I remember how it was -- JR
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Biden’s inflation-boosting, unfair and legally dubious student loan scheme
President Joe Biden’s plan to “cancel” federal student loans might sound great to loan-holders and progressives, but it shows how little he cares about everyone else — such as those who’ll be picking up the bill or hit by increased inflation.
The plan would have taxpayers foot the bill for up to $20,000 per loan in outstanding Pell Grant balances and $10,000 for other debt. The price tag: a whopping $330 billion (about $2,000 per taxpayer) over 10 years, per the universally respected Penn Wharton Budget Model.
This spending wipes out (and more) all the deficit-reduction that Democrats claim they achieved in their “Inflation Reduction” law, and also throws another $330 billion worth of gasoline on the inflation fire — which Dems ignited with their $1.9 trillion “rescue” plan last year.
The prez plainly cares more about the votes of progressives (and college kids) than poor and middle-class Americans suffering under 9% price hikes.
It’s a giveaway to college grads (including law- and business-school grads!), while truck drivers, waitresses and janitors who couldn’t afford college, as well as students who struggled to pay off their loans without federal help, will pay. How is that fair?
On top of everything, forgiveness will only encourage colleges to raise tuitions more, knowing students will just borrow more and expect the loans to get canceled again later.
The scheme is also legally dubious. The Department of Education itself said last year that it doesn’t “have the statutory authority to cancel, compromise, discharge, or forgive, on a blanket or mass basis, principal balances of student loans.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi echoed that, saying loan forgiveness “has to be an act of Congress,” even as she questioned the fairness of you “paying taxes to forgive somebody else’s obligations.”
Of course, she’s hedging now: “We didn’t know what authority the president had to do this. And now clearly, it seems he has the authority.” (It’s a miracle!)
In fact, it’s supposedly somehow legalized by . . . emergency pandemic powers!
In rolling out his plan Wednesday, the prez stumbled through yet another of his rambling yarns, this time about his dad being turned down for a loan for then-college-bound Joe’s tuition. That confused storytelling was a perfect frame for a plan that makes even less sense.
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California mom's civil rights lawsuit alleges 'social justice teacher' forced students to pick cotton
A mom sued the Los Angeles Unified School District in California last week after her daughter told her that a "social justice teacher… required students to ‘pick cotton’" as an educational tool about slavery, according to court documents.
In Oct. 2017, a mom named Rashunda Pitts became "bewildered" and "completely incensed" when she observed a "cotton field" at the Laurel Span School, court documents said.
Before Pitts discovered what the lawsuit called the "Cotton Picking Project" at the school, she noticed that her daughter's mood changed. Her daughter then experienced "extreme emotional distress," including anxiety and depression, when she thinks about the project, the lawsuit said.
The mom said her daughter told her that other students were told to "pick cotton," and the lawsuit alleged the district violated her daughter's civil rights.
Upon discovering the "Cotton Picking Project," the mom spoke with the assistant principal Brian Wisniewski, who said that the "cotton field was planted so that the students could have a ‘real life experience’ of what is was like to be a slave by ‘picking cotton,'" court documents alleged.
Fox News Digital reached out to the California district for comment, and they said, "Los Angeles Unified does not typically comment on pending or ongoing litigation."
The district previously said in a statement after local media covered the story in that the "Cotton Picking Project" was "an instructional activity in the garden at Laurel School was construed as culturally insensitive," according to the lawsuit.
"Tending to the garden where a variety of fruits, vegetables and other plants grow is a school-wide tradition that has been in place for years and has never been used as a tool to re-enact historical events," the statement said.
"When school administrators became aware of a parent’s concern about the cotton plant, they responded immediately by removing the plant."
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Christian schools fear closure if West Australian discrimination laws strengthened
The peak body representing Christian schools has “grave concerns” schools will close if new laws dramatically reducing their ability to preference staff and students of faith go ahead.
Last week, Attorney-General John Quigley announced broad support for 163 recommendations to improve the state’s anti-discrimination laws following a Law Reform Commission of WA review of the outdated Equal Opportunity Act.
One of the key reforms is an “inherent requirement test” that will force religious schools to prove religious belief or activity is an essential requirement of the job.
Australian Association of Christian Schools executive officer Vanessa Cheng said that change would make it difficult for religious schools to employ staff and preference families in enrolment who shared the beliefs of the school.
“The Christian school model requires that all staff, from the principal to the music teacher, share and practice the faith of the school community,” she said. “We believe this provides the best, holistic learning environment for our students.
“Parents who choose to enrol their children in our schools want an education based on Christian values, which the state school system can no longer provide, and these changes are trying to squeeze faith out of our schools too.
“Surely it is not for the government to determine how a Christian school should be a Christian school?”
Under existing legislation it is lawful for private religious schools in WA, including those receiving taxpayer funding, to sack lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer staff, expel LGBTIQ students, and refuse to enrol children of same-sex parents.
The current law also means religious schools can discriminate against staff who are unmarried parents or living together out of wedlock.
Quigley said the new Act would bring WA into line with other jurisdictions, including Victoria, which introduced changes to its Equal Opportunity Act in June in a bid to ensure a fairer balance between the right to religious freedom and the right to be free from discrimination.
One of the key reforms in both states is strengthening equal opportunity protections for LGBTIQ staff and students in religious schools.
“Since WA’s nation-leading anti-discrimination laws were first introduced, community expectations regarding discrimination have progressed and WA now lags behind most other jurisdictions,” Quigley said.
“This is not about granting additional rights to any one group of people, but ensuring all Western Australians are free from discrimination, harassment, vilification and victimisation.
“Whilst still subject to drafting and further consideration, it is our ambition that the new Bill will achieve a balance between the rights and interests of a wide variety of Western Australians and ensure that employers are not unnecessarily burdened with complex legislation.”
But Cheng has called on the state government to push back against some recommendations. “Unless the government pushes back, it will be very difficult to operate a Christian school according to Christian principles and beliefs once they become law,” she said.
“The sign of a mature and tolerant society is allowing challenging and thought-provoking ideas in the areas of religion, science and the arts to thrive; suppressing religious expression only robs society of its diversity and richness.”
Equality Australia legal director Ghassan Kassisieh said every teacher or staff member should be confident that they are treated fairly by their employer, and judged only by their capacity to fulfil their role.
“The Law Reform Commission recommended reforms would ensure religious schools and organisations play by the same rules as others,” he said.
“By narrowing the carve-outs which currently allow discrimination against LGBTIQA+ staff, students and service users, the laws would bring the practice of religious schools and organisations in line with 21st century community expectations.”
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My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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