NEWS AND OPINION:
In the age of student-loan forgiveness, National Review columnist Jim Geraghty suggests that the nation’s iconic hero “Uncle Sam,” should now be called “Uncle Sugar.”
Indeed, there is some federal generosity underway President Biden has revealed his new plan to wipe out the $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loans held by some 43 million borrowers.
That’s a lot of sugar.
“The biggest beneficiaries would be white Americans under the age of 40 who have graduate degrees and live in high-income, majority-white neighborhoods — in other words, extremely online Democrats. Biden’s Hail Mary pass for the coming midterms is a massive wealth transfer from taxpayers to the Democratic Party’s activist class, and that will exacerbate the already-bad inflation crisis,” Mr. Geraghty wrote.
“If you borrow money and sign a contract promising to pay it back, then you must pay it back, or you will suffer serious long-term financial consequences. Or at least, that’s the way it used to work until Democrats decided they could win a lot of votes by just waving a magic wand and declaring that people didn’t have to pay their student debt back,” the columnist summarized.
Mr. Geraghty, by the way, based his judgment on an analysis titled “Who Are the Federal Student Loan Borrowers and Who Benefits from Forgiveness?” published Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Liberty Street Economics.
ABBOTT DOES THE MATH
Numbers speak louder than words sometimes. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott continues to caution the nation about open borders, a case made particularly effective with the use of numbers.
“People need to understand the volume of people who are coming across the border. In Texas alone, just during the Biden administration, there were more than 1.6 million people apprehended,” Mr. Abbott told Fox News on Tuesday.
“Think about it. That’s larger than the city of Dallas, larger than the city of San Antonio. And that does not count all the people who were not apprehended. And if Title 42 is removed, according to the Biden administration, it would mean 18,000 people a day coming across the border, which would, in turn, annually mean there would be more than six million people coming across the border,” Mr. Abbott said.
“That’s two times the size of the city of Houston. There’s no way the United States is going to be able to assimilate or deal with all of these people who are rushing across the border constantly. And that’s the problem we have down there. The Border Patrol are outmanned,” the governor noted.
The incoming population would also top the number of people who live in Washington — which is 689,545, according to the U.S. Census. That is something for lawmakers to think about.
FOR THE LEXICON
“Cruz missile.”
This intriguing little phrase comes from Ted Budd, a small business owner, fiscal conservative and lifetime member of the NRA who is currently running for the U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina. The candidate is pleased that he has won endorsement from Sen. Ted Cruz.
In his endorsement, the Texas Republican noted Mr. Budd “will defend conservative principles and be a bulwark against the disastrous Biden agenda.”
The candidate has his own comment on the endorsement: “The Cruz missile is on target for victory,” he noted in a campaign statement.
“The cause is too important to sit down, shut up, and wait our turn. Conservative principles are being challenged every day and it’s critically important we have Conservative fighters representing North Carolina’s working families,” Mr. Budd said.
MR. FLEISCHER HAS A BOOK
A forthcoming book spells out many faults in the news media, written by an eyewitness to such faults and shenanigans.
Ari Fleischer — press secretary to former President George W. Bush — has written “Suppression, Deception, Snobbery, and Bias: Why the Press Gets So Much Wrong – And Just Doesn’t Care.”
Yes, well.
“The book takes a deep dive into how the press has contributed to dividing the American people. The press has increasingly become a group of college-educated, Democratic voters who have lost the trust of the American people,” notes Broadside Books — a conservative imprint of HarperCollins Publishers — in advance notes.
“Half the country is keenly aware that they are routinely mocked and looked down upon by much of the media, who, particularly in the Trump era, suppressed stories that helped Republicans and deceived viewers and readers with false stories that helped Democrats. The book includes chapters and analyses of CNN and the New York Times in particular,” Broadside said.
Mr. Fleischer’s book arrives July 12.
NEWS YOU CAN USE
A sizable asteroid with a diameter of up to 2,560 feet will pass by Earth on Thursday at the speed of 23.264 miles per hour — which means it could just about keep up on the New Jersey Turnpike.
But not to worry.
“Thankfully, the asteroid is expected to skim past our planet without any risk of impact. At its closest point, the asteroid — traveling at more than 30 times the speed of sound — will come within about 2 million miles,” wrote Ben Turner, an analyst for LiveScience.com.
But wait, there’s more.
“Thursday’s asteroid might not even be the biggest space rock to hurtle past us in the coming weeks. That title will likely go to 467460 (2006 JF42), which has an estimated diameter between 1,247 and 2,822 feet and will be traveling at roughly 25,300 mph when it passes us on May 9,” Mr. Turner advised.
POLL DU JOUR
• 56% of U.S. adults “strongly” or “somewhat” disapprove of the job the U.S. Congress is doing; 74% of Republicans, 60% of independents and 41% of Democrats agree.
• 19% overall “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of the job Congress is doing; 8% of Republicans, 12% of independents and 36% of Democrats agree.
• 15% neither approve nor disapprove of the job Congress is doing; 12% of Republicans, 17% of independents and 15% of Democrats agree.
• 11% are not sure about the issue; 5% of Republicans, 11% of independents and 7% of Democrats agree.
SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted April 16-19.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
