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150,000 more student loan borrowers to receive debt relief beginning Wednesday (abcnews.go.com)
submitted 8 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
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The impacted borrowers are people enrolled in the SAVE Plan.

The Biden administration will begin automatically relieving student debt for another 153,000 people on Wednesday, bringing the total number of Americans approved for debt relief to nearly 3.9 million.

President Joe Biden will tout the new debt relief in a speech from Los Angeles, and thousands of people will receive an email from the president informing them that they now qualify for relief.

"Congratulations — all or a portion of your federal student loans will be forgiven because you qualify for early loan forgiveness under my Administration's SAVE Plan," the email from the president will read.

The people receiving debt relief beginning Wednesday are those who enrolled in the newest student loan payment plan, called the SAVE Plan, which the Department of Education calls the most affordable plan for the majority of borrowers.

Anyone enrolled in the SAVE Plan who took out less than $12,000 in initial loans and has been paying them down for the past 10 years or more will have them forgiven.

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[-] Xariphon@kbin.social 53 points 8 months ago

Anyone enrolled in the SAVE Plan who took out less than $12,000 in initial loans and has been paying them down for the past 10 years or more will have them forgiven.

It always pisses me off when I see qualifications like this. You know who needs forgiveness? People who got suckered into a lot of fucking debt. You know who needs forgiveness? People who have missed a lot of fucking payments.

Qualifications like this seem designed to make sure relief goes directly to those who need it least every time.

[-] ThisIsNotHim@sopuli.xyz 22 points 8 months ago

The More sweeping forgiveness attempt was blocked.

He seems pretty committed to forgiving whatever he can get through. It wouldn't be unusual to give up after the initial attempt was blocked, but now he seems to be breaking it apart into more manageable chunks. I'm still slightly hopeful that more forgiveness is coming for those who need it.

[-] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

He seems pretty committed to forgiving whatever he can get through

The record really doesn't support that. He could have kept pursuing the sweeping relief under different rationales while also doing these small-scale things, and he could have done more to make sweeping relief more difficult to challenge in court by implementing it closer to when it was announced. The fact that there have been no efforts in that direction makes it seem a lot more likely they're just trying to get as many headlines out of this issue for themselves as they can and don't care who does and doesn't get help at the end of the day.

e; almost goes without saying, but I probably should add that this is still way better than anything we'd see out of any Republican administration

[-] lennybird@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

This sounds really ambiguous. What "different rationales" are you referring to? I'm pretty sure his team of lawyers and advisors have pursued every alternative avenue possible. Warren's recent interview with PSA reflects this. If he wanted to provide blanket coverage before, why wouldn't he try now when it's such an obvious win to rally support from an essential coalition?

[-] EasternLettuce@lemm.ee 2 points 8 months ago

Biden intentionally hinged the entire legal argument for the original relief on the emergency powers granted during the Covid pandemic. An alternative option would have been to pin the legislation to the department of education’s authority over federal student loans

[-] lennybird@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Thanks for giving a specific example. I'm curious why they didn't pursue that route or if they just didn't believe the DoE actually held that authority. At the end of the day, the DoE is still a cabinet-level Department formed under the executive, so I'd assume the thought-process was that the emergency powers under COVID superseded the powers of the DoE?

[-] GiddyGap@lemm.ee 21 points 8 months ago

The Biden admin tried a different approach that included more borrowers, but the Trump SCOTUS and Republicans are doing everything in their power to derail that. They succeeded so far.

[-] XTornado@lemmy.ml 3 points 8 months ago

I mean....maybe I am misunderstansing something... but if they have a small loan of 12k....and in 10 years they haven't been able to repay it yet... to me it seems like they needed help....

[-] DarkThoughts@fedia.io -5 points 8 months ago

It's simply more cost effective this way. He gets more people out of debt for the same value of money.

[-] Coreidan@lemmy.world 0 points 8 months ago

In other words form an illusion he’s helping without actually having to help.

Yes technically he’s helping but he’s helping the people that need help the least. It’s like handing out stimulus checks to people who are already cash rich.

In the end it’s just a big publicity stunt to secure votes. This isn’t what real help looks like.

[-] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 1 points 8 months ago

If the people are indepted then they're clearly not rich, just because they don't have as much of a dept as some other people. And yes, of course it is to secure votes. Welcome to politics 101. The same reason why no country on Earth actually does any meaningful shit against climate change. Because no one would vote for you once they realize what that would actually entail.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 17 points 8 months ago

Looking forward to seeing people bitching about how they didn't get any relief (THANKS, BIDEN!) rather than being happy for those who did.

[-] ptz@dubvee.org 23 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

(I'm not nit-picking you, just building off what you said)

I was eligible for the original forgiveness plan that got cock-blocked, and I was rightfully angry after having that dream smashed. The difference between me and "someone I know IRL who I will not name" is that I'm well aware of where to place the correct blame (hint: not Biden).

