What to expect from the Biden-HArris administration?

[Ibanez]

I don't think (or know) if it'll impact the private loan industry. Only those public loans that are serviced on behalf of the Dept. of Education. There is precedent for unilateral action - Trump signed an EO and suspended payments. Biden could take it a step further and cancel all debt - using the same justification that Trump did. BUT - as a Senator, BIDEN did make it almost impossible for student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy. I'm just spit-balling here and could be completely wrong.

Cancelling $1.3T would bring a major relief to millions of people. But - where does the $$ come from? Where did the $1T come from the stimuluses this year? It's all just made up.

Where does any President get the authority to basically spend $1.3T that isn't already authorized in some form by Congress? Trump's executive order didn't really spend any money (assuming you discount the interest unrealized by not having the payments - but the order didn't say people didn't have to eventually fulfill their commitments). Executive Orders have their place, but I don't see how one would work in this case when Congress hasn't come anywhere close to authorizing paying for everyone's college education. The chaos this would cause, especially considering that it would be blocked in the courts until it could be adjudicated could vastly outweigh the benefits.

I don't know. I'm just saying what Biden and the Dems have been saying.

[Winterborn]

Legality aside, I will be very annoyed if they do a Student Debt cancellation. I skimped and lived like a miser for 5 years to pay off my loans early from college. I could of had a zr1 corvette (or a very good down payment on some land) for what I had in student loans.

[89Hen]

I don't know. I'm just saying what Biden and the Dems have been saying.

Careful Mark, this is how it starts. Before you know it you'll be Dback or Houndy just parroting HuffPo.

[Ibanez]

I don't know. I'm just saying what Biden and the Dems have been saying.

Careful Mark, this is how it starts. Before you know it you'll be Dback or Houndy just parroting HuffPo.

Parroting and Believing are two different things. I can report what they say. I don't have to believe it.

[BDKJMU]

We've elected Grandpa Joe. He'll be a mild, moderate President that will swing the pendulum back from the far right that it's currently at. He isn't going to rock the boat. He's exactly what we needed after the big "Fuck You" that was elected in 2016.
1) He'll put us back in the Paris Accords on Day 1
2) I think he'll use an EO for student debt relief
3) He'll leave Werther's Originals all over the oval office and complain to the Park Service about the squirrels
4) He will do everything he can to distance the administration from any judicial proceeding related to Trump...until he absolutely has to
5) He's going to piss off the squad by not taking on the New Green Deal
6) He'll be a 1 term POTUS.
7) Return DACA to what it was like before Trump
8) End family separation at the border
9) Send every American a birthday card and a check for $3

If Biden is certified the winner, he will enact as much of the New Green Deal as he can (which granted is only a fraction of it) through EOs. He said would ban fracking on federal lands and waters, which represent a very sizable percentage of overall U.S. oil and gas production. Some of that will be contested in court, some of which will be stopped, some of which won't. From the liberal Vox:

Campaign press secretary Jamal Brown told us that Biden has come up with at least 10 executive actions to pursue off the bat:

Requiring aggressive methane pollution limits for new oil and gas operations.

Using the federal government procurement system — which spends $500 billion every year — to drive toward 100 percent clean energy and zero-emissions vehicles.

Ensuring that all US government installations, buildings, and facilities are more efficient and climate-ready, harnessing the purchasing power and supply chains to drive innovation.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation — the fastest growing source of US climate pollution — by preserving and implementing the existing Clean Air Act, and developing rigorous new fuel economy standards aimed at ensuring 100 percent of new light- and medium-duty vehicles will be electrified and annual improvements are made for heavy-duty vehicles.

Doubling down on the liquid fuels of the future, which make agriculture a key part of the solution to climate change. Advanced biofuels, made with materials like switchgrass and algae, can create jobs and new solutions to reduce emissions in planes, oceangoing vessels, and more.

Saving consumers money and reducing emissions through new, aggressive appliance and building efficiency standards.

Committing that every federal infrastructure investment should reduce climate pollution, and require any federal permitting decision to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

Requiring public companies to disclose climate risks and the greenhouse gas emissions in their operations and supply chains.

Protecting biodiversity, slowing extinction rates and helping leverage natural climate solutions by conserving 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030.

Protecting America’s natural treasures by permanently protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other areas impacted by President Trump’s attacks on federal lands and waters, establishing national parks and monuments that reflect America’s natural heritage, banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters, modifying royalties to account for climate costs, and establishing targeted programs to enhance reforestation and develop renewables on federal lands and waters, with the goal of doubling offshore wind by 2030.

