With the 2024 elections just around the corner, the Biden administration is attempting to sidestep the Supreme Court and fix the “financial hardship” of some Americans by expanding the president’s already rejected student loan forgiveness program.
“Biden initially attempted to cancel up to $20,000 for an estimated 43 million people with incomes under $125,000,” The Associated Press reports. “After the Supreme Court ruled he overstepped his authority, Biden asked the Education Department to craft a new plan under a different legal basis.”
On Thursday, the Education Department announced a “narrower” proposal, “focusing on several categories of borrowers who could get some or all of their loans canceled,” according to AP.
As President Biden continues to insist that the economy is booming under “Bidenomics,” the Education Department is offering relief to those college-educated borrowers who are facing financial hardship.
“The proposed regulations include automatic relief, up to the entire outstanding federal loan balance, for borrowers who are considered highly likely to be in default in two years,” AP reports.
As progressives are wont to do, the Education Department offers a wide-ranging definition of “financial hardship.”
“Those factors include but are not limited to a person’s relative loan balance and payments compared to their total income,” according to AP. “Other considerations include whether a borrower has high-cost, unavoidable expenses such as paying for childcare or healthcare.”
The administration didn’t bother to estimate how many people could cash in on the “hardship” proposal.
The Associate Press notes:
The draft text was meant to be as expansive as possible within the limits of the law and the court decision, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on conditions they not be identified.
In addition to the list of factors, which also includes age, disability and repayment history, the proposed regulations state that “any other factors of hardship identified by the Secretary” may also be considered. Borrowers may be eligible for relief either automatically or through an application.
“The department’s language around financial hardship amounts to a first draft of the policy, and it could be changed,” the outlet adds. “The proposals are scheduled to be discussed next week when the panel of federal rule-makers meets to debate the details.”
Again, even as the Biden-Harris campaign is boasting on X about “historic economic growth” under the president’s leadership, the Education Department is attempting to assist borrowers with “snowballing interest.”
“Borrowers who have seen their loans grow larger because of snowballing interest would be eligible for up to $10,000 or $20,000 in relief, depending on their income,” according to AP. “The broad goal of this category is to reset borrowers’ loans back to their original balance, but there are some limits.”
Individuals earning as much as a quarter of a million dollars a year could see up to $10,000 of their accrued interest magically disappear.
“It applies only to the amount of money that has piled up beyond the original loan amount,” AP explains, “so a borrower whose current balance is $7,000 higher than the original loan would get $7,000 forgiven.”
And for those who earn less than $125,000 a year — or, as a couple, less than $250,000 — as much as $20,000 could be knocked off their accrued interest.
And then there are those who have been dutifully honoring their commitment and repaying their loans for decades.
Depending on the type of loan, if you’ve been making payments for at least 20 to 25 years, your entire remaining balance could be wiped clean, according to AP.
“Those who entered repayment 20 years ago — on or before July 1, 2005 — would be eligible for full cancellation if they received the loan as an undergraduate student,” it reports. “Those with other types of federal student loans would be eligible if they entered repayment 25 years ago — on or before July 1, 2000.”
Even the ignorant and incompetent can be forgiven.
If a borrower didn’t know about or failed to apply for existing forgiveness programs, they “could automatically get their loans erased under the proposal,” AP states.
“Supporters see it as a way to deliver relief to people who need it most but might struggle with complicated application processes or simply never find out that they’re eligible for help,” it explains.
And if you graduated from a “for-profit college program” and can’t find a job that pays enough for you to comfortably afford your federal student loan payments, the government could just go ahead and cancel that I.O.U. to taxpayers.
“The Education Department plans to judge the value of college programs under a separate initiative known as the Gainful Employment Rule, and borrowers who graduate from programs that don’t deliver value could get their outstanding loans erased,” AP reports. “Borrowers would be eligible for cancellation if, while they attended the program, the average federal student loan payment among graduates was too high compared to their average salary.”
“The ideas we are outlining today will allow us to help struggling borrowers who are experiencing hardships in their lives, and they are part of President Biden’s overall plan to give breathing room to as many student loan borrowers as possible,” Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement, according to the Daily Mail. “It’s an important part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s permanent solutions to the problem of unaffordable loans.”
But according to many on X, the proposal is just an attempt by a poorly polling president to buy votes at taxpayers’ expense:
Trying to buy voters are we?
— General Honest Baloney (@honestbaloney) February 15, 2024
More thievery from American taxpayers.
— Charles X Proxy™ (@Charlemagne0814) February 16, 2024
Aka use your tax dollars to buy votes
— C (@capital_punx) February 16, 2024
Saw the polls needs to buy more votes
— phil (@PhilNoNumbers) February 15, 2024
If I was performing, and polling, that poorly, I’d be looking to buy votes too.
— R.J. Kendall (@RJ_Kendall) February 15, 2024
As one X user put it: “Scammers gonna scam.”
Scammers gonna scam ♀️
— AnnMarie (@amcontheshore) February 15, 2024
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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