Tag: joe biden

Joe Biden’s Incoherent Student Loan Logic

In the hours after Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down his attempt to forgive large amounts of federal student debt, President Joe Biden promised two new actions to ease borrowers’ burdens. The president’s next steps and his rhetoric suggest that little has changed in his flawed logic regarding student loan forgiveness—which has always seemed to have been more about electoral politics than serious policymaking, despite the huge price tag.

Going forward, Biden’s student loan plan will include the two steps announced Friday and one lingering element from his earlier proposal that wasn’t part of the Supreme Court’s review.

First, Biden has invoked a different federal statute in another attempt to unilaterally forgive some student debt. Under powers contained in the Higher Education Act of 1965, Biden intends to direct Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to “compromise, waive, or release loans under certain circumstances.” That will be a federal ruling process, and those tend to take a while—the White House says the first step is a virtual public hearing on July 18—and it is unclear how much debt could be forgiven this way, who would benefit, or what the cost to taxpayers will be.

In the meantime, federal student loan payments will come due again in October after being paused since the COVID-19 emergency was declared in March 2020. But borrowers will be able to ease back into paying what they owe: Biden also announced Friday a 12-month “on-ramp” process during which missed payments will not accrue penalties and won’t result in delinquent borrowers having their credit scores dinged.

When they do restart, those monthly payments will be lower than before the pandemic for many borrowers. That’s due to the third part of Biden’s plan, which caps monthly payments at 5 percent of a borrower’s discretionary income—which the Department of Education defines as income that exceeds 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. In practice, that means a single borrower with no children starts making payments on income that exceeds $20,400. Additionally, outstanding loan balances will be forgiven after 10 years for those who borrowed $12,000 or less, with a maximum payment period of 20 years no matter how much was borrowed.

That part of the plan isn’t new, but the Department of Education finalized those rules on Friday just after the Supreme Court’s ruling. “It will cut monthly payments to zero dollars for millions of low-income borrowers, save all other borrowers at least $1,000 per year,” Cardona promised.

The consequences of capping monthly payments and also capping the length of time a loan can be in repayment should be fairly obvious: A lot of loans will never get paid back in full. “On average, borrowers (current and future) might only expect to repay approximately $0.50 for each dollar they borrow,” the Brookings Institution concluded in an analysis last year.

That’s going to create some major perverse incentives in the already screwed-up student loan marketplace. Brookings warns that Biden’s income-based repayment plan will result in “tuition inflation” and “increased borrowing,” particularly by students in pursuit of “low value, low earning” degrees.

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Joe Biden Says He Wants To Crack Down on ‘Privilege’ in Education. He Once Called UPenn’s President To Get His Granddaughter In.

Shortly after the Supreme Court declared affirmative action college admission policies unconstitutional, President Joe Biden said his administration would direct the Department of Education to scrutinize how “practices like legacy admissions … expand privilege instead of opportunity.”

The department could start by examining how politically connected families like the Bidens get their children into Ivy League schools.

In 2018, Hunter Biden tapped his father and a number of Biden family connections to help get his daughter into the University of Pennsylvania. Text messages and emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop, reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, show how Joe and Hunter Biden worked behind the scenes to get a subpar family member into one of the most selective schools in the country.

Maisy Biden’s college admissions process could raise a number of uncomfortable questions for the president. The saga highlights exactly the kind of “legacy admissions” Biden has slammed. The story also highlights the Biden family’s occasionally shady dealings with the University of Pennsylvania just as congressional Republicans are probing alleged ethical misconduct by both Joe and Hunter Biden.

Maisy Biden was never much of a student. But she had her sights set on the University of Pennsylvania, whose 5.9 percent acceptance rate made it one of the most exclusive schools in the country.

“I applied early decision to Penn today!!” Maisy Biden texted Hunter Biden on October 31.

Just two days later, Maisy asked her father for an update on her application. In the coming months, Hunter and Joe Biden would mount a full-court press on university administrators to get Maisy’s application over the finish line. The Bidens took their case directly to the top: University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann.

On December 13, 2018, the elder Biden texted Hunter that he was “going to try to see [University of Pennsylvania] Pres GUTMANN tomorrow.” Two days later, Joe Biden told Hunter Biden that he “had a great talk with Guttman [sic].”

“Maisy still in the game for regular acceptance. But must do well in class this period. It’s real,” Joe Biden wrote on December 15. “We should talk about tutors etc starting tomorrow.”

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White House cautiously opens the door to study blocking sun’s rays to slow global warming

The White House offered measured support for the idea of studying how to block sunlight from hitting Earth’s surface as a way to limit global warming, in a congressionally mandated report that could help bring efforts once confined to science fiction into the realm of legitimate debate.

The controversial concept known as solar radiation modification is a potentially effective response to fighting climate change, but one that could have unknown side effects stemming from altering the chemical makeup of the atmosphere, some scientists say.

