The announcement is the latest in a series of loan forgiveness actions by the administration after the Supreme Court last year struck down Biden's much broader plan.

The announcement is the latest in a series of loan forgiveness actions by the administration after the Supreme Court last year struck down Biden’s much broader plan.

In a new wave of student loan forgiveness, the Biden administration is canceling $5 billion in debt for 74,000 borrowers, many of whom worked in public sector jobs for more than a decade.

President Joe Biden said that 44,000 of Friday’s approved borrowers were having their education debt wiped clean after 10 years of public service, and that those borrowers included teachers, nurses and firefighters. Nearly 30,000 borrowers have worked toward repayment for at least 20 years but “never got the relief they earned through income-driven repayment plans,” Biden said in a statement.

It’s the latest round of loan forgiveness efforts after the Supreme Court struck down the White House’s student loan debt relief plan last year. Since the ruling, the White House has launched a series of smaller relief programs.

      • No1@lemmy.world
        824·
        11 months ago

        Weird way to spell constitution. Get congress to do their job, and Biden wouldn’t have to violate the separation of powers to unilaterally try and do things he’s not permitted to do.

        • naught@sh.itjust.works
          10·
          11 months ago

          Honestly an interesting take. The executive has steadily ballooned in its power over the years. Personally I’m glad Biden has the power to at least do this, but would I be happy with Trump or another bad actor having similar latitude in other areas? Tough questions. Of course, these are the same tough questions of checks and balances and federalism that we have been debating since the founding.

          • No1@lemmy.world
            21·
            11 months ago

            That’s exactly it. Everyone cheers it when it’s their guy, without realizing that a relatively weak executive branch is one of the best safeguards we have against tyranny. Expanding that power sounds great for now, but if Trump takes office again, do we want him having the power to spend on whatever he wants without congressional approval?

    • Tolookah
      281·
      11 months ago

      Yes there’s still a lot to go, but that’s still better than $0 of $1.5T, and 74,000 lives have been improved.

    • DessertStorms@kbin.social
      156·
      11 months ago

      Also new student debts being created ever day…
      It’s an amazing thing for those individuals it helped, but unless you stop the system, you’re just shifting the debt on to other people, and the problems it causes on to a future society, not actually fixing anything or improving society in any substantial way.

      • ZombieTheZombieCat@lemmy.world
        10·
        11 months ago

        I guess we should just do nothing then.

        The “argument” that something should be absolutely perfect to warrant taking any kind of action on it, has to be one of the dumbest possible ways of thinking about things.

      • naught@sh.itjust.works
        167·
        11 months ago

        Well I’d rather the doctor drill a hole in my head to relieve brain swelling than have them wait for a MRSA vaccine/cure while I suffer and die

        • DessertStorms@kbin.social
          59·
          11 months ago

          False equivalence much?

          They aren’t even giving people money which they could use, they are deleting debt - an imaginary number on a computer there to hold poor people hostage to benefit the rich.

          Is not having the debt loom over you a huge relief? Of course it is, I’ve been in debt, I know the stress it creates.

          Is it equivalent in urgency or impact to a life threatening medical condition? No. Especially when your solution is to just shift that life threatening condition on to someone else.

          Unless you’re also happy to shift a life threatening condition on to someone else too?

          Either way, it’s the epitome of the “fuck you got mine” mentality, and demonstrates why it’s so fucking easy to placate you people - you only care about your own comfort, not the wellbeing of society.

          • naught@sh.itjust.works
            8·
            11 months ago

            I thought it was an apt metaphor, if an imperfect one. We can issue relief while also working to address the root of the issue, which is also what I was getting at with the analogy. The doctor treats the dangerous symptoms but that doesn’t mean they aren’t also prescribing antibiotics or that other doctors aren’t working for cures etc.

            That is to say, Biden is pulling the emergency release here with his hands tied. Real reform has to come via legislation, but relieving immediate debt is a good thing for those it impacts.

            Also, it shifts the burden onto “someone else”? Don’t these former students pay taxes? I’ll happily relieve their debt with my tax dollars, but again that does not mean I think this is the final solution. It’s merely a band aid

          • Shiggles@sh.itjust.works
            41·
            11 months ago

            That’d only be true if people would have otherwise not taken out their new student loans, which seems highly unlikely.

            Unless you’re worried about the poor wittle loan agencies.