The Decision: Student Loan Forgiveness

Here’s why this Leftist supports the Supreme Court overturning President Biden’s “student loan forgiveness” executive order.

Today, the United States Supreme Court struck down President Joseph Biden’s executive order which forgives federally-guaranteed student loans up to a certain dollar figure. Predictably, the reactions to this decision fall strictly along partisan lines.

The current Supreme Court is most certainly the worst and most destructive judicial cabal in my lifetime. Certain members are a disgrace to the concept of “justice.” It’s recent decisions, ranging from gutting women’s reproductive rights and steamrolling over medical privacy to crushing affirmative action in college admissions to rolling back LGBQ protections are appalling. Mind you, these recent decisions come a decade after the Supreme Court ruled on the infamous Citizens United case, which now enables super-PACs (mostly giant corporations, oligarchs, and narrow political special-interest groups) to collar and leash elected officials to campaign money dog bowls. That ruling was the most severe blow to American democracy in decades. The dominos continue to tumble against fairness, equality, and justice — all thanks to hyper-aggressive conservative judicial activism which is openly hostile to the steady progress and monumental advances made during the 20th Century.

There’s also an outrageous irony to at least one conservative jurist caught accepting lavish six-future gifts as a Supreme Court justice. The recent Clarence Thomas scandal exposes a blatant misuse of position and power, worthy of expulsion from the court. Seeing Thomas, a bona fide poster boy of the power of the courts to provide fairness and access to education now ruling against affirmative action and student loan forgiveness demonstrates a harrowing hypocrisy.

However, I do always try to react to every political issue with balance and a willingness to pressure test my admitted biases. We must stop auto-clinging to knee-jerk tribal instincts, which have been so divisive and destructive. I also do adhere to fundamental principles about governance which supersede issues and specifics — including controversial court decisions. In short, one’s political philosophy must be grounded in fundamental principles, which aren’t susceptible to each and every political fight.

Accordingly, I AGREE WITH THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO OVERTURN PRESIDENT BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS.

Let me be clear. Higher education has become a racket. There are a multitude of things wrong with the college system and how we finance education, at all levels. We also have a warped collective view and unrealistic expectations as to what colleges and universities provide to individuals and society, at large. The victims of this broken system tend to be the students themselves, especially working-class and poor students who are forced to take on massive loads of personal debt to finance their education, which tends to be the only avenue they have out of poverty and towards upward mobility. Let’s agree that what’s being done to (mostly) young people is appalling.

So, why not support President Biden’s student loan forgiveness?

The problem is one of implementation — of ways and means. The Executive Branch simply should not (and does not) have the power to enact costly changes to the federal budget, and future budgets, without the direct input and/or support of the Legislative Branch. In short, the power of the purse within our federal system is (rightfully) in the hands of the two bodies of the legislature — the House of Representatives and the Senate. If those authorities passed legislation to forgive student debt, which was then signed into law by the President, there would have been no court case. That would have been entirely constitutional. But, student loan forgiveness, however well-intended, requires a constitutionally-sound process. That process is rooted in two centuries of legal precedent.

Just as I would not want President Donald Trump to have the powers to sign executive orders to satisfy his own political whims, we must apply the exact same standards to President Biden and his actions. Spending an estimated $400 billion of the national treasury, the estimated cost of student loan forgiveness is far too weighty to not be guard-railed with proper checks and balances. Yes, some executive orders are necessary, especially in times of crisis. However, we cannot -and must not- rule the federal system by executive orders. Such a practice is a stepping stone towards authoritarianism, even possibly dictatorship, which is a tag I do not use lightly. The intent isn’t wrong. It’s the process, and the way it happened, that’s wrong here.

Sadly, I doubt many of the people who are upset with this decision will abide by the fundamentals of consistency. I expect they will be guided by narrow self-interests in the same manner religious extremists (conservatives) so often behave so egregiously on the other side. Nonetheless, we must try our best to be consistent and recognize there are much bigger issues in play here. We have *three* branches of government for a good reason. They must co-exist and govern with equal measures of power and authority.

The President does not have the right nor the authority to do what he did, no matter who he is or what you believe. This is a fundamental fact if you are a Constitutionalist.