The Biden administration is canceling student loans for another 160,000 borrowers through a combination of existing programs.

The Education Department announced the latest round of cancellation on Wednesday, saying it will erase $7.7 billion in federal student loans. With the latest action, the administration said it has canceled $167 billion in student debt for nearly 5 million Americans through several programs.

The latest relief will go to borrowers in three categories who hit certain milestones that make them eligible for cancellation. It will go to 54,000 borrowers who are enrolled in Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan, along with 39,000 enrolled in earlier income-driven plans, and about 67,000 who are eligible through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

  • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    The problem with this debt forgiveness by a thousand cuts is spending hours researching it then finding out you arbitrarily don’t qualify because some highly technical reason.

    This technocrated BS isn’t helping any but the lucky few that end up qualifying.

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      The problem with this debt forgiveness by a thousand cuts is spending hours researching it then finding out you arbitrarily don’t qualify because some highly technical reason.

      Are you saying because this doesn’t help everybody then it shouldn’t be allowed to help anybody?

      • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Are you defending a politician’s fix to a broken system with dozens of highly specific and hard to understand reforms?

        If Biden had the choice between one broad fix that was easily communicated vs dozens of micro reforms; I’d prefer the broad reform even if I didn’t personally qualify. Democrats are our only hope and if they stop tripping over their own feet it will be better for everyone.

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Are you defending a politician’s fix to a broken system with dozens of highly specific and hard to understand reforms?

          Are you not informed about the political realities and the limits of power of the Executive branch?

          If Biden had the choice between one broad fix that was easily communicated vs dozens of micro reforms; I’d prefer the broad reform even if I didn’t personally qualify.

          I think we all would, and Biden tried the big broad fix. The Supreme Court shot it down in June of last year:

          Supreme Court strikes down Biden student-loan forgiveness program

          “By a vote of 6-3, the justices ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority last year when it announced that it would cancel up to $400 billion in student loans. The Biden administration had said that as many as 43 million Americans would have benefitted from the loan forgiveness program; almost half of those borrowers would have had all of their student loans forgiven.”

          source

          So instead of doing nothing, Biden is working within the limits of the power he does have to provide student loan forgiveness. Yes its patchwork, yes we’d like a broader application of student loan forgiveness. He tried. Its not in his power.

          • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            The president is the most powerful person in this country. He is explicitly empowered by Congress to forgive student debt. The only actor here that is limited in power is our SCOTUS who constantly over step their bounds, make up judicial theory out of whole cloth, or ignore their own rules.

            How come I never hear the experts say they are limited power in these executive vs judicial debates?

            • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              The president is the most powerful person in this country.

              The office is, yes. It still doesn’t mean he’s an all powerful king. We have power divided into 3rds to provide checks and balances. The Executive is only 1/3rd.

              He is explicitly empowered by Congress to forgive student debt.

              I’d like a citation on that claim.

              The only actor here that is limited in power is our SCOTUS who constantly over step their bounds,

              Then why are you complaining that Biden isn’t doing enough?

              • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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                6 months ago

                He is explicitly empowered by Congress to forgive student debt.

                I’d like a citation on that claim.

                That part is correct, but the Supreme Court will probably make up some fake “major questions” to deny it.

                https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Ltr to Warren re admin debt cancellation.pdf

                Amongst the general powers conferred by Congress to the Secretary in the HEA is the power to “enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand, however acquired, including any equity or any right of redemption.” 20 U.S.C. § 1082(a)(6)

              • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                Funny you bring up a king. Biden is empowered by congress to forgive debt, people broadly support student debt relief. How is forgiving debt acting like a king in this circumstance?

                I think you are confusing the actions of the unelected SCOTUS who routinely takes actions against the will of the people. If Biden wants to stop unilateral actions, he literally needs to fight against this far right SCOTUS.

                Why are you arguing about student debt relief if you don’t know the law that empowers POTUS? It’s cited by Biden himself, but you can google yourself, you might learn something.

                • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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                  6 months ago

                  Biden is empowered by congress to forgive debt

                  I asked for a citation on this. Show me where you’re seeing that please.

                  It’s cited by Biden himself, but you can google yourself, you might learn something.

                  You make the claim, you’ve got to back it up.

                  I think you are confusing the actions of the unelected SCOTUS who routinely takes actions against the will of the people.

                  I’m not a fan of the current make up of the SCOTUS, but its never been their job to represent the “will of the people”. Their job is to interpret laws written by the Legislative Branch and signed into by the Executive.