These actions are only a slice of how Biden plans to address climate change, and there may be more. There are also more contentious executive actions Biden could potentially take, like revoking authorization for the Keystone XL pipeline or denying oil and liquefied natural gas export licenses.

https://www.vox.com/21549521/joe-biden- ... ate-runoff

-Family separation at the border was already ended.

[BDKJMU]

Raul said that the pendulum had moved to the far right. What far right agenda has developed? I could just as easily claim Obama moved the pendulum to the far left and Trump brought it back to the center. Neither of us would be correct.

Far might've been an exaggeration but the point remains...Trump moved things further Right than that had been.

Well, you sound like a typical liberal. Any movement to the right is "far right".

[BDKJMU]

I don't think (or know) if it'll impact the private loan industry. Only those public loans that are serviced on behalf of the Dept. of Education. There is precedent for unilateral action - Trump signed an EO and suspended payments. Biden could take it a step further and cancel all debt - using the same justification that Trump did. BUT - as a Senator, BIDEN did make it almost impossible for student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy. I'm just spit-balling here and could be completely wrong.

Cancelling $1.3T would bring a major relief to millions of people. But - where does the $$ come from? Where did the $1T come from the stimuluses this year? It's all just made up.

Where does any President get the authority to basically spend $1.3T that isn't already authorized in some form by Congress? Trump's executive order didn't really spend any money (assuming you discount the interest unrealized by not having the payments - but the order didn't say people didn't have to eventually fulfill their commitments). Executive Orders have their place, but I don't see how one would work in this case when Congress hasn't come anywhere close to authorizing paying for everyone's college education. The chaos this would cause, especially considering that it would be blocked in the courts until it could be adjudicated could vastly outweigh the benefits.

Yeah, anyone who thinks a POTUS can simply spend 1.3 TRILLION with an EO is clueless...

[HI54UNI]

I'm just spitballing here. Anything the Gov't does is going to piss off half the people and be hailed as great by the other half. IIRC, the debt cancellation (any debt relief, really) will come with plans to overhaul public education financing.

Either way - public education financing needs reform. Higher education needs reform.

Student loan debt is primarily a problem brought on by students and their parents. If you can't afford to go to a school, find another that is either lower cost or will offer you money to attend. There are enough lower cost schools and enough grants and scholarships to go around. 89Jr got in to Villanova, W&M, Miami, Vermont, Delaware... he decided to go to Maryland because of the cost savings for us. I can say with certainty that we NEVER pressured him or complained about the money issue prior to his decision. Had he wanted to go to one of those, we would have sucked it up and skimped somewhere else.

Which brings us to problem number two. People prioritize their money differently. I've spent about $500,000 in post-tax dollars on my two kids educations, K through college. That was our choice. We could have sent them to public school and bought a bigger house, drove nicer cars, taken expensive vacations. Our priority was our kids and their education. I get to see a lot of peoples financials in my business. People who make $70,000 a year and have a $40,000 car loan and $200,000 in student loans. My guess is their parents were probably the same way. Expensive house and cars, no savings and then looking for a free education at ANY school to which the can be accepted.

[BDKJMU]

Legality aside, I will be very annoyed if they do a Student Debt cancellation. I skimped and lived like a miser for 5 years to pay off my loans early from college. I could of had a zr1 corvette (or a very good down payment on some land) for what I had in student loans.

Yeah, that's not happening without Congress going along, which I doubt assuming a conk controlled Senate.

You are correct- it would be patently UNFAIR to millions (or tens of millions?) of Americans who took out loans over the decades to pay for post HS educations.

[UNI88]

We've elected Grandpa Joe. He'll be a mild, moderate President that will swing the pendulum back from the far right that it's currently at. He isn't going to rock the boat. He's exactly what we needed after the big "Fuck You" that was elected in 2016.
1) He'll put us back in the Paris Accords on Day 1
2) I think he'll use an EO for student debt relief
3) He'll leave Werther's Originals all over the oval office and complain to the Park Service about the squirrels
4) He will do everything he can to distance the administration from any judicial proceeding related to Trump...until he absolutely has to
5) He's going to piss off the squad by not taking on the New Green Deal
6) He'll be a 1 term POTUS.
7) Return DACA to what it was like before Trump
8) End family separation at the border
9) Send every American a birthday card and a check for $3

If Biden is certified the winner, he will enact as much of the New Green Deal as he can (which granted is only a fraction of it) through EOs. He said would ban fracking on federal lands and waters, which represent a very sizable percentage of overall U.S. oil and gas production. Some of that will be contested in court, some of which will be stopped, some of which won't. From the liberal Vox:

Campaign press secretary Jamal Brown told us that Biden has come up with at least 10 executive actions to pursue off the bat:

Requiring aggressive methane pollution limits for new oil and gas operations.

