Staff Reports
In a classic display of judicial sanity, a federal appeals court has put the brakes on President Biden’s latest scheme to sprinkle $500 billion of student debt forgiveness like fairy dust. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came to the rescue with a one-page order that stalls the administration’s Savings on Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, ensuring that at least for now, taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for bad financial decisions of others.
Before anybody could say “Biden bucks,” other courts had already stamped a big red ‘halt’ on parts of this plan. That didn’t stop the administration from jumping the gun and processing some aspects of it because, apparently, the rule of law is just a suggestion when you’re trying to buy votes with taxpayer money.
Federal court blocks Biden’s latest student loan forgiveness planhttps://t.co/ldIhM1Rrr4 pic.twitter.com/LmiwxKr1fC
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) July 19, 2024
States like Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma—led by common sense and conservative leadership—rushed to the courtroom, demanding this fiscal lunacy be paused. They pointed out that this latest attempt was just a sneaky workaround after the president’s first plan to forgive student debt met its well-deserved demise.
The SAVE rule’s fine print reveals all sorts of goodies for loan borrowers: more income shielding, fewer years to qualify for forgiveness, and dodging interest payments. All this generosity, of course, comes out of the taxpayer’s pocket. Because who doesn’t love underwriting someone else’s college education while struggling to pay for their own bills?
On the same day, as if to thumb their nose at the court’s decision, the Biden administration greenlit another round of loan forgiveness—$1.2 billion for 35,000 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This scheme has been kicking around since 2007, offering windfalls to teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public servants who slog through 120 qualifying payments.
However, none of this is new territory for Biden. The Supreme Court told him in no uncertain terms back in 2022 that he couldn’t just wave a magic wand and forgive loans willy-nilly. The 6-3 ruling was a clear message: the executive branch, particularly the secretary of education, doesn’t have the jurisdiction to cancel student debt.
Not to be outdone, Texas, South Carolina, and Alaska have joined the charge, asking the Supreme Court to slap down the SAVE plan once and for all. Lower courts in Kansas and Missouri have already given the president’s harebrained idea a reality check by issuing injunctions. But in a twist, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to partially greenlight the plan because why not keep this circus going?
Let’s face it—this is one battle far from over. The red states have thrown down the gauntlet, and their filing with the Supreme Court aims to shut down this leftist fantasy of debt forgiveness. The taxpayers can only hope that sanity prevails once again and the courts remember that money doesn’t grow on progressive trees.
