• Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    “These 35,000 borrowers approved for forgiveness today are public service workers - teachers, law enforcement officials, and first responders who have dedicated their lives to strengthening their communities and because of the fixes we made to Public Service Loan Program Forgiveness, they will now have more breathing room to support themselves and their families,” President Joe Biden said in a White House statement.

    Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

    What about the rest of the US? Biden made sure again to take care of police first.

    • DessertStorms@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 years ago

      teachers, law enforcement officials, and first responders who have dedicated their lives to strengthening their communities

      One of these things is not like the others, one of these things does the exact opposite of “strengthening their communities”…

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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        2 years ago

        First responders also includes firefighters and paramedics.

        Don’t let your broad-brush hatred of cops blind you to things of value.

        • DessertStorms@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 years ago

          teachers, law enforcement officials, and first responders who have dedicated their lives to strengthening their communities

          Don’t let your boot licking reflexes blind you to what is actually being said

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        92% of student loan debt is publicly owned through the Department of Education. This department can - and periodically does - write off loans as bad debt for a variety of reasons. And the policies used to determine when the department writes of the loan are set by the department itself.

        However, the funding for new loans is derived in large part from the repayment of old debt. So the DoEd could scratch it’s trillion dollar balance off, but would then have this massive liability to the US Treasury with no way to pay it back (not unlike a bunch of the failed private banks during the 2008 crash). And, of course, no new loans would be forthcoming, forcing borrowers into the private lending market (where rates get into the double digits).

        There are legalistic end runs Congress or the Treasury could do to avert this. But Dems blocked debt relief in 2009 and then again in 2017. The GOP is openly hostile to any kind of student debt relief, so they’re no help. And the Treasury is just independent enough to tell DoEd to piss up a rope, while backchanneling aid to Silicon Valley Bank and other failed private lenders.

        So, it’s complicated. But also, it’s only not possible because we choose to exclusively bail out the Tech/Auto/Finance/Real Estate sectors and leave Education high and dry.