The White House report released late Friday indicates that the Biden administration is open to studying the possibility that altering sunlight might quickly cool the planet. But it added a degree of skepticism by noting that Congress has ordered the review, and the administration said it does not signal any new policy decisions related to a process that is sometimes referred to — or derided as — geoengineering.

“A program of research into the scientific and societal implications of solar radiation modification (SRM) would enable better-informed decisions about the potential risks and benefits of SRM as a component of climate policy, alongside the foundational elements of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and adaptation,” the White House report said. “SRM offers the possibility of cooling the planet significantly on a timescale of a few years.”

Still, the White House said in a statement accompanying the report, “there are no plans underway to establish a comprehensive research program focused on solar radiation modification.”

Skeptically or not, that the White House weighed in on solar experimentation at all is remarkable. The concept has created divisions among experts, with some saying it could be a last line of defense against runaway warming if nations fail to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, while others warn that it could result in an atmospheric substance dependency that, if stopped, could lead to abrupt increases in temperatures.

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Biden Close To Approving Cluster Bombs, Banned In 120 Countries, For Ukraine

President Biden is said to be close to approving controversial cluster munitions for Ukraine. CNN on Friday cites administration sources to say he is “strongly considering” approval of the transfer. 

“Officials told CNN that a final decision is expected soon from the White House, and that if approved, the weapons could be included in a new military aid package to Ukraine as soon as next month,” the report says.

“These would undoubtedly have a significant battlefield impact,” a US official said to the outlet. CNN further acknowledges that “Cluster munitions, which the US has stockpiled in large numbers since phasing them out in 2016, could help fill that gap, officials said.”

The White House would likely receive significant support from bipartisan lawmakers in Congress, given that’s precisely where the initiative to supply Kiev with cluster munitions originated. 

In March a Republican letter to the president chastised the White House’s “reluctance to provide Ukraine the right type and amount of long-range fires and maneuver capability to create.”

That particular letter had been signed by influential, high-level GOP Congress members, including: Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mike Rogers the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

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Biden Admin Stiffing COVID Vaccine-Injured Americans Over Medical Claims

In April 2021, Adele Fox received a single shot of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Within a few hours, the 60-year-old resident of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, started feeling shooting pains in her legs, arms, and neck. The pain didn’t abate over the next few days. Instead, it got worse and was accompanied by nausea and debilitating fatigue.  

Within a few weeks, neurologists affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital diagnosed her with several serious conditions they say were a result of her COVID-19 vaccine, including small-fiber neuropathy (which causes a painful tingling in the extremities) and Sjögren’s Syndrome (which leaves patients pained and fatigued, and in extreme cases, can damage internal organs).  

This shot, which was supposed to get Fox back to normal, instead left her with diminished ability to work and enjoy life. Persistent physical therapy and experimental treatments she’s taken since have done little to alleviate her symptoms.  

“I used to do so much, and now it’s a struggle,” she says. “Sometimes you just get down.” 

With her medical bills mounting and her condition not improving, Fox sought compensation for her damaged health. Federal liability protections prevent the vaccine-injured from directly suing vaccine manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson. Instead, claimants have to go to the federal government for compensation.  

But as Fox would soon learn, the government has two starkly different injury programs for vaccines. One operates like a civil court with a neutral judge, lawyers on both sides, and a guaranteed right of appeal. In recent decades, it has approved about 75% of claims and pays out hundreds of millions of dollars per year.  

The other, which handles COVID-19 vaccines, has rejected almost every claim brought to it, awarding less than $10,000 since the pandemic. And in a nation nearly numb to the pandemic’s toll and its scandals, the program is adding seething frustration atop lasting injury to Fox and people like her in a little reported aftermath to the government’s much criticized performance on vaccines – ranging from erratic booster advice to broad-brush vaccine mandates that cost people their jobs. 

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White House Edits Out Troublesome Reporter From Press Briefing

The White House seems to have edited out footage of Today News Africa reporter Simon Ateba confronting Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Monday with a series of comments that prompted her to threaten to end the briefing altogether.

Ateba again accused Jean-Pierre of refusing to call on him for any questions for months, after the Press Sceretary had claimed that the Biden Administration is “committed to freedom of the press.”

“You’ve been discriminating against me for the past nine months,” Ateba charged, much to the chagrin of the other reporters at the briefing.

“Stop. How is she discriminating?” another reporter intervened, to which Ateba responded “She called on you, she gave you a few questions. Please, allow me to do my job and ask my question.”

Jean-Pierre tried to ignore Ateba and go to aq different reporter for a question, but he refused to be passed over.

Jean-Pierre then stated “If this continues, we’re gonna end the press briefing. If this continues – you’re being incredibly rude. You’re being incredibly rude. You’re talking over your colleagues.”

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White House Routinely Edits Transcripts Of Biden’s Speeches To Make Him Look Coherent

President Joe Biden is a self-described gaffe machine, but you wouldn’t always know that by reading the official White House transcripts of his speeches and remarks.

