Holy Mackerel -- When It Rains, It Pours -- College Loans -- June 30, 2023

Locator: 44846SCOTUS.  

SCOTUS rules against Biden on college loans.

Opinions here.

Update

Later, 5:51 p.m. CT: I was completely wrong. After reading ACB's "explanation,"it turns out it was not a "constitutional question." It was all about the size of the loan forgiveness. On that basis, I think Biden was within his rights. The minority position was probably the correct position. So, now, Biden just comes back with a new executive order trying to guess how "much forgiveness" ABC would accept. That's crazy. 

Original Post

This was a no-brainer. "Everyone" expected this outcome.

Bottom line: presidents don't have authority to increase / decrease taxes // set tax rates // do anything with taxes unilaterally. US constitution clearly states that authority begins with the US House, must be agreed to by the US Senate, and signed by the president. 

Again, it appears three justices don't understand (or don't want to understand) the US constitution. These three keep ruling like they are politicians running for office, not justices appointed for life.

Link here. 

From an earlier post:

College debt forgiveness: link here.

• update here, nothing new.
• apply the law; money should not be an issue.
• if the "new" law passed by Congress gave Biden the authority, Biden wins;
• if the law passed by Congress was unconstitutional --- whoa, Nellie -- or Katie -- bar the doors!
• I have no dog in this fight. If SCOTUS says "okay," it opens the door to a lot of presidential mischief
• and that's fine, if you like presidential mischief.

This is a double whammy for those affected. Folks were "betting on the come," as they say in Vegas, and they "crapped out," as they also say in Vegas. From an earlier post:

I've lost the bubble on this, but if I understand this correctly, there are two college loan issues:

• interest payments on existing federal loans pause / to resume
• federal loan forgiveness, $10,000 (federal loan) to $20,000 (Pell grant)

Known: interest on loans:

• interest payments on federal loans will resume in October, 2023
• interest starts to accrue again in September, 2023
  

Still unknown: full loan/partial loan forgiveness:

• US Supreme Court decision within next month or so
• to decide whether a presidential executive order to grant loan forgiveness is constitutional
• the "betting" is that the US House of Representatives holds the strings to the purse, not the president,
• if so, the President cannot unilaterally cancel federal loans

Regarding interest payments on existing loans:

• first link: Insider: June 15, 2023: interest starts to accrue again in September, 2023; "first" payments begin again, Octobdr, 2023.
• second link, Forbes: May 15, 2023: at that time, still not know when interest payments would resume.

Regarding loan forgiveness, $10,000 to $20,000, US Supreme Court case

• one link, Newsweek: June 15, 2023
  
• it's a political issue
• it's a money issue
• it's a "fairness" issue
• if it's a constitutional issue -- it was not addressed at the Newsweek link, except in passing.
  
• for me, it seems fairly straightforward.

How many affected:

• 20 million students would have their loans erased in their entirety;
• 20 million students would have their loans lowered.