Using the federal government procurement system — which spends $500 billion every year — to drive toward 100 percent clean energy and zero-emissions vehicles.

Ensuring that all US government installations, buildings, and facilities are more efficient and climate-ready, harnessing the purchasing power and supply chains to drive innovation.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation — the fastest growing source of US climate pollution — by preserving and implementing the existing Clean Air Act, and developing rigorous new fuel economy standards aimed at ensuring 100 percent of new light- and medium-duty vehicles will be electrified and annual improvements are made for heavy-duty vehicles.

Doubling down on the liquid fuels of the future, which make agriculture a key part of the solution to climate change. Advanced biofuels, made with materials like switchgrass and algae, can create jobs and new solutions to reduce emissions in planes, oceangoing vessels, and more.

Saving consumers money and reducing emissions through new, aggressive appliance and building efficiency standards.

Committing that every federal infrastructure investment should reduce climate pollution, and require any federal permitting decision to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

Requiring public companies to disclose climate risks and the greenhouse gas emissions in their operations and supply chains.

Protecting biodiversity, slowing extinction rates and helping leverage natural climate solutions by conserving 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030.

Protecting America’s natural treasures by permanently protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other areas impacted by President Trump’s attacks on federal lands and waters, establishing national parks and monuments that reflect America’s natural heritage, banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters, modifying royalties to account for climate costs, and establishing targeted programs to enhance reforestation and develop renewables on federal lands and waters, with the goal of doubling offshore wind by 2030.

These actions are only a slice of how Biden plans to address climate change, and there may be more. There are also more contentious executive actions Biden could potentially take, like revoking authorization for the Keystone XL pipeline or denying oil and liquefied natural gas export licenses.

https://www.vox.com/21549521/joe-biden- ... ate-runoff

-Family separation at the border was already ended.

How do we know these aren't like Trump's promises to:

• Replace Obamacare
• Build a border wall paid for by Mexico
• Clear the national debt
• Deport all illegal aliens
• Rebuild the nation's infrastructure
• Prosecute Hillary

[Ibanez]

Far might've been an exaggeration but the point remains...Trump moved things further Right than that had been.

Well, you sound like a typical liberal. Any movement to the right is "far right".

There you go. You have nothing of substance to add so you have to start throwing out stereotypes.

[89Hen]

Careful Mark, this is how it starts. Before you know it you'll be Dback or Houndy just parroting HuffPo.

Parroting and Believing are two different things. I can report what they say. I don't have to believe it.

Like I said... this is how it starts.

[Ibanez]

Parroting and Believing are two different things. I can report what they say. I don't have to believe it.

Like I said... this is how it starts.

I'll believe it when I see it. Until then....

[kalm]

Well, you sound like a typical liberal. Any movement to the right is "far right".

There you go. You have nothing of substance to add so you have to start throwing out stereotypes.

Cracker ass liberal!

[89Hen]

You are correct- it would be patently UNFAIR to millions (or tens of millions?) of Americans who took out loans over the decades to pay for post HS educations.

Even more unfair to those of us that didn't.

[89Hen]

Like I said... this is how it starts.

I'll believe it when I see it. Until then....

The problem is, when it happens, you'll be the last to know. Shit, JSO still thinks he's a conservative.

[Ibanez]

Where does any President get the authority to basically spend $1.3T that isn't already authorized in some form by Congress? Trump's executive order didn't really spend any money (assuming you discount the interest unrealized by not having the payments - but the order didn't say people didn't have to eventually fulfill their commitments). Executive Orders have their place, but I don't see how one would work in this case when Congress hasn't come anywhere close to authorizing paying for everyone's college education. The chaos this would cause, especially considering that it would be blocked in the courts until it could be adjudicated could vastly outweigh the benefits.

Yeah, anyone who thinks a POTUS can simply spend 1.3 TRILLION with an EO is clueless...

I think the power comes from the same power Trump used to suspend payments. You can make the argument that if one person can stop payments for a short period time, then you theoretically can stop payments indefinitely. If i'm not mistaken, I read the Sec. of Education has the power to forgive loans. Perhaps that's an avenue Biden could take.