Thus far, I have slipped through the additional forgiveness cracks. Am I salty about that? Not in the slightest. I'm in a decent enough position that resuming payments wasn't a huge hardship, but some people are and have since qualified for the watered-down forgiveness plans. Good for them (and I mean that).

But yeah, there are definitely some people blaming the guy who fucking tried to blanket forgive their debt and radio silent on the party they vote for that was responsible for smothering that plan in its crib.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 18 points 8 months ago

The problem is where they place the blame. I have repeatedly been told by people here on Lemmy that Biden promised student loan forgiveness and he didn't deliver, ignoring the fact that SCOTUS, who can block anything he passes, blocked his student loan forgiveness plan.

[-] ptz@dubvee.org 4 points 8 months ago

True. I added an additional sentence to my comment right before I saw your reply which is right there with you.

I have repeatedly been told by people here on Lemmy that Biden promised student loan forgiveness and he didn't deliver,

I can't speak for all of those, but I'm sure you've noticed the same pattern that I have among a handful of accounts . I'd guess a big chunk of those "people" part of the same "Biden bad; don't vote" campaign.

[-] Spiralvortexisalie@lemmy.world -1 points 8 months ago

Biden choose the most controversial way of accomplishing the debt relief plan and has refused to pursue the plan outlined by legal scholars even after his plan failed source. Considering that Biden has long been talking out both sides of his mouth, see his stance on Israel at the moment for a contemporary example, it would appear that he does not want to give the actual relief promised.

[-] khoplex@lemmy.one 6 points 8 months ago

Why not both? I am stoked that some people are getting relief! That said, if we can send billions of dollars to other countries to fund wars, I feel like we can do a little more here at home.

I am fortunate that I am doing okay financially that my loan payments won’t bankrupt me but I know not everyone is in that same position. However if I hadn’t been so close to taking care of other debts before the deferment finally went away things would have gotten uncomfortably right for me and my family.

I am aware that this is a me problem but I feel like with as long as that shit was deferred and with the price gouging that is happening in literally every aspect of life right now I am allowed a little anger towards Biden for not doing more.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

That said, if we can send billions of dollars to other countries to fund wars, I feel like we can do a little more here at home.

Which would be great if Republicans and SCOTUS would allow it.

I am allowed a little anger towards Biden for not doing more.

What more could he do? He got student loan relief passed, SCOTUS struck it down and Republicans took over the house. He's done everything that is in his power to do, which is not much, but at least some people are getting relief.

I'm not going to pretend I'm a big Biden fan, but I just don't think he deserves criticism on this specific issue because he really did try and try hard.

[-] khoplex@lemmy.one 4 points 8 months ago

Which would be great if Republicans and SCOTUS would allow it.

So the excuse then is that he should not waste the effort to try because SCOTUS and the Republicans will shoot it down? I would rather his administration try and fail than to continue just freely giving away our money to fund foreign wars.

What more could he do?

Others have said it more concisely than I have the time or energy to already. As I said I am not irritated that people are getting help, it’s awesome. I am irritated because more can be done, or at least fought for, and it is not happening to the scale it should be.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

He already made the effort. And he did it when he had congress on his side. Now congress is on his side. He can't do this without congress passing a law to help him. They won't do that. You're mad at the wrong person.

[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 5 points 8 months ago

Generally speaking, it isn't the person so much as the party.

However Biden is the antithesis of marshalling his party towards legislative goals. Clyburn, Pelosi, Hoyer were all terrible as a party Whip and Clark appears to be a corporate shell supporting Israel.

So when there is just failure to get the Democratic party to mobilize towards exercising or acquiring the political power to legislate... people get tired of the excuses. Not to mention the past overtures towards Sinema, Manchin, and the repeated calls for strong a Strong Republican Party and Bipartisanship... people are going to place thr blame on the positions of power.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Legislate how? They're a minority in the House and Republicans sure as fuck wouldn't allow a vote on student loan debt relief.

[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 4 points 8 months ago

There are vulnerable Republican House members. We have seen it demonstrated repeatedly with the Speaker shenanigans.

But if we close the scope of the timescale to just 'now' instead of over the last several election cycles it sure looks like an insurmountable challenge.

But if such Republican intransigence is the assumption, then the bipartisanship stance Biden has clung to is a failure strategy that should be abandoned. That as an example would be a step Biden could take to position his Party better legislstively.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

the bipartisanship stance Biden has clung to is a failure strategy that should be abandoned.

Abandoned, nothing. It should never have been tried in the first place.

[-] khoplex@lemmy.one 2 points 8 months ago

He already made the effort.

He doesn’t get off that easy, it required than “okay, well he tried” to get it done.

You're mad at the wrong person.

Homie, I’m mad at them all. Our political landscape is a clown fiesta of a shit show. Biden is not above criticism or being held to the promises he made. 🤷‍♂️

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

Again- what else can he do?

