Hi’.
So if you haven’t heard (Daily Kos links):
All stemming from this White House press briefing (whitehouse.gov) where Jen Psaki announced that “a smooth transition back into repayment [of student loans] is a high priority for the administration” (the mails to borrowers didn’t help either).
Now while you are all discussing the pros (warren.senate.gov) and cons (cfrb) of how to handle student loans, the foreigner that I am is focused on the democratic threat called trumpism. And I would like to use this latest quarrel to talk about this foreign and mystic notion called a compromise.
So the midterms are not looking good (no reference needed there), and this latest news is barely a drop in the ocean. It’s the nth excuse for people to stay home and no, I don’t mean just “progressives”:
It’s voters from all stripes and they are all eager to see the White House delocalized to Florida (again). So already we can drop the “but Trump” argument, it’s demonstrably not working.
With this in mind, why is the latest feud interesting?
Well it’s about extending a moratorium. Forget everything else for two seconds and focus. That moratorium does two things (studentaid.gov): (a) a suspension of loan payments and (b) a 0% interest rate. Note that (a) still allows people to repay the loan if they so wish. They just don’t have to.
What’s most interesting with that moratorium is that Joe Biden can, and has twice already, unilaterally extend(ed) it all by himself. It is 100% within Democratic control. So again, forget about debt forgiveness or anything like that and focus. We currently have a status quo that democrats can maintain at will.
So let’s put it in electoral terms.
You have people who, if the moratorium ends, will blame Biden and pout in the midterms. And trumpism is back in control.
You have people who, if you cancel student debt, will loathe Biden and pout in the midterms. And trumpism is back in control.
With both sides allegedly not wanting trumpism back in control, and both sides admitting that their way leads to Trump, one would assume that both sides would be open to a compromise. You know, that thing everyone claims everyone likes and Manchin/Sinema keep pissing on to wreck the Senate. Yeah, that. Compromise. Giving in some while the other side(s) give in some so as to not enter a mutual suicide pact.
So explain to me why extending the moratorium is not a good compromise.
And let me explain why I think it is a good one.
- It’s feasible.
Now activists will argue otherwise but any student debt reform would require action from Congress. Extending the moratorium doesn’t. And between Omicron or said gridlocked Congress, there is enough to justify it if need be. That’s politically cheap, is what I mean.
- It’s very effective.
The centrist in me doesn’t like part (a) of the moratorium, but part (b) basically fixes the student debt crisis. A 0% interest prevents debts from tripling in size, but people will still pay the principal in full and that “fix” applies to the next batches of students.
- It’s great leverage.
Eventually, people want reforms. An affordable education. Etc. Well that moratorium has set a new status quo where it’s lenders, not borrowers, who would call for reforms most. (Or they’ll just wait for the next Republican administration). Sounds like the right incentive to me.
If you see the moratorium as a stopgap measure, as a temporary fix to a crisis that needs to be addressed anyway, well it sounds quite palatable.
(And yes, I know the flood of arguments you guys will have for and against it, that’s not the point.)
Someone needs to compromise.
And by “someone” I mean everyone, all sides need to compromise for a compromise to work.
It bears repeating, something fierce, how dangerous trumpism is. It should be handled with the same level of threat and urgency as the debt ceiling. In the best-case scenario, it means a 10-years setback on everything, chief of them climate change but oh god everything. In the worst-case scenario, the US turns into a second Russia. No one, absolutely no one wants that.
But it’s what will happen if you don’t compromise.
For progressives, it meant giving up on the minimum wage, on single-payer and the public option, on paid leave and so on. They gave a blank check on infrastructure, it’s hard to ask them to compromise any more and here, on student debt, their compromise would be to be fine with no debt forgiveness whatsoever. Which honestly they seemed to have resigned themselves to anyway.
So what have centrists compromised, exactly. On this one example, fully doable, easily doable, with the lowest political profile, why is it not an acceptable compromise to save democracy? Why can’t people consider extending the moratorium in an ongoing pandemic when trumpism is knocking at their door. Why is that (~$50bn/year, for anyone asking) too high a price to pay.
This is why I’m making this diary.
Because what I am observing is voters from both sides, ready to stay home and let trumpism govern again. Because what I am observing is Congress in gridlock, with the backstabbers (Manchin, Gottheimer, etc.) welcoming trumpism with open arms and the progressive caucus signing on it. And now what I am observing is even the White House acting as if democracy itself was not at stake. Everyone says trumpism is an existential threat to be avoided at all cost, but no one at this point, exactly no one at all is acting like it.
So forget everything else and pretend it all hinged on student debt.
How much would anyone be willing to pay to preserve democracy?
Who here still believes in compromises?