[Ibanez]

If Biden is certified the winner, he will enact as much of the New Green Deal as he can (which granted is only a fraction of it) through EOs. He said would ban fracking on federal lands and waters, which represent a very sizable percentage of overall U.S. oil and gas production. Some of that will be contested in court, some of which will be stopped, some of which won't. From the liberal Vox:

https://www.vox.com/21549521/joe-biden- ... ate-runoff

-Family separation at the border was already ended.

How do we know these aren't like Trump's promises to:

• Replace Obamacare
• Build a border wall paid for by Mexico
• Clear the national debt
• Deport all illegal aliens
• Rebuild the nation's infrastructure
• Prosecute Hillary

People get hung up on this stuff. I like to give BDK and others crap for it b/c it's easy pickings. What a candidate promises on the trail and what they can actually achieve once they have to deal with our government processes are 2 different things.

[GannonFan]

Yeah, anyone who thinks a POTUS can simply spend 1.3 TRILLION with an EO is clueless...

I think the power comes from the same power Trump used to suspend payments. You can make the argument that if one person can stop payments for a short period time, then you theoretically can stop payments indefinitely. If i'm not mistaken, I read the Sec. of Education has the power to forgive loans. Perhaps that's an avenue Biden could take.

Stop payments for a short period of time = little to no cost to the holder of that loan, just the loss of interest payments.
Stop payment on a loan forever = complete cost to that holder of that loan.

Again, for the student loan example, pausing payments for a short time didn't really cost anything. Forgiving the loans forever will costs at least $1.3T that the government is expecting and now won't have. That's a loss of $1.3T dollars. That's 6% of the US GDP in a year. And none of that is authorized by Congress, which is where it has to originate. It may or may not be a good idea to forgive these loans, I'm not debating that, I'm just saying where the decision to spend that money ultimately needs to come from. Your saying the power of the purse can be pilfered by the Executive branch just by the President saying so. Thank goodness Trump didn't realize that or we could very well have a $1.3T border wall with Mexico by now. I assume ultimately paid for by the Mexicans.

[Ibanez]

I think the power comes from the same power Trump used to suspend payments. You can make the argument that if one person can stop payments for a short period time, then you theoretically can stop payments indefinitely. If i'm not mistaken, I read the Sec. of Education has the power to forgive loans. Perhaps that's an avenue Biden could take.

Stop payments for a short period of time = little to no cost to the holder of that loan, just the loss of interest payments.
Stop payment on a loan forever = complete cost to that holder of that loan.

Again, for the student loan example, pausing payments for a short time didn't really cost anything. Forgiving the loans forever will costs at least $1.3T that the government is expecting and now won't have. That's a loss of $1.3T dollars. That's 6% of the US GDP in a year. And none of that is authorized by Congress, which is where it has to originate. It may or may not be a good idea to forgive these loans, I'm not debating that, I'm just saying where the decision to spend that money ultimately needs to come from. Your saying the power of the purse can be pilfered by the Executive branch just by the President saying so. Thank goodness Trump didn't realize that or we could very well have a $1.3T border wall with Mexico by now. I assume ultimately paid for by the Mexicans.

Look up where I said I'm just stating what Biden and the Democrats are saying. I'm not saying the Executive can spend willy-nilly. I'm only saying what the Democrats and Biden have said in the past...hell they've said it today!

In a recent interview with Anand Giridharadas, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer suggested that President-elect Joe Biden should issue significant student loan forgiveness through an executive order, describing a possible FDR-style agenda during Biden’s first 100 days.

“I have a proposal with Elizabeth Warren that the first $50,000 of debt be vanquished,” said Schumer. “And we believe that Joe Biden can do that with the pen as opposed to legislation.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/16/schumer ... order.html

Cancelling student loan debt doesn't solve the problem of high tuition costs. I'm not sure of what their policy would be to prevent student loan debt going out of control.

[GannonFan]

That link you shared with Schumer's quote is basically debt forgiveness for service in non-profits like school, government, etc. Maybe expand it to for profit work. And it would be $10k for each year up to 5 years. Typical, that would be really messy, but hey, that's par for the course for Schumer anymore. And you're right, it does nothing to address the issue of the high cost of tuition. Heck, you could argue that any significant debt forgiveness actually emboldens colleges and students to raise cost and carry more debt because if government's going to forgive it once, it's bound to forgive it again. This problem needs solutions of the size that proper legislation can give you - EO's tend to be really narrow and not broad based in their solution.

