Handouts to voters: Although his first attempt at student loan forgiveness was rejected by the Supreme Court in June of last year (Biden v. Nebraska), President Joe Biden seems to feel called to try again. If this attempt were successful, he believes it would not only remove the shackles of decades of debt from a portion of the voting public, but perhaps also force people, filled with a once again grateful spirit, to vote for him. So you can understand why he was so persistent.
That doesn’t make it good policy. The new plan, which would affect around 30 million, uses a different mechanism than last time – it expands existing programs and targets those with high loan balances due to interest – but it would still be to our collective detriment.
“First, the plan targets borrowers who have seen their balances rise due to unpaid interest, seeking to write off up to $20,000 in accrued interest for all borrowers,” he reports ReasonIt’s Emma Camp. “For borrowers enrolled in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan earning up to $120,000 per year, or $240,000 per year for couples, the Department of Education plans to forgive all accrued interest.”
“Biden’s plan would also automatically cancel debt held by people who are eligible for loan forgiveness under an existing plan but have not yet enrolled,” Camp adds. “Considering that all borrowers are eligible to enroll in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, an IDR plan that provides forgiveness after 10 years for those with balances under $12,000, this new change could actually create automatic forgiveness after 10 years for those with small balances.” For those who started paying off college loans 20 years ago (and 25 years for college loans), the Department of Education expects a clean slate.
It’s clear that Biden either doesn’t understand how incentives work or doesn’t care: Colleges and universities have no reason to lower prices if This it becomes the law of the land. Then tuition will become more cumbersome and the vicious cycle will repeat itself again, only with taxpayers paying more than before.
Trump’s abortion quagmire: “On abortion, Trump preferred politics to principles”, we read New York Times today’s headline, referring to the presidential contender’s comments yesterday in which he said he was in favor of states setting their own abortion policies, but that he was largely in favor of exceptions when the mother’s life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest. He also expressed support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. “You have to follow your heart or, in many cases, your religion or your faith,” Trump said. “Do what is right for your family and do what is right for yourself.”
But it’s a little funny that much of the mainstream media – which tends to be strongly pro-legal abortion, with editorial staffs mostly made up of Democratic voters – is Still managing to find a way to insult Trump for it. His comments likely represent the majority of voters, who are uncomfortable with abortion but believe, in general, that it should be allowed during the first trimester and made illegal during the second. The vast majority of voters support the life/health/rape/incest exceptions. And, contrary to the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent decision, the vast majority of voters (even highly religious ones) favor keeping IVF legal.
So, though The New York Times is citing Trump’s 1999 proclamation that he was pro-choice, and comparing that to what he said when he ran for president in 2016, it’s worth noting that Trump has virtually never been a devout Christian and pro-life with principles. They’re thinking of former Vice President Mike Pence. Trump has always paid lip service to evangelical beliefs enough to (somehow) get elected, but these comments should not shock anyone, nor are they egregious to the majority of Americans.
Scenes from New York: Although Curb your enthusiasm— which concluded its 12-season run on Sunday — was set mostly in Los Angeles, feeling like a New York show, especially since Larry David is essentially the most New Yorker who ever lived. Give me my artistic license and enjoy this piece dissecting the show’s bland, “new money” interior. Or this, about how To brake “synthesized HBO’s ’90s comedy pedigree with the ambition and boundless creative freedom of HBO’s blockbusters.” Or this, it’s about the jury nullification plot in the finale.
God bless Larry David, that wonderful “idiot from Brooklyn.”
QUICK SHOTS
- Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase & Co., “said U.S. delays in liquefied natural gas projects were done for ‘political reasons’ to pacify those who believe oil and gas projects should be stopped, a position which he defines as ‘wrong’ and ‘enormously naive’, “for Bloomberg.
- Dave Smith criticizes Coleman Hughes’ Israeli-Palestinian arguments that Hughes made on Joe Rogan’s show.
- “Chuck Searcy spent decades of his life repairing a deadly legacy of America’s war in Vietnam: unexploded ordnance,” he reports The New York Times.
- It will definitely work and will have no unwanted consequences whatsoever:
Boston CRE doom loop vibes.
To combat the lost tax revenue from vacant office buildings, the mayor is proposing a tax increase on office buildings. cc: @arpitrage https://t.co/RnbJZtng6S pic.twitter.com/N3SdMTezBa
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) April 8, 2024
- Chechen authorities have banned music they deem too fast, as well as music they deem too slow.
- Folly:
NEW: Hospitals are integrating race into their procurement policies, balancing the cost and quality of life-saving services with the demographics of the company providing them.
Tldr: Cancer screening companies can lose races if they are not diversified enough.????https://t.co/6fDaufuS9k pic.twitter.com/xypXcnaNml
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) April 8, 2024
They are like people looking at an elephant’s knee through a microscope. “It could be a moon crater, crumpled felt, or a rat’s scrotum. There’s no way to tell.”
It’s an elephant. We can all see the elephant. You’re not smart if you pretend not to see that huge fucking elephant. pic.twitter.com/CJLtjIXxDt—JK Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 8, 2024