Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases with a single issue: whether the HEROES Act gives the president the power to forgive student debt in an emergency.
But the question is, what’s the emergency?
In August President Biden announced that he would fulfill a campaign promise to pay off student debt. He said he would eliminate $10,000 in student debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year, and $20,000 if they had attended classes on a Pell grant.
Up until then, the Act was used to place a hold on payments and interest accumulation.
If Biden gets the court’s seal of approval, the price tag is estimated to exceed $430 billion, but getting there will be an uphill battle — the administration repeatedly lost in the lower courts, and for good reason.
The general argument against the president’s loan forgiveness scheme is that while the act gives the secretary of education the power to waive or modify student loan laws and regulations, it doesn’t grant the authority to cancel debt altogether.
Justice Elena Kagan sees things differently. She believes that the law is “quite clear” that “this is a bill about what happens when you have an emergency.” Kagan added, “Congress doesn’t get much clearer than that.”
Even assuming that Congress intended the Act to provide for outright debt cancellation during times of emergency, the question then becomes — what’s the emergency?
Oh sure, the administration announced in late January it wouldn’t officially end COVID-19 emergency declarations until May 11, but in reality it’s been over since at least August when Biden set his loan forgiveness wheels in motion.
There are no federal lockdowns. Schools, businesses, and places of worship have been open to the public, and employers are desperate for help to the point of offering premium salaries and even sign-up bonuses.
There is no emergency.
The emergency is over, and it’s been that way for a long time.
Student loan borrowers are free to go forth and seek employment, earn a living, and pay off their loans to their heart’s content.
You wouldn’t have thought so from the complaints, though.
Protesters camped out outside the Supreme Court building Monday night in anticipation of Tuesday’s arguments.
"I really, really care about student debt, not even just for myself," 20-year-old Amanda Smitley, a sophomore at PennWest California equipped with an umbrella and an aluminum blanket, told CNBC.
"I want to live in a world where my future students and maybe future kids won’t have to worry about getting into thousands in debt just because they want to further their education."
Has she considered working her way through school, like generations of Americans have before her?
Another, John Runningen, 22, has $5,000 in student debt. "It’s stopped me from getting a vehicle, from moving out of my parents’ house and helping my parents."
A $5,000 loan did all that? Wait until he finds out how much cars cost … or housing.
Legacy media were just as nonsensical.
Steven Mazie, who covers the Supreme Court for The Economist, was concerned about the court’s poll numbers.
"If the Supreme Court throws out Biden’s student debt relief plan, some 20-30 million Americans are going to look at five or six justices as costing them $10k or $20k," he reported. "That could drive SCOTUS’s popularity still lower."
If he covers the court he should know that the judiciary is the government’s only non-political branch. They have a lifetime appointment. They don’t care about polls.
CNN made another statement lacking a point.
"The fate of Biden’s student loan forgiveness program that would impact scores of borrowers from a wide array of colleges and socioeconomic backgrounds lies in the hands of 9 relatively wealthy people who graduated from a short list of elite private schools," CNN reported.
And some of those justices, like Clarence Thomas, picked themselves up from poverty to ultimately sit on the nation’s highest court.
Conversely, student debt cancellation is a "gift to the rich," argues Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
"Fewer than 15% of Americans hold student loan debt," the Tennessee Republican said.
"And out of that number, 40% of those loans are held by high income earners such as PhDs, doctors, different physicians and lawyers. 10% of that is held by individuals that are lower income earners.
"So this really is what you would call a gift to the rich."
So once again, what’s the emergency?
Besides, the student debtors still haven’t exhausted another avenue to loan forgiveness: use their degrees to find a job, earn a paycheck, and pay off the loan.
No emergency, no problem.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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