On April 9, the New York Times carried a lead article on student debt. “Biden Announces Student Debt Relief for Millions in Swing-State Pitch.” The subhead read:
During an appearance in Wisconsin, President Biden said 10 million borrowers could see debt relief of at least $5,000. The plan could help rally support among young voters.
Presidents attempting to fulfill campaign promises is nothing new. Presidential candidates campaign hard to secure a position by enduring the world’s longest-ever job interview. Upon winning, they claim a mandate, convince a skeptical Congress that their campaign priorities should become legislative priorities, get bills passed after accepting compromises, and sign them into law in a Rose Garden ceremony.
Many of the nation’s most transformative changes—President Reagan’s tax and immigration laws, President Clinton’s Crime Bill, and President Obama’s Affordable Care Act—went through months of arduous give-and-take. When hurt parties filed suit in federal court, these presidents asked their DOJs to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court and win.
The problem with Biden’s Madison, Wisconsin, announcement was that his plans to retire student aid debt did not follow any of the above steps. He just took it upon himself—like a monarch—to act.
“While a college degree still is a ticket to the middle class, that ticket is becoming much too expensive,” Mr. Biden said during a speech to a small but enthusiastic audience filled with supporters. “Today, too many Americans, especially young people, are saddled with too much debt.”
The lines following the above quote in the Times piece were shocking: “Mr. Biden announced the plan in Madison, Wis., the capital of a critical swing state.” This meant that the reporter didn’t find anything wrong with Biden unilaterally—that is, not having gone through Congressional appropriation—announcing a massive $50 billion program of providing debt relief of $5,000 or more for 10 million borrowers.
The second set of lines was even more shocking.
Mr. Biden’s announcement was a presidential do-over. In the summer of 2022, he put in motion a plan to wipe out $400 billion in student debt for about 43 million borrowers. That was blocked by the Supreme Court, which said he exceeded his authority. In the months since, Mr. Biden has waived small amounts of debt using existing programs. But now he is attempting a larger effort closer to the scale of his first try.
In other words, President Biden has little respect for the Supreme Court. He is daring the judiciary to stop him, which he knows they won’t. Impacted parties have to prove standing to sue, and a friendly judge could throw out a case on standing alone, clearing the way for Biden to implement his election promises using taxpayer dollars.
There have been numerous rumors that President Biden, too mentally frail to run the country, has handed the actual seat of power to former President Obama and a coterie of Obama’s most trusted supporters who never left Washington after 2016. Biden’s actions – in the callous disregard for co-equal branches that Obama nursed – have continued unabated since he took office.
When his Affordable Care Act went through Congressional hell, passing extremely narrowly in a nail-biting finish and surviving narrowly at the Supreme Court, Obama decided that involving the legislative and judicial branches was for JV presidents. Obama then sought to change America bit by bit, either by enacting executive orders or having his agencies make extreme rules with little regard for precedent or the law.
Obama implemented DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) in 2012, a controversial program that allowed illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States as children to defer deportation and receive work authorization for two years, subject to renewal. DACA is an unconstitutional overreach of executive power and encourages illegal immigration – as we have seen during the last three years when Biden opened the floodgates. Each new immigrant thinks that a DACA-type program will help them remain.
In 2012, Obama’s Department of Education changed the rules of borrowing by capping monthly payments for repayment of federal student loans at a percentage of income and offering loan forgiveness after a certain number of years of payments. Called PAYE, this program never went through Congressional approval.
In 2015, Obama announced the REPAYE program, which was even more generous. For the first time, borrowers’ monthly student loan payments would be calculated based on their income and family size. The maximum payment a borrower could make was 10% of discretionary income, the amount of money one earns above the poverty line. If borrowers were low-income or unemployed, they could be eligible for a $0 monthly payment.
In 2015, Obama’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a rule allowing spouses of H-1B visa holders – typically high-tech workers from India and China who are in the process of obtaining employment-based lawful permanent resident status (a Green Card) to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Previously, these spouses were not allowed to work in the United States. However, with the H-4 EAD rule, Obama made millions eligible to work in any job they wished, adding to the labor supply and lowering wages.
Every Obama-era rule is now federal law.
Readers may recall Obama’s 2008 campaign assertions: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Many of us ignored these tall claims as typical Obamaesque hubris. However, we now know that Obama had a plan to change America all along. With Biden, Obama is living out his third term, with both continuing to ignore Congress and the courts and using taxpayer dollars to curry favors and win elections. God Save America!
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. Israeli Missile Has Struck Iran, U.S. Officials Say – BBC
An Israeli missile has struck Iran, two U.S. officials have told the BBC’s U.S. partner CBS News. The U.S. was informed about Israel’s plans to strike, but they did not endorse the action, unnamed officials told some American media outlets.
There’s been a direct denial of a missile attack on Iran from the spokesperson for the country’s National Centre of Cyberspace. Hossein Dalirian said Israel had “only made a failed and humiliating attempt to fly quadcopters [drones], and the quadcopters have also been shot down.”
2. IRGC Commander Suggests Iran May Reconsider Stance On Nukes Amid Israeli Threats – Al Arabiya
Ahmad Haghtalab, the commander of the IRGC unit responsible for safeguarding Iran’s nuclear sites, said that Israeli threats against Iran’s nuclear facilities could prompt a review and potential shift in Iran’s declared nuclear policies.
Iran has always maintained that its nuclear program, a longstanding source of tension with Western powers, is solely for peaceful purposes and denies allegations of seeking nuclear weapons.
