President Joseph Biden

[GwynnInTheHall]

I think student loan debt is a huge issue for the country, and I think this is the stupidest band aid we could have come up with. It's a near useless soundbyte that solves next to nothing. Pretty pissed about it.

Agreed, though I like the intent--the actual solution they chose is, as you've said, a band aid. If every other debt can be absolved through bankruptcy (both corporate and private individual) Student loans should be no different. Yes that means some people would intentionally use bankruptcy to get out of paying or an education, but why is that any worse than getting credit Card debt removed for thousands and being able to keep what you bought with it?

[heyelander]

I think there's a lot that goes into it...

The need to get a degree to get most jobs
The rising cost of college
decreased state funding for higher education
the fact that we build prisons 10 times more often than new universities
shitty for profit schools that charge more and educate and graduate less
extortionist interest rates for students who can't get other loans or grants
housing costs and high rental prices that make just living nearly impossible for new graduates let alone paying off loans
the last one has about 15 sub-sections for why housing and rentals are so expensive.

But no, apparently our choices to fix it are a) give 10K in debt relief or b) make fun of the educated elite and act like they are all entitled lazy shits.

[Teenwolf]

I wonder to myself how impactful it is to be on 60 Minutes these days. Seems like a dated show that certainly doesnt get the viewership it once did, and you sure as hell arent getting in front of the young voters who can swing an election - only the older voters who generally have their minds made up. I guess doing it old-school is on brand for Biden anyway.

Side note: I feel like the student loan forgiveness thing is one of the watershed "good for the GOP moments" of this presidency. Typical Biden throw more money at a problem instead of trying to actually solve it. Sorry for the mini-rant - I must be in a mood because i never post politics here.

Facts don't care about your feelings.

Biden's polling numbers have skyrocketed since the announcement of student debt relief. Especially with his weakest demographic, young voters, where he's up 8-11 pts in 1 month.

In an environment where Republicans constantly talk about how much Trump improved their personal finances as justification for voting for him, giving $10k-$20k directly to tens of millions of educated Republicans... how can that hurt him?

I agree that he should and could go much further, on student debt relief and especially on marijuana. But I'm not about to spit on legitimate help for people drowning in debt. It's a great step in the right direction, both for what needs to be done to help people in need and for the Dems electoral chances.

The polls I mentioned are discussed here starting at 3 mins.

[chancellor]

I think there's a lot that goes into it...

The need to get a degree to get most jobs
The rising cost of college
decreased state funding for higher education
the fact that we build prisons 10 times more often than new universities
shitty for profit schools that charge more and educate and graduate less
extortionist interest rates for students who can't get other loans or grants
housing costs and high rental prices that make just living nearly impossible for new graduates let alone paying off loans
the last one has about 15 sub-sections for why housing and rentals are so expensive.

But no, apparently our choices to fix it are a) give 10K in debt relief or b) make fun of the educated elite and act like they are all entitled lazy shits.

You left off an important one that even GITH and I agree on: the inability to discharge student loans in bankruptcy.

[heyelander]

You left off an important one that even GITH and I agree on: the inability to discharge student loans in bankruptcy.

Oh, for sure... I guess I would like to make that a rare occurrence by mitigating the other problems rather than the default. No reason to tack on a shitty credit score on top of everything else right from the start of your life.

[Sour Masher]

Oh, for sure... I guess I would like to make that a rare occurrence by mitigating the other problems rather than the default. No reason to tack on a shitty credit score on top of everything else right from the start of your life.

All good points--your initial list was spot on. This is a ham-fisted, incomplete response that does nothing to solve the underlying issues that you raise. But fully admitting that, I also don't get how angry it makes people on the right when we subsidize way more in corporate welfare. Despite this not really solving the issue, it does give a lot of relief to millions in debt. And full disclosure, this does not help me or anyone in my family, so this half-hearted "defense" of this move is not motivated by self-interest.