You seem to think the president can just act unilaterally and forgive all student loans when SCOTUS specifically said he can't do that and that congress has to.

The president isn't a king.

[-] rayyy@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

we can send billions of dollars to other countries to fund wars, I feel like we can do a little more here at home.

People have a profound lack of understanding about the "billions of dollars to other countries to fund wars". Honestly, it's like this country has gone full "Idiocracy".

Money is NOT sent to off countries. The "money" provides jobs to people HERE to make weapons and equipment that is sent to countries - it provides good paying jobs here. That's why House Republicans are blocking aid to Ukraine because they want to tank the economy. That is why they will try to shut down the government. That is why they working so hare to create a worsening border crisis.

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 3 points 8 months ago

Like those pallets of US cash sent to Iraq and Afghanistan that magically went missing? What about this? https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-us-aid-ukraine-money-equipment-714688682747

[-] khoplex@lemmy.one -5 points 8 months ago

People have a profound lack of understanding about the "billions of dollars to other countries to fund wars". Honestly, it's like this country has gone full "Idiocracy".

Honey, sweetie, baby, it’s a simplistic way of putting it. I’m sure that raging at strangers on the internet is a good time for you but please take some time to breathe in between so you don’t give yourself an aneurysm.

That's why House Republicans are blocking aid to Ukraine because they want to tank the economy.

Literally not part of the current discussion, but it is no big surprise to anyone what the republicans are doing.

[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

They weren't mad lmao your first reply was incredibly rude and unwarranted

[-] khoplex@lemmy.one -1 points 8 months ago

🤡

[-] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 8 months ago

What a one-dimensional take. I'm very happy more peoples' loans are being forgiven. I'm also not happy that it's been promised/unpromised at every turn for so many. I also don't blame Biden, I blame the whole stupid inept Federal government for hating its citizens so much they'd rather see us all be poor and die than ever actually improve the state of things even a few inches.

[-] Hildegarde@lemmy.world -1 points 8 months ago

It literally costs more to exclude people. Every program Biden has implemented or attempted was designed around offering minimal relief for maximal cost.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

You mean apart from his student loan forgiveness program that would have given people what they wanted but then SCOTUS struck it down and now he would need congress on his side, including Republicans, to pass it again?

[-] Hildegarde@lemmy.world -4 points 8 months ago

You wean the one that required the federal government to spend money on marketing to make sure borrowers knew about the form they needed to fill out in order to allow the government to verify the borrower's income so they could decide whether they were eligible for only $10k? Yes.

Even if it wasn't blocked, it ads so many unnecessary administrative costs instead of just processing a single transaction on every account.

Even before the court's intervention, Biden has shown no interest in doing forgiveness well, neither in the amount foregiven, nor the costs of doing so.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

"Only" $10k. As if $10k in relief is nothing at all.

[-] Hildegarde@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

The cost of forgiveness is not proportional to the value of the relief. $100k costs the same as $10k. The number he chose is arbitrary. It's telling he picked a small one.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 0 points 8 months ago

You must be quite wealthy if you think $10k is not a lot of money to be forgiven.

Also, are your student loan debts really $100k? Because they're around $30k-$40k for most people. I would say 1/3 to 1/4 of the way to being debt free is pretty damn good.

[-] Hildegarde@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Attempting to implement 1/3 to a 1/4 of a policy is failure.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 0 points 8 months ago

You're right. He shouldn't have done anything at all to help anyone if he couldn't give you a pony.

[-] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 8 months ago

The weirdest part of this round of student loan debt forgiveness is, to enter the lottery, according to the article, you have to switch to the SAVE payoff plan?

I've run calculations for several people. Their loan payments would go up from 4x to 8x what they currently are paying if switching to SAVE. So, become loan-repayment-poor in the hope you win the SAVE lottery? Or keep paying off what you can sorta afford without losing the roof over your head?

Hooray for all of those that have won the lottery though! So cool to see people getting relief from that predatory system of uselessness.

[-] gastationsushi@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I have almost qualified for student loan forgiveness so many times I lost count. Same as my wife, same as a lot of borrowers.

Biden is edging forgiveness at this point. Seriously, fuck means testing, fuck neoliberalism.

[-] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 8 months ago

What, you don't like the carrot of relief, a chance to maybe feel like you have a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting ahead, dangled over your head 15 or 20 times over the last few years only to be snatched away every time?

The worst part is it started out from a place (I believe anyway) to genuinely help a lot of people, and now, like most political things, it seems to have been twisted to just cause more infighting.

[-] gastationsushi@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

If they wanted to help people the government would pay for college like they pay for the military. But they would rather prop up this lie where students are led to believe they are borrowing money from banks. When in reality, they are paying money to servicers who lend no money and these same servicers have no obligation to repay student debt back to the treasury.

It's a really hard system to defend the more you learn where this money comes from.

[-] hark@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Add this one to the padded list of biden accomplishments too!

this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
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