Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Student Loans

There's a pretty interesting piece today on Jacobinmag.com. https://www.jacobinmag.com/author/christof-rindlisbacher) It encourages Biden to totally wipe out student debt by executive order as one of his first acts as president. There have been other similar ideas floated around, and especially since the Senate is almost certainly going to be under Republican control.

There are a few reasons why something like this would be a good idea. Firstly, it would be a gesture to the base of the Democratic Party. Now, we can argue all we want about whether the country is center-right, center-left, or whatever. But in my mind, the party's base is definitely some combination of Black and Left. Joseph Biden would not be president-elect without progressives voting overwhelmingly for him. And all the moderates that lost their Senate and House races were not for lack of votes from the base; rather, they were abandoned by centrists and the elusive swing voters that the party has been chasing. In any case, this is something Biden could do that would be enthusiastically embraced by the base without (I hope) turning off the centrists.

Plus, it is the right thing to do. And it would be economically stimulative.

Finally, it would be something to kind of dare the Supreme Court to overturn. Since we are in an environment where the Court has become just another political branch, it is a good issue to show whose side SCOTUS is really on. I understand Biden's tendency toward compromise. It is part of his brand. But there are a few areas where throwing down the gauntlet would be worth it (immigration is another). Eliminating student debt would be a good start.



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