Sometimes, the transcript throws in a [sic] when Biden misspeaks. Other times, the stenographer adds a bracketed correction to Biden’s error. And every once in a while, the White House just cuts out Biden’s bizarre word salads altogether.

Here’s a slew of examples from official transcripts just this month, found on the Whitehouse.gov website.

“Last summer, I had the honor of bestowing the Presidential Meda- — Medal of Freemon [sic] — Freedom on distinguished Americans …” (June 16, 2023).

“And I’m pleased we’re also joined by x-pay [sic] — xBk, a small venue in Des Moines, Iowa, that’s going be using all upfront pricing for its hundred events at — a year as well …” (June 15, 2023).

“Let me tell you, the Inflation Reduction Act includes $369 billion to comat [sic] — combat climate change …” (June 14, 2023).

“We made clear — they made clear that we’d rather th- — they’d rather threaten the default of the U.S. economy than cut or get rid of, for example, $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies to oil companies who made $200 million [sic] last year — billion. I said ‘million.’ Billion dollars last year …” (June 14, 2023).

“… transgester [sic] Americans — transgender Americans serving in the United States military …” (June 10, 2023)

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Hunter Biden’s 7% Solution: Using Addiction To Excuse Corruption

Below is my column in the Messenger on the use of Hunter Biden’s addiction as the final line of defense to corruption allegations. This week, President Joe Biden is continuing to deny that he had any knowledge of his son’s business dealing despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. In the meantime, pundits are insisting that this is really not a story of millions of dollars being sent to the Biden family from foreign sources or the direct use of Joe Biden to shake down (apparently successfully) a Chinese officials with ties to foreign intelligence. Rather, it is now portrayed as “a story of a father’s love for his son.” In other words, it is just like “On Golden Pond” if the father and child were working together to extract millions in actual gold from the pond. Here is the column:

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1890 story, The Sign of the Four, there is a scene in which Sherlock Holmes prepares to give himself an injection of cocaine in front of a curious Dr. Watson. Holmes explained: “It is cocaine, a seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?” Watson wisely demurred — but the 7% solution has not lost its appeal to others as a diversion.

Last year, I wrote a column suggesting that there was a notable shift among Biden associates and some media figures in addressing the Hunter Biden scandal. In the wake of the release of new evidence of Hunter Biden’s alleged influence-peddling efforts, the Biden team has fully retreated to what I called the “Seven-Percent Solution” to the scandal.

In 2022, I wrote:

“The president and the press have been shifting to a new defense. As the father recently insisted of his son, ‘He fought an addiction problem. He overcame it. He wrote about it.’

“The family and the media have been cultivating the angle for months as they anticipated possible criminal charges. … With possible criminal conduct exposed, all that’s left is the addiction defense.”

One of the most vocal with this recent rollout was former U.S. senator Claire McCaskill (D.-Mo.), who became irate on MSNBC and declared that “Everybody needs to back off!” because Hunter was an addict and “suffering from these diseases.”

Of course, such suffering did not prevent him from allegedly shaking down foreign figures for millions of dollars in exchange for access to his father.

The Biden defense team invoked much the same explanation when confronted with a story about a WhatsApp message that purportedly showed Hunter threatening a Chinese businessman with ties to China’s Communist Party if he did not send Biden millions of dollars. He repeatedly referenced the fact that his father was sitting next to him, and suggested his father would be involved in the threatened response if the money was not transferred.

According to testimony made public last week, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley told the House Ways and Means Committee in May: “[W]e obtained a July 30th, 2017, WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to Henry Zhao, where Hunter Biden wrote: ‘I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.’”

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Joe Biden jokes about having ‘sold a lot of state secrets’ amid alleged Ukrainian bribery scandal

On Friday, President Biden joked that he “sold a lot of state secrets” during a meeting with Prime Minister Modi of the Republic of India, whose comments were made as Biden is actively being accused of taking an illegal bribe from a Ukrainian official. 

President Biden started off the meeting, which included White House senior officials and technology company CEOs, joking to Prime Minister Modi about “sharing” a lot of “very important things.”

“Okay.  We — I was just thanking the — anyway, I started off without you, and I sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things that we shared,” Biden said to Modi.

The meeting focused on the United States’ relationship with India and how the two nations are working together to develop and design new technology, which will include combined-efforts from American astronauts, Indian astronauts, entrepreneurs, scientists, and students.

President Biden announced that the US is “launching a new program between India and America” in which the two countries will innovate new technology that will tackle so-called “climate change.”

“It’s about exploring the universe.  It’s about lifting people out of poverty; curing cancer and other serious diseases; preventing pandemics; and giving our citizens — all our citizens real opportunity,” Biden said during the meeting.

“So my message today is really simple: We’ve got to keep it up, and we have to make sure we aim even higher,” Biden added.

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