Inside the Beltway: Lasting collateral damage from Biden student-debt program - Washington Times

NEWS AND OPINION:

Political, cultural and economic sages are still looking askance at President Biden’s expensive plan to forgive some student debt. Some call it an unfair burden on taxpayers, others say it will drive up inflation.

But there is another significant but unwanted by-product that could also surface.

“The move is bad on so many other levels. To begin with, it sets a precedent. Forgive student debts? Why not credit card debts? Household mortgages? Heck, let’s have that national debt jubilee the democratic socialists always talk about, and just stop paying on the $30 trillion and change we owe around the world. Why not?” asks an Issues & Insights editorial.

“The fact is, an elemental part of our economy is debt. Debt is a pledge to repay what you owe. It is a responsibility. It’s why people can buy cars and homes. Biden dents this system of trust with his decision to favor one group of debtors over all others and allowing them to abrogate their responsibility to repay their debts,” the editorial continued.

“Then there’s the sheer cost: $311 billion, or roughly three times the annual budget for the Department of Education. Biden has already cancelled $32 billion in debt for some 1.6 million people. Now he’s increasing that cost 10-fold, at a time when the current deficit is expected to exceed $1 trillion for the third year in a row,” it said.

“It’s a terrible move by Biden, supported by the extreme-leftist Democrats who now control Congress. So why do it? Their real aim is to win seats for Democrats from gullible voters in the midterm elections, now just three months away. It’s a shameful display of fiscal irresponsibility and faux-egalitarianism, and yet another big reason why voters should throw the bums out,” the editorial later continued.

NOW THERE’S A THOUGHT

Here’s a few more thoughts regarding President Biden’s aforementioned solution to student debt, which he made public after spending some downtime in Delaware and South Carolina. Mr. Biden also managed to appear at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser on Thursday as well.

“By my count, this is Biden’s 49th visit to Delaware as president. Brings the number of days there to 150,” tweeted Mark Knoller, a former White House correspondent for CBS News who has meticulously tracked the travel patterns of Mr. Biden, plus the three presidents who have preceded him.

The vacation, the fundraiser — this is just normal for the White House, say some.

“In typical Biden fashion, instead of fixing the multiple crises he created, he comes back from weeks of vacation only to hobnob with liberal elites. If only Biden was as focused on serving hardworking Americans and families as he was on planning his vacations,” said Republican National Committee spokesperson Emma Vaughn in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

THE PERSISTENT SHIFT

Eli Yokley, a Morning Consult analyst, is tracking some of the nuances among the voting public which might prompt political strategists to pay more attention to shifting trends.

“The share of the electorate identifying as ‘very liberal,’ ‘liberal’ or ‘somewhat liberal’ on a seven-point scale has dropped over the past five years, from 34% to 27%. The decline in liberal self-identification has not led to a major increase in conservative alignment, the most prominent ideology in U.S. politics,” Mr. Yokley wrote in his report, based on multiple political polls.

“When it comes to the two major parties, the data paints a crisp picture of asymmetrical polarization. Even as Democratic voters drift toward the middle, the data shows that the Republican Party’s adherents are shifting further to the right — and it’s happening quickly,” he said.

“The left is losing the battle for the minds of the American electorate, Morning Consult research shows, with voters decreasingly identifying as liberal in recent years. But that doesn’t mean the country is lurching to the right. Instead, an increase in the share of Americans who identify as moderate, or who are uncertain about where exactly they stand on the ideological spectrum, reveals a growing and electorally decisive center that is discontented with either side’s extremes,” Mr. Yokley noted.

DAYS OF YORE

So it’s been five decades since Watergate? Yes, and the Society of Professional Journalists is marking the moment at MediaFest 22, the organization’s annual convention.

“On the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, join legendary reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein at MediaFest 22 as they discuss the famous investigative story, how they broke it and its lasting impact on journalism,” the organization said in a news release shared with the Beltway.

The society’s annual convention, held in partnership with the Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Association, will take place Oct. 27-30 in the nation’s capital.

The society was founded in 1909; find it at SPJ.org.

WEEKEND REAL ESTATE

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POLL DU JOUR

• 53% of U.S. adults support the U.S. continuing to support Ukraine until all Russian forces are withdrawn from territory claimed by Ukraine.

• 51% support the U.S. providing weapons such as guns and anti-tank weapons to the Ukrainian military.

• 43% support the U.S. sending troops to NATO countries neighboring Ukraine.

• 26% support sending U.S. troops to Ukraine.

• 50% support the U.S. limiting or restricting imports of oil and gas from Russia even if this leads to further price increases.

• 49% say it is more important that we have gas supplies for homes and businesses in U.S. than trying to influence Russia’s presence in Ukraine.

• 21% say sanctions on Russia aren’t worth the economic impact they are having in the U.S. on energy and food prices.

SOURCE: A Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,005 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 16-17.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.

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Inside the Beltway: Lasting collateral damage from Biden student-debt program - Washington Times
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