I agree, this move was not the right way to approach this problem. It's just that the numbers suggest this wiped a whole lot of debt from millions, many of whom have been paying for so long that they have paid back their initial loans twice over already. It wasn't the right solution, or even close to it, and maybe the same amount of money could have been used for a better solution, but it was something. I get tired of the way the right weaponizes welfare for the poor when they are so eager to engage in it for the ultra-rich. I wish politicians on both sides spent their energy actually working on real solutions to these problems. But since that will not happen, I see this move as better than nothing, and at least it has gotten people thinking and talking about some of the underlying issues. Who knows, maybe real solutions will come eventually.

[The Feral Slasher]

All good points--your initial list was spot on. This is a ham-fisted, incomplete response that does nothing to solve the underlying issues that you raise. But fully admitting that, I also don't get how angry it makes people on the right when we subsidize way more in corporate welfare. Despite this not really solving the issue, it does give a lot of relief to millions in debt. And full disclosure, this does not help me or anyone in my family, so this half-hearted "defense" of this move is not motivated by self-interest.

I agree, this move was not the right way to approach this problem. It's just that the numbers suggest this wiped a whole lot of debt from millions, many of whom have been paying for so long that they have paid back their initial loans twice over already. It wasn't the right solution, or even close to it, and maybe the same amount of money could have been used for a better solution, but it was something. I get tired of the way the right weaponizes welfare for the poor when they are so eager to engage in it for the ultra-rich. I wish politicians on both sides spent their energy actually working on real solutions to these problems. But since that will not happen, I see this move as better than nothing, and at least it has gotten people thinking and talking about some of the underlying issues. Who knows, maybe real solutions will come eventually.

i mostly agree with you. Heyelanders's post was good. Unfortunately, those are all problems that no one in power thinks are actually problems, or want to fix. Or they have incentive to not fix. Just like our health care system. So this small measure will actually help some people, which is good.

[revo]

I think student loan debt is a huge issue for the country, and I think this is the stupidest bandaid we could have come up with. It's a near useless soundbyte that solves next to nothing. Pretty pissed about it.

Interesting. I wouldn't personally benefit from it yet supported it big time. Then I spoke to my sister and nephew (who's a junior in college) and he told me the $10k would now enable him to go for his Masters degree. My sister still has student loan debt from 20 years ago and also was pretty thankful.

[gcstomp]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...-need-it-most/ link to the fact sheet for the student loan relief.

This was nuanced, carefully structured to make meaningful impact well beyond the 10k, 20k relief for pell grant recipients, with near 90 percent of debt cancellation going towards borrowers whose earnings are under 75k a year. Personal note, I am old, and paid off my student loans within 10 years after college.My wife took 3 decades to pay off, and in total paid original loan off almost 3 times over with interest. This one act cancels the full remaining balance of some 20 million people.

But the key and most important aspect, was Biden removed negative amortization from student loans.
"Cover the borrower’s unpaid monthly interest, so that unlike other existing income-driven repayment plans, no borrower’s loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low." Millions of people who have paid for decades, inc seniors who have paid their loan over multiple times but cant make headway on amount owed, and who had zero hope of ever paying off loans, can now breathe. This is no small thing, and this is a structural game changer way beyond the easy to state 10k, 20k for pell relief.

Racial disparity addressed, this stat from fact sheet "The student debt burden also falls disproportionately on Black borrowers. Twenty years after first enrolling in school, the typical Black borrower who started college in the 1995-96 school year still owed 95% of their original student debt." is entirely due to low income people making payments for decades but the interest never allowing debt to be paid off. Kill Negative amortization, if those who just had their lives freed up with this relief vote, and can now have a chance of building towards a future vote, i would say Biden gained a few points, butmore importantly tensof millions of people had hope restored.

[madducks]

I hope this was just a robbery attempt and not some deranged Trump supporter:


Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer at the couple’s home in San Francisco by a male assailant early Friday morning, law enforcement sources tell CNN.

Pelosi, 82, is expected to make a full recovery, the Democratic speaker’s office said in a statement.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, said the assailant is in custody and a motive is being investigated. The speaker was in Washington at the time of the attack, a spokesperson said.