular and dare I say historical importance of these mid-terms upcoming. 2024 will still be ours. Biden/Harris know tooth and nail. I have faith in their leadership and experience. It cannot be "business as usual" and hoping for the best. We have to lay their culpability for our domestic and foreign woes both political and military at the fascist and treasonous American enemy's front door. It's a big pile. They cannot distract, lie, divert or sweep away these truths. No matter their spin. 1/6/21.
riversedge
(70,204 posts)mackdaddy
(1,527 posts)Maybe at a minimum charge the Fed rate banks pay.
Apparently the average rate is similar to home mortgage rates, and some private loans going over 10%.
This would be an easy start, and would help people get these loans off their backs much quicker with less push back.
OneCrazyDiamond
(2,031 posts)I think there will be some kind of forgiveness, especially since they want to work in public education. We are banking on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.