Elizabeth Warren says her plan to eliminate student loan debt can bypass Congress

CNBC.com ^ | 2/14/2020 | Tucker Higgins & Annie Nova

[Svartalfiar]

“I will start to use existing laws on day one of my presidency to implement my student loan debt cancellation plan that offers relief to 42 million Americans — in addition to using all available tools to address racial disparities in higher education, crack down on for-profit institutions, and eliminate predatory lending,” she wrote in the plan."

Hm. This reminds me of a small transcript of a House hearing from a while ago...



At a hearing featuring a panel of seven bank CEOs, Ms. Waters ticked off figures on student loan debt and defaults, then asked, “What are you guys doing to help us with this student loan debt? Who would like to answer first? Mr. Monahan, big bank.”

Bank of America chairman and CEO Brian Monahan replied, “We stopped making student loans in 2007 or so.”

Ms. Waters replied, “Oh, so you don’t do it anymore. Mr. Corbat?”

Said Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat: “We exited student lending in 2009.”

She then turned to James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO, who explained, “When the government took over student lending in 2010 or so, we stopped doing all student lending.”

At that point, Ms. Waters changed the subject, saying, “Thank you. What about small business?”

[Svartalfiar]

There is no way she or any democrat can, by executive order, nullify contracts between borrower and lender. It would go right to the Supreme Court where it would be nullified. She’s just blowing wind.

Except there's some argument to be made that she is the lender (FedGov). What borrower would say no, if the lender dropped by the house and said never mind, forget the loan? Contracts can easily be canceled if both parties agree to such. Sure, she isn't the taxpayers per se, but as the President, she would be representing the taxpayers as their chief executive.