Republicans to student loan debtors - ‘Not on our watch’

If this was a college syllabus, the course might be called “How Politicians Work For Themselves 101.”

First lesson: Every two years, midterm elections cause officeholders to loosen up ethical considerations, denounce economic principles, forget history, feign relevance, and often suspend common sense.

Politicians begin promising any and everything to voters, despite the ability or even the aptitude to deliver. The goal is to make the electorate believe that the candidates care deeply, that they empathize with voters’ everyday struggles and are diligently committed to finding solutions.

In fact, all of this is the very reason a candidate wants and deserves to hold office.

What a ploy.

Conversely, candidates also go to great lengths to keep their political rivals from even gaining the appearance of an advantageous position.

The general public, or the focus on the common good, begins to matter far less.

Midterm elections are all about either re-taking or hanging onto the White House for one party or the other, or for gaining crucial leverage in Congress with a few extra House or Senate seats.

Voters are the pathway to do both, of course. But somehow, they begin to take a back seat.

The Biden administration’s much-trumpeted late August announcement of a massive student loan debt relief package appears to be falling victim to this truism.

Just like that, the costly forgiveness plan of the administration - the price tag was initially estimated to be $400 billion - is being retooled and made less sweeping.

Republican attorney generals in six states have filed a lawsuit. Not coincidentally, many of them are running for office in the midterms.

Almost simultaneously, the White House retreated, scaling back the scope of who could benefit. Those with privately held federal student debt that hadn’t been consolidated by

Sept. 29 are no longer eligible for relief.

That nixes about 800,000 borrowers from the plan. Confusion, scams and deflated hopes are building.

President Joe Biden had initially drawn accolades from the 43 million Americans who carry federal student debt.

If you earned less than $150,000, an individual could have $10,000 forgiven. The amount erased would rise to $20,000 for those with Pell grants, for disadvantaged students.

The news brought hope to many who assumed they’d never be able to afford a down payment on a home, or being able to pay for their own children’s college education or to shake free of an extra parttime job to pay down that debt. So much of their paycheck goes to paying off the loans . ...

The American dream got an infusion of hope.

But then, Republicans cried nope, not on our watch . ...

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is rushing to put the application procedures and eligibility rules in place so borrowers can take advantage of the plan, as well as get answers to their questions. Had the duty to get that done earlier slipped someone’s mind? ...

No application existed to apply for the relief by the time the GOP attorney generals in Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, South Carolina and Arkansas filed their lawsuit. The suit seeks to protect the rights of agencies that rely on fees from servicing many of these loans.

In other words, people make money on the fact that others owe college debt . ...

Again, which is best for citizens and the economy long-term? And no, the answer doesn’t take a college degree to determine.