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Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 9:41 pm
by Chris OConnor
I don't dare make a post about this topic on Facebook, or my liberal family and friends will get all up in arms. But where the hell does Biden get the idea that he has the legal right to forgive billions of dollars in student loans, with the wave of his pen? He is clearly attemping to buy votes in the upcoming election. And that's disgusting behavior.
Any debt forgiven is not just magically erased, but is paid for by someone else. How is it fair that millions of people have worked hard and paid off their student loans, myself included, but now Biden is going to give billions of dollars away to forgive current borrowers? I feel microeconomics and macroeconomics should be required coures for all highschool students. The US is massively in debt so why the heck are we even considering something like this?
Re: Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 10:16 pm
by Jim Watters
Any large use of taxpayer funds needs to go through congress. The Biden Admin knew this well. But now that it was struck down by SCOTUS, Biden (and others) are blaming "MAGA republicans" in the Supreme Court.
This is the playbook - promise something you know you can't give, then blame the other tribe to stoke up anger.
Same for "Reparations" and the war against LGBTQ+ and other wokeness. Anger brings voters to the ballot box.
Re: Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 10:48 pm
by LanDroid
I don't think that's buying votes any more than tax cuts for the rich procure huge campaign donations and many votes. Pols do things to try to increase support. (Lately that doesn't amount to policies so much as attacking the people their followers hate...)
I don't think it has dawned on the average American that a college education is now reserved for the upper class. Unless your family can drop say $50K to $150K per child, the kids will not be able to afford it. Graduating with $50K+ in student debt, then trying to buy a house or start a family doesn't work. Getting rid of that debt makes those hard working folks even more productive.
Regarding restrictions on affirmative action in colleges - if Daddy gets into Harvard, then it's virtually guaranteed all of his progeny will too. Ohhh but nooo thaaat's not affirmative action at aaall, those kids earned a spot by selecting the correct parents! Yes we are a totally colorblind merit based society...
Re: Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 10:52 pm
by Chris OConnor
LanDroid, something definitely needs to be done about the cost of higher education. That's for sure. But Biden pulled this one out of his ass without enough due diligence and bipartisan support. I also have a problem with the tax cuts for the rich, for the exact reason you specified.
Re: Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 4:45 pm
by LanDroid
What do you propose to do about the cost of higher education? Doing something about servicing that debt would likely have the most impact.
Regarding affirmative action:
Before you begin your thinkpiece, the Supreme Court DID NOT strike down Affirmative Action.
Admission preferences for legacies, donors, employee families and special recommendations are still allowed.
The Court struck down Affirmative Action For everyone except WHITE PEOPLE.
- Michael Harriot Twitter 6/29/2023
Activists spurred by affirmative action ruling challenge legacy admissions at Harvard
A civil rights group is challenging legacy admissions at Harvard University, saying the practice discriminates against students of color by giving an unfair boost to the mostly white children of alumni.
The practice of giving priority to the children of alumni has faced growing pushback in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court’s decision ending affirmative action in higher education. The NAACP added its weight behind the effort on Monday, asking more than 1,500 colleges and universities to even the playing field in admissions, including by ending legacy admissions.
7/3/23
https://apnews.com/article/legacy-admis ... 1ff5156875
Re: Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2023 9:43 pm
by DWill
I think Biden has done a decent job as president, overall, and I mean not just relative to Trump, who set the bar so low. But the student debt relief bill was one of his blunders, along with the Afghanistan withdrawal and overcooking the economy with coronavirus relief. Some are saying that his attempt to relieve most students of 10-20K of their student debt was actually a cynical political ploy. I don't know about that, but at least the appearance is there, when you put together a few factors: Biden as recently as Feb. '21 spoke against large-scale loan relief for students, saying the money would be better spent on universal pre-K. Once he got on board with the idea, though, he had to know that the measure had a good chance of being struck down. That likelihood was why Obama didn't go through with his own plan to relieve student debt. Biden has had to assuage the expectations of the left wing of his party, having already disassociated himself from defunding the police and expanding the Supreme Court, along a few other goals of progressives. He gives them student debt relief, but whether or not the executive order goes into effect, he wins. The Court killing it gave him the opportunity to blame the justices and vow to keep on fighting on behalf of these young voters. Plus, no cost to the Treasury. That appearance is a little worse, to me, than buying votes in the common political way. Now several million students who had counted on some help in repaying loans have the rug pulled out from under them.
Re: Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2023 11:32 am
by Chris OConnor
DWill, you said, "I think Biden has done a decent job as president, overall..."
But then you list many of Biden's biggest mistakes. I'm not sure how you feel Biden has done a decent job, with all of these colossal blunders. And you might be right about him knowing fully well his student loan relief would never get approved, but it at least made him look like he cared to his followers. That's another strike against him, in my book.
God, I just want Biden and Trump to go away.
Re: Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:39 pm
by geo
Chris OConnor wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 9:41 pm
But where the hell does Biden get the idea that he has the legal right to forgive billions of dollars in student loans, with the wave of his pen? He is clearly attemping to buy votes in the upcoming election. And that's disgusting behavior.
Biden is trying to buy votes! That's one way of looking at it.
Forget that to some extent both sides try to "buy"votes. Republicans regularly roll out tax cuts and such that benefit GOP supporters, especially big corporations that typically donate money to GOP candidates. I scratch your back, you scratch mine! If Biden is trying to buy votes, it's certainly nothing new in the zero sum game of politics. In recent years, Republicans in several states have gone the extra step of trying to actively suppress votes, throw obstacles in the way of poorer voters who usually vote Democratic.
But just as requiring IDs for voters
can be seen as an effort to safeguard elections (disregarding the fact that most of the new voter laws are in swing states), you can also see that Biden is trying to help Americans who face crushing debt. And that this isn't that much different from the waves of Covid relief we saw during 2020-2022.
So it cuts both ways. I don't much like Biden's attempt to forgive student debt any more than I do seeing taxpayers having to bail out major corporations when the economy takes a downturn. In both instances, poor decision-making is is being rewarded.
Re: Biden is trying to buy votes!
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 1:27 pm
by geo
geo wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:39 pm
Chris OConnor wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 9:41 pm
But where the hell does Biden get the idea that he has the legal right to forgive billions of dollars in student loans, with the wave of his pen? He is clearly attemping to buy votes in the upcoming election. And that's disgusting behavior.
Biden is trying to buy votes! That's one way of looking at it.
Forget that to some extent both sides try to "buy"votes. Republicans regularly roll out tax cuts and such that benefit GOP supporters, especially big corporations that typically donate money to GOP candidates. I scratch your back, you scratch mine! If Biden is trying to buy votes, it's certainly nothing new in the zero sum game of politics. In recent years, Republicans in several states have gone the extra step of trying to actively suppress votes, throw obstacles in the way of poorer voters who usually vote Democratic.
But just as requiring IDs for voters
can be seen as an effort to safeguard elections (disregarding the fact that most of the new voter laws are in swing states), you can also see that Biden is trying to help Americans who face crushing debt. And that this isn't that much different from the waves of Covid relief we saw during 2020-2022.
So it cuts both ways. I don't much like Biden's attempt to forgive student debt any more than I do seeing taxpayers having to bail out major corporations when the economy takes a downturn. In both instances, poor decision-making is is being rewarded. Though for many people, trying to get ahead in life requires an advanced degree. And so it's less of a bad decision than it is a place between a rock and a hard place.