Try, Try Again

Handouts to voters: Though his first attempt at student loan forgiveness was struck down by the Supreme Court in June of last year (Biden v. Nebraska), President Joe Biden apparently feels called to try again. If this attempt went through, it would—to his mind—not only lift the shackles of decades of debt from a chunk of the voting public, but also possibly compel people, filled with newly grateful spirits, to vote for him. So you can understand why he’d be so persistent.

That doesn’t make it good policy. The new plan, which would affect roughly 30 million, uses a different mechanism than last time—it expands programs that already exist, and targets those who have high loan balances due to interest—but it would still be to our collective detriment.

“First, the plan takes aim at borrowers who have seen their balances climb due to unpaid interest, seeking to cancel up to $20,000 of accrued interest for all borrowers,” reports Reason‘s Emma Camp. “For borrowers enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan (IDR) making up to $120,000 a year, or $240,000 a year for couples, the Education Department plans to forgive all accrued interest.”

“Biden’s plan would also automatically cancel debt held by people who are eligible for loan forgiveness under an existing plan but haven’t yet enrolled,” adds Camp. “Considering that all borrowers are eligible to enroll in Saving on a Valuable Education plan (SAVE), an IDR plan that provides forgiveness after 10 years for those with balances under $12,000, this new change could effectively create automatic forgiveness after 10 years for those with small balances.” For those who started paying their undergraduate loans off 20 years ago (and 25 years for graduate loans), the Department of Education plans to wipe the slate clean.

It’s clear that Biden either doesn’t understand how incentives work or doesn’t care: Colleges and universities have no reason to lower their prices if this becomes the law of the land. So tuition will become more bloated, and the vicious cycle will repeat all over again—only with taxpayers on the hook to a greater degree than before.

Trump’s abortion quagmire: “On abortion, Trump chose politics over principles,” reads a New York Times headline from today, referring to the presidential contender’s comments yesterday saying that he’s in favor of states setting their own abortion policies, but that he broadly supports exceptions being made when the mother’s life is endangered or in cases of rape or incest. He also expressed support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. “You must follow your heart, or in many cases, your religion or your faith,” said Trump. “Do what’s right for your family and do what’s right for yourself.”

But it’s a little funny that much of the mainstream media—which tends to be awfully supportive of legal abortion, with newsrooms comprised mostly of Democratic voters—is still managing to find a way to ding Trump over this. His comments probably represent the majority of voters, who are uneasy with abortion but believe, broadly, that it ought to be permitted during the first trimester and made illegal during the second. The vast majority of voters are in favor of life/health/rape/incest exceptions. And, contra the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision, the vast majority of voters (even the highly religious) are in favor of keeping IVF legal.

So, though The New York Times is trotting out Trump’s 1999 proclamation that he’s pro-choice, and comparing it with what he said when running for president in 2016, it’s worth noting that Trump has pretty much never been a devoutly Christian, principled pro-lifer. That’s former Vice President Mike Pence they’re thinking of. Trump has always managed to pay enough lip service to evangelical beliefs to (somehow) get elected, but these comments shouldn’t come as much of a shock to anyone, nor are they egregious to the majority of Americans.

Scenes from New York: Though Curb Your Enthusiasm—which ended its 12-season run on Sunday—was set mostly in Los Angeles, it feels like a New York show, mostly because Larry David is essentially the most New Yorkery New Yorker that ever was. Grant me my artistic license and enjoy this piece dissecting the show’s bland, “new money” interiors. Or this one, on how Curb “synthesized the comedy pedigree of HBO’s ’90s with the ambition and unbounded creative freedom of HBO’s aughts.” Or this one, that’s about the jury nullification plot line in the finale.

God bless Larry David, that wonderful “idiot from Brooklyn.”

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. head Jamie Dimon “said US delays of liquefied natural gas projects were done for ‘political reasons’ to pacify those who believe oil and gas projects should be stopped—a position he calls ‘wrong’ and ‘enormously naïve,’” per Bloomberg.
• Dave Smith critiques Coleman Hughes’ Israel-Palestine arguments Hughes made on Joe Rogan’s show.
• “Chuck Searcy has spent decades of his life redressing a deadly legacy of America’s war in Vietnam: unexploded ordnance,” reports The New York Times. 
• Surely this will work and have no unintended consequences whatsoever:

Boston CRE doom loop vibes.

In order to counter the lost tax revenue from vacant office buildings, the mayor is proposing higher taxes on office buildings. cc: @arpitrage https://t.co/RnbJZtng6S pic.twitter.com/N3SdMTezBa

— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) April 8, 2024

• Authorities in Chechnya have banned music they deem too fast, as well as music they deem too slow.
• Insanity:

NEW: Hospitals are integrating race into their procurement policies, balancing the cost and quality of life-saving services against the demographics of the firm providing them.

Tldr: Cancer screening firms can lose bids if they aren’t diverse enough.????https://t.co/6fDaufuS9k pic.twitter.com/xypXcnaNml

— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) April 8, 2024

• Assuming she’ll get rounded up by the Scottish authorities for spouting common sense in 3…2…1…

They’re like people looking at an elephant’s knee through a microscope. ‘Could be a moon crater, crumpled felt or a mouse’s scrotum. No way of telling.’
It’s an elephant. We can all see the elephant. You’re not clever for pretending you can’t see the huge fucking elephant. pic.twitter.com/CJLtjIXxDt

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 8, 2024

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