                  I don’t think you have a good grasp of the basics of our system of government.

                  If Biden wants to stop unilateral actions, he literally needs to fight against this far right SCOTUS.

                  If you’re looking for insurrectionists, you’ll find them on the Conservative side.

                  • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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                    6 months ago

                    When the trifecta of the president, congress, and the voters all disagree with the courts, why can’t they act against them? And who exactly can act against SCOTUS?

                    No liberal or progressive should spend time defending this deeply undemocratic judicial branch.

      • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Do you want debt reform or not?

        Congress empowered the president to forgive debt. The courts ignored standing rules to even take that case and SCOTUS has no power to overrule both congress and the president.

        President’s have ignored SCOTUS before but Biden doesn’t even have to do that. He can forgive debt like he’s doing now but do it broadly and instantaneously.

        If SCOTUS later rules against that broad forgiveness, there’s nothing administratively they can do. No politician D or R would reinstate $.5 trillion in voter debt just to appease the unelected SCOTUS. You can’t put that genie back in the bottle.

        • HubertManne@kbin.social
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          6 months ago

          you realize what your saying is a longer form of what I was right? because your initial question makes it sound like I was saying he should not be doing what I pointed out rather than me pointing out he is doing what he can.

          • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            If you believe forgiving the debt 100k students here and there is reform, then we are in disagreement.

            I think over 100 million student debt holders will need some type of debt forgiveness to actually reform things. That why I push for broad forgiveness.

            And yes Biden can! It’s his administration and admins forgive debt all the time. We are so many liberals in this thread defending SCOTUS?

            • HubertManne@kbin.social
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              6 months ago

              he can’t because he tried and got it blocked so he is working at it as he can based on the ruling. When a ruling like this is made you have to dissect it and see what you can work around that is specified in the ruling. that is what he is doing.

              • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                What are you saying? Biden himself says the ruling is wrong and will do any means possible to forgive student debt. He’s doing that on a minor scale, he can by his own account, do it at a larger scale.

                • HubertManne@kbin.social
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                  6 months ago

                  you make no sense. just because he thinks a ruling is wrong does not mean he does not need to abide by it and he is using any means possible within the law and certainly he meant legally. We know the man that well enough.

                  • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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                    6 months ago
                    1. The ruling is extremely specific, it doesn’t ban all forgiveness
                    2. Biden is doing forgiveness right now and no one says that’s illegal
                    3. He can do more forgiveness, I don’t get what your hangup is. SCOTUS is not his master.
    • azimir@lemmy.ml
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      6 months ago

      This technocrated BS isn’t helping any but the lucky few that end up qualifying. It helped me via the TEPSLF and we got a much more reasonable monthly payment rate for my spouse’s loans. Biden and the members of Congress who moved the TEPSLF program through the legislation is awesome and we should be forgiving these loans en banc so we free up generations of fellow citizens to actually live and grow.

      • hydrospanner@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I mean, I truly am happy for you and your spouse…really, I am, as someone coming up on 40 and still with five figures of student debt.

        That said, you really only responded to the quoted portion by saying in so many words that you’re “the lucky few that ended up qualifying”.

        Which, again, is great!

    • jo3jo3@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      So just stop paying 🤷 I have over 80k and I haven’t paid anything in over a decade. I just don’t care. They can cancel it, or not, makes no difference to me, I’ll never pay anything.

        • ShunkW@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          More than that, they’ll garnish your wages eventually. It happened to me once when I was barely getting by. I had to go to court and show my finances on public record and be humiliated to get them to back off.

              • Kalkaline @leminal.space
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                6 months ago

                Work and live in another country is actually pretty darn good advice if you can get out of this shit hole.

              • jo3jo3@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                No, I’m not giving advice to do anything. The op was frustrated they would not get their loans forgiven, so suggested the possibility of not paying. It’s an option. No payment as a form of protest. And I definitely did not tell anyone to live in a different country… Learn how to read

        • Kumatomic@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          6 months ago

          Yep, they took mine even when they weren’t supposed to anymore for at least two months after I got them dismissed for TPD. When I tried to get back the overpayment they literally told me they can do anything they want and I would never get my money back. They were right. At least they never got the 27k back that was cancelled. Eat shit Nelnet.

        • jo3jo3@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          What social security money? I’ve pretty much never worked in the US, never paid in. I’ve lived outside the US for 16 years now.