Happy Monday! And, ugh, it’s Tax Day (more on that in a moment)... 

First, with votes on the line this election year, Democrats can’t let student-loan cancellation go. 

In August 2022, for instance, Team Biden introduced a plan which would have canceled up to $20,000 in federal student loans for an estimated 40 million qualified debtors. 

This despite the original 60-day pandemic moratorium on federal student loans — which Trump announced in March 2020 — was extended nine times. 

That’s almost three-and-a-half years! 

“For every month borrowers were allowed to skip payments, $4.3 billion was added to the American taxpayers’ tab,” says a June 2023 press release from the House Budget Committee. [Emphasis ours]

“Biden [didn’t] want to take the political blame that comes with restarting student loan payments,” explains Justin Haskins of The Heartland Institute. 

With the signing of the debt ceiling bill last summer, however, the federal student-loan moratorium, at long last, reached its own moratorium on September 1, 2023. 

Not only that, the Supreme Court foiled Biden. Chief Justice John Roberts stated the obvious: Only Congress has the power to approve such large-scale cancellation of federal debt.

Now, onto the latest scheme from the Department of Education… 

Send your opinions to, feedback@newsyoucanacton.com

Your Rundown for Monday, April 15, 2024...

Canceled, Not Forgiven 

It’s the convoluted, income-based Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. 

“In this newest glut of forgiveness, those who enroll in the SAVE plan, made payments on their loans [for] at least 10 years and have a balance of less than $12,000 will get forgiveness immediately,” Reason reported in January. 

By now, about 8 million borrowers have enrolled. (But only about 100,000 have had their loans canceled so far.)

On Friday, the Education Department announced the next round of student-loan cancellation for another 260,000 borrowers. 

“More people are becoming eligible for student loan cancellation as they hit 10 years of payments,” the AP notes, “a new finish line for some loans that’s a decade sooner than what borrowers faced in the past.

“The Education Department has now approved cancellation for about 360,000 borrowers through the new repayment plan, totaling $4.8 billion.” 

According to Biden… 

I will never stop working to cancel student debt — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us. [From] day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class.

Which brings to mind another Biden campaign promise: pursuing top-tier income earners to make them pay their fair share of taxes. 

To that end, Biden earmarked billions of dollars to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to target Americans who earn in excess of $400,000 per year. 

How’s that going? 

• “While 80% of audits covered filers earning less than $1 million,” says The Wall Street Journal 

• “As of last summer, 63% of new audits targeted taxpayers with income of less than $200,000.” [Emphasis ours]

Sounds exactly like a broken promise to me. 

And whether these 360,000 (and counting) Americans — who’ve had their student-loans canceled — realize it or not, their government has acted in bad faith. 

Instead of a “ticket to the middle class,” as Biden puts it, they and future generations of Americans will be saddled repaying the debt (plus interest) on almost $5 billion (and counting). 

To say nothing of the moratorium tab racked up from 2020-2023… 

When federal loans are canceled, or even delayed, taxpayers backfill government revenue shortfalls. 

Today’s “forgiven” debtors are, by and large, taxpayers too. 

Ticket to the middle class? 

Canceled. 

Market Rundown for Monday, Apr. 15, 2024

The S&P 500 is down 0.85% to 5,165. 

Oil is down 0.80%, just under $85 for a barrel of WTI. 

Gold’s pulled back 0.15% to $2,370 per ounce. 

Bitcoin is up 3.30% to $66,300. 

Send your comments and questions to, feedback@newsyoucanacton.com