3. 8 World Food Program Trucks Cross Into Gaza On New Route – UPI
The first U.N. World Food Program (WFP) trucks since the opening of Israel’s Ashdod port to international humanitarian aid shipments crossed into the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said.
The WFP deliveries came a day after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell accused Israel of being slow to deliver on pledges to boost the amount of aid getting into Gaza amid warnings of looming famine.
4. U.S. Veto Stops UN From Granting Membership Recognizing A Palestinian State – Reuters
The United States vetoed a draft resolution that recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership” of the UN.
Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the council:
The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties.
5. Zelenskiy Calls For More Air Defenses After Deadly Ukraine Strike – RFE/RL
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has again appealed to Western allies and partners to urgently supply his embattled country with more air defense systems following more deadly Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure.
Ukraine has been pleading for months for more air defenses as it grapples with increasingly intense Russian air strikes on its infrastructure while its stocks of weapons and ammunition dwindle as critical U.S. aid remains stuck in Congress.
6. CIA Warns Ukraine Could Lose War This Year Without Fresh Aid – AFP
The grim warning by the CIA chief, Bill Burns, came as the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine that Republican lawmakers have held up for months.
“There is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024, or at least put Putin in a position where he could dictate the terms of a political settlement,” he said, referring to Russia’s president.
7. Germany Arrests 2 Over Spying On U.S. Bases For Russia – UPI
Two men with dual German-Russian citizenship were arrested in a suspected plot to sabotage two U.S. military bases in the country in connection with its support of Ukraine, prosecutors said.
Dieter S and Alexander J were arrested last week, and their homes and offices were raided. Alexander J has been suspected of supporting Dieter S since March. Prosecutors said Dieter S had contact with a “person who is connected to the Russian secret service” since last October.
8. Russia Declares German Foundation ‘Undesirable’ – D.W.
Moscow has blacklisted the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, a free-market think-tank, as “undesirable,” essentially banning it. The designation puts Russian citizens at risk of criminal prosecution should they have contact with such organizations.
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation joins think tanks tied to Berlin’s other ruling coalition partners — the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens — in being banned by the Kremlin. The organization said it was a sign of Russia’s “threat to civil and human rights.”
9. China Denounces U.S. Shipbuilding Probe As Politically Motivated ‘Mistake’ – UPI
China called on the United States to end its investigation into its shipbuilding industry, denouncing the probe as a politically motivated “mistake.”
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai launched the investigation after reviewing a petition filed by five national labor unions accusing China of employing non-market policies far more aggressive and interventionist than those employed by any other country to dominate the global shipbuilding, maritime, and logistics sector.
10. Wall Street Channeled Billions To Blacklisted China Firms: U.S. Probe – Nikkei Asia
Major U.S. financial institutions helped steer billions of dollars into Chinese companies blacklisted for their association with China’s military or alleged human rights abuses, a congressional committee investigation has found.
A report compiled by a House committee in charge of crafting strategies to counter China found that $6.5 billion was funneled last year through index funds to 63 Chinese companies blacklisted or red-flagged by the U.S. government.
11. China Bans Uyghurs From Using Social Media Apps – RFA
Authorities in Xinjiang have banned Uyghurs from using social media apps, including Chinese-owned TikTok, and tools to circumvent censorship, according to a video released by Chinese police.
According to the video, violators face arrest, a fine of 15,000 yuan, or $2,100, and a 40-point deduction under China’s social credit system, which affects people’s access to credit and business opportunities.
Experts say this could be the beginning of another major crackdown on the region’s 11 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs.
12. Apple Removes WhatsApp, Threads From Its App Store In China – Reuters
Bloomberg reported that Apple has removed Meta-owned WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China following an order from the country’s top internet regulator.
Beijing engages in some of the world’s most extensive internet censorship, with web users in mainland China unable to access everything from Google to many foreign apps without using a virtual private network.
Apple said in a statement, “We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”
13. Japan Begins Release Of 5th Batch Of Fukushima Treated Water – Kyodo News
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. will discharge 7,800 tons of water through May 7 in the first discharge of the current fiscal year, which began this month.
Since the operation started on Aug. 24 last year, about 31,200 tons have been released despite opposition from China, Russia, and local fishermen due to concerns over safety, health issues, and tarnishing the reputation of local seafood.
China has placed an import ban on all seafood products from Japan in response to the discharges.
14. UAE: Dubai Scrambles To Resume Flights After Deadly Floods – D.W.
Unprecedented floods hit the desert country this week, killing at least one and bringing Dubai city to a standstill.
Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, partially resumed flights on Thursday for the first time since the major storm hit the city and other UAE areas on Tuesday.
The storm saw a year’s rainfall in a day, with the state news agency WAM calling it “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949.”
15. Argentina Formally Asks To Become ‘Global Partner’ Of NATO – Buenos Aires Times
Argentina has formally applied to partner with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), underlining the nation’s new geopolitical realignment under President Javier Milei.
Defense Minister Luis Petri said he had presented NATO authorities with a “letter of intent” for the country to become a “global partner” of the military alliance. Only Colombia achieved that status among Latin American nations in 2018.
16. Mentally Challenging Work May Guard Against Memory And Thinking Declines – HealthDay
Researchers reported in the journal Neurology that the harder your brain works on the job, the less likely you are to have memory and thinking problems later in life.
About 42% of people with jobs involving little brain work had developed mild cognitive impairment, the first step on the path to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. But only 27% of those with jobs demanding lots of brain power had developed mild cognitive impairment, results show.
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
