Barack Obama did not think he could cancel student loan debt. Joe Biden did not think he had the power to either. Nancy Pelosi said the President did not have that power. But here we are.
For all the talk about the Democrats being for democracy and the constitutional order, they were until they were not. They convinced a President who did not think he could do it, to use a law passed to help after 9/11 to outright cancel hundreds of billions of dollars of debt. It was an executive power grab hiding behind COVID as some sort of national emergency.
And he did it not because it was right. He did it not because the law was clear. He did it to mobilize a class of voters for an election. He subverted the constitutional order to win votes.
Time and time again, President Donald Trump did things that pushed the boundaries of the constitution and the same people cheering on Biden were livid and, frankly, many who cheered on Trump are livid now.
The constitution is not a game. It is not an option. It is the foundation of the nation, and when either side disrespects its boundaries, we should all be opposed. Instead, tribalism now allows erosion of the foundation.
Just because people want something to happen does not mean executive fiat is the way to do it. We do not elect an emperor to serve unilaterally for four years. We elected a chief executive officer to carry out the laws of Congress. The language “waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision applicable to the student financial assistance programs” when “necessary in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency” has never been read by any President, including this one, as broad enough to unilaterally cancel debt without Congress’s involvement until Democrats expected a midterm bloodbath.
On top of that, this is a redistribution scheme where now non-college-educated Americans will shoulder the burden, as taxpayers, for those with college degrees. We cannot take transactional outrage seriously by the left when they are willing to subvert the constitutional order for bailouts.
More than fair.
What did Trump do to push the Constitution other than take Defense money to build the Border Wall?