So... This Morning, The Biden/Harris "Second Act" -- On The Laudable Student Loans Forgiveness Programs... Gets Underway. Excellent!

As I've mentioned here repeatedly, there is ample authority in the 1965 NEA (part of LBJ's "Great Society" legislation) to allow all the same outcomes, as those at least temporarily sent back to the lower courts by the Supremes last month (see that story here). In addition, although I paid my student loans in full many many years ago, I fully support this notion. Mine came at a time when one could readily land a job that would more than cover the debt payments, plus a very comfortable upper middle class lifestyle, for a young family. That set of circumstances no longer obtains, for most borrowers.

There is nothing noble about locking young people into continual "re-affirmance/forbearance" cycles, often by shady means -- and effectively collecting 25 to 30 per cent of their take home, each month to pay for-profit student loan resellers. This is just a payday lender -- in a nicer suit. It is crippling the US new homebuyer market, as most cannot afford even a starter home, after paying the juice lenders on student debt. If you make less than $125,000 a year, you ought to be considered for complete forgiveness. That is what "one another's keepers" means to me, anyway. Here is today's beginning on it:

. . .The Department of Education (Department) today will begin notifying more than 804,000 borrowers that they have a total of $39 billion in Federal student loans that will be automatically discharged in the coming weeks. In total, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved more than $116.6 billion in student loan forgiveness for more than 3.4 million borrowers.

The forthcoming discharges are a result of fixes implemented by the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure all borrowers have an accurate count of the number of monthly payments that qualify toward forgiveness under income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. These fixes are part of the Department’s commitment to address historical failures in the administration of the Federal student loan program in which qualifying payments made under IDR plans that should have moved borrowers closer to forgiveness were not accounted for. Borrowers are eligible for forgiveness if they have accumulated the equivalent of either 20 or 25 years of qualifying months. . . .

“Student loans were never meant to be a life sentence, but it’s certainly felt that way for borrowers locked out of debt relief they’re eligible for,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Today, the Department of Education will begin to remedy years of administrative failures that effectively denied the promise of loan forgiveness to certain borrowers enrolled in IDR plans. These actions once again demonstrate the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to delivering meaningful debt relief and ensuring federal student loan programs are administered fairly and effectively. . . .”

And I am proud of all of us, collectively -- for not allowing small-minded, clap-trap GOP MAGA forces (actually astro-turfed by the for profit student lending lobby), to rule the roost. Onward, grinning. Be excellent to one another, this weekend!

नमस्ते