[Ibanez]

That link you shared with Schumer's quote is basically debt forgiveness for service in non-profits like school, government, etc. Maybe expand it to for profit work. And it would be $10k for each year up to 5 years. Typical, that would be really messy, but hey, that's par for the course for Schumer anymore. And you're right, it does nothing to address the issue of the high cost of tuition. Heck, you could argue that any significant debt forgiveness actually emboldens colleges and students to raise cost and carry more debt because if government's going to forgive it once, it's bound to forgive it again. This problem needs solutions of the size that proper legislation can give you - EO's tend to be really narrow and not broad based in their solution.

That's just one article, The Squad made comments today as well. I think Biden even made a comment eariler.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/sq ... -loan-debt

"Student loan forgiveness is good, actually," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Monday. "We should also push for tuition-free public colleges to avoid this huge debt bubble from financially decimating ppl every generation. It’s one of the easiest progressive policies to 'pay for,' w/ multiple avenues from a Wall St transaction tax to an ultra-wealth tax to cover it."

Ocasio-Cortez previously introduced legislation alongside Omar, as well as Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would eliminate tuition and fees at all public four-year colleges and universities, and eliminate all $1.6 trillion in student loan debt for 45 million Americans. The proposal would be paid for by a tax on Wall Street speculation, with a 0.5% fee on stock trades; 0.1% bond fee and 0.005% fee on derivatives.

Among other things, gov't back loans are to blame for the high cost of education...that and our money is backed by warm hugs and good feelings instead of anything real.

[GannonFan]

That link you shared with Schumer's quote is basically debt forgiveness for service in non-profits like school, government, etc. Maybe expand it to for profit work. And it would be $10k for each year up to 5 years. Typical, that would be really messy, but hey, that's par for the course for Schumer anymore. And you're right, it does nothing to address the issue of the high cost of tuition. Heck, you could argue that any significant debt forgiveness actually emboldens colleges and students to raise cost and carry more debt because if government's going to forgive it once, it's bound to forgive it again. This problem needs solutions of the size that proper legislation can give you - EO's tend to be really narrow and not broad based in their solution.

That's just one article, The Squad made comments today as well. I think Biden even made a comment eariler.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/sq ... -loan-debt

"Student loan forgiveness is good, actually," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Monday. "We should also push for tuition-free public colleges to avoid this huge debt bubble from financially decimating ppl every generation. It’s one of the easiest progressive policies to 'pay for,' w/ multiple avenues from a Wall St transaction tax to an ultra-wealth tax to cover it."

Ocasio-Cortez previously introduced legislation alongside Omar, as well as Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would eliminate tuition and fees at all public four-year colleges and universities, and eliminate all $1.6 trillion in student loan debt for 45 million Americans. The proposal would be paid for by a tax on Wall Street speculation, with a 0.5% fee on stock trades; 0.1% bond fee and 0.005% fee on derivatives.

Among other things, gov't back loans are to blame for the high cost of education...that and our money is backed by warm hugs and good feelings instead of anything real.

Hey, I'm all in favor of free college, I just wonder 1) if the amount of money you need to do this is even there and 2) are all public 4-colleges going to agree on their costs that need to be covered by such a program. Devil's always in the details. Frankly, though, I would much rather we have a national health care system before we start saying that college should be free, and I don't think we can realistically do both. Unless, as you say, we just print money and say we can now do both.

[Ibanez]

That's just one article, The Squad made comments today as well. I think Biden even made a comment eariler.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/sq ... -loan-debt



Among other things, gov't back loans are to blame for the high cost of education...that and our money is backed by warm hugs and good feelings instead of anything real.

Hey, I'm all in favor of free college, I just wonder 1) if the amount of money you need to do this is even there and 2) are all public 4-colleges going to agree on their costs that need to be covered by such a program. Devil's always in the details. Frankly, though, I would much rather we have a national health care system before we start saying that college should be free, and I don't think we can realistically do both. Unless, as you say, we just print money and say we can now do both.

I saw we print the money, and then at the end of the year do what Kramer says and " write it off." How can that not work?

[GannonFan]

Hey, I'm all in favor of free college, I just wonder 1) if the amount of money you need to do this is even there and 2) are all public 4-colleges going to agree on their costs that need to be covered by such a program. Devil's always in the details. Frankly, though, I would much rather we have a national health care system before we start saying that college should be free, and I don't think we can realistically do both. Unless, as you say, we just print money and say we can now do both.

I saw we print the money, and then at the end of the year do what Kramer says and " write it off." How can that not work?

"Do you even know what duty is?"