Beltway Insider: Biden/Student Loan Bill Demystified, Vets, COVID/Vaccine Totals, Weinstein, Kobe Bryant, Uvalde

President Biden signed the highly anticipated Student Loan Forgiveness Plan this week, and as expected the comprehensive package provided additional relief but fell short of the $50,000 many democrats in both houses had lobbied him to deliver.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending August 28, 2022 increased by 2.0% to 42.3% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by 0.8% to 53.5% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.


Beltway Insider: Biden/Inflation Reduction Act, Ukraine/Russia, China/Spies, COVID/Vaccine Totals, Whitey Bulger, Uvalde


Biden Student Loan Bill

President Biden's three-part plan to address the student loan crisis took center stage this week, as the president announced his long-awaited strategy for reliving the financial burden bore by many Americans who have become trapped in the student loan repayment nightmare.

Student loan debt, which at current totals $1.9 trillion dollars and comprises nearly 45 million Americans, has become more than a hot button issue with advocates of a complete bail out, similar to the bail outs the government provided in the past for the Wall Street banking institutes and the Airline Industry, or a $50,000 forgiveness advocated by democratic members of both the house and senate, especially key allies like Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) becoming increasing vocal.

Even has intended policy leaked throughout the summer of a plan to forgive $10,000, the dollar amount seemed a bit paltry, after the monies proposed in other big-ticket plans including the American Rescue Plan, which has created fraud and failed at some levels, such as the Veterans Rapid Retraining Assistance Program.

However, the plan does expand on the initial $10,000 to include an additional $10,000 for recipients of Pell Grants, totaling $20,000. Moreover, the fight for full forgiveness isn't ending. Organizations are continuing to advocate and the possibility of additional changes to the president's plan may arrive closer to the 2024 election.

The rule changes proposed by the Department of Education, detailed below, will aid more families and homes, as it addresses accruing interest charges which for some, in extreme cases, may see the original loan amount increase anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000 from accrued interest fees.

Other qualifying determinations for the first step in the president's plan include wages earned and household size. Student loans repayment moratorium will continue through December 31, 2022. The president has indicated this will be the final extension. The debt relief will not be taxable.

Additionally, and most importantly, the president has included an accountability aspect so that student's who invested heavily in their future are not left with simply debt and no employment. For profit universities will now be held "accountable" and for failure to provide their graduates employment in their field of study.

For-profit Universities have long produced a turnstile education, degree mills, collecting huge fees without any follow-thru, even many of the nation's elite universities have failed to provide a bridge from academic life to employment life, leaving the graduate holding up the degree, fettered with student loan debt, in a job market that replies with "no work here."

The Department of Education is attempting to eliminate this failure.

Department of Education Rules Change Proposals

Department of Education is proposing rule changes will also provide great financial relief to Student loan borrowers through a variety of plans.

The most critical element in this proposed rule change is covering the borrower's unpaid monthly interest, "so that unlike other existing income-driven repayment plans, no borrower's loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low," The White House reported.

The White House Fact Sheet presents in details key points of President Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness plan as well as an explanation and bullet list of proposed rule changes by the Department of Education.

Other key points include:

 

Cutting monthly payments in half for undergraduate loans; For undergraduate loans, cut in half the amount that borrowers have to pay each month from 10% to 5% of discretionary income.

 

Raise the amount of income that is considered non-discretionary income and therefore is protected from repayment, guaranteeing that no borrower earning under 225% of the federal poverty level—about the annual equivalent of a $15 minimum wage for a single borrower—will have to make a monthly payment.

 

Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments, instead of 20 years, for borrowers with original loan balances of $12,000 or less. The Department of Education estimates that this reform will allow nearly all community college borrowers to be debt-free within 10 years.

 


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Veterans Lose Again

The Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program (VRRAP), which was enacted as part of the $1.9 trillion-dollar American Rescue Plan signed by President Biden on January 21, 2021, was meant to assist veterans who lost their employment and serve as an accelerated skills retraining program for high-demand occupations.

"As of Aug. 1, only about 6,800 veterans had enrolled in the program, far fewer than the 17,250 Congress created it to serve, the agency said; just 397 had landed new jobs," reported The Washington Post.

The program, which received $397million in Federal Aid, like many programs designed for veterans, was layered with corruption leaving little to trickle down to those who were sincere and actively seeking to participate in the program.

Occupation based training programs, online retraining and degree granting programs have been riddled with inconsistencies, with the context of the VRRAP and in the general population which has seen President Biden forgive many students loans incurred at these general population, for-profit-trade schools that essentially have defrauded and swindled students.

Government Contractor Fraud is Not New

The amount of fraud and corruption associated with the VRRAP schools, is equivalent to the heyday of government overspending beginning in 1986 when the Los Angeles Times reported on the $6.3 million dollar fraud by government contractors on military contracts.

The average tax-paying American was shocked when the government contractor expenditures were revealed. The dollar figures became the fodder for late night talk shows and dialogue filler in films and a fictious Pentagon supply catalogue was created mocking the exorbitant cost of everything from toilet seats and simple nuts and bolts.

"Other items offered in the catalogue include a $285 screwdriver, a $7,622 coffee maker, a $387 flat washer, a $469 wrench, a $214 flashlight, a $437 tape measure, a $2,228 monkey wrench, a $748 pair of duckbill pliers, a $74,165 aluminum ladder, a $659 ashtray and a $240- million airplane. Pentagon Products may be a fictional company, but these prices are not. They are documented," The Los Angeles Times reported in 1986.

With the amount of money that has poured into the economy since the beginning of Covid, the expenditures of 1986 seem to be making a comeback and now, as then, the American consumer has become responsible for more palatable "add-in" costs which has become the courteous phrase for we're putting the $2,000 screws to the consumer.

Vaccine Totals

Bloomberg.com has built a vaccine tracker which can be seen here. "In the US, 608 million doses have been given so far. During the last week, shots were administered at an average rate of 85,822 doses a day," Bloomberg.com reported.

Coronavirus Totals

Mandates have been altered or lifted in most urban areas with limited exceptions, and the population is encouraged to maintain personal protective practices. Masks are optional and tolerated. Vaccines and boosters are still considered the most effective agents against contracting the Coronavirus.

For the one-week period ending August 28, 2022, coronavirus cases globally increased by 4,969,288 new confirmed cases, bringing the total of confirmed cases worldwide to 600,304,150 people with a total worldwide death toll of 6,464,116 deaths, and a 7-day death rate increase of 16,236. (Data from The New York Times).

COVID U.S. Totals

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the seven-day period ending August 28, 2022, the total confirmed cases rose to 93,947,881 people with new confirmed cases increasing by 629,201 with a 7-day average of 94,795 cases per day. The coronavirus has claimed 1,039,704 total deaths, adding 3,344 more deaths over the 7-day period. (Data from The New York Times).

Pentagon's Diary Gets Personal

Protecting for gain of function knowledge only aides those who initiated the constitutional violations. It does nothing to combat the homegrown terrorism or the narcissistic above the law belief. The best obtainable version of the truth.


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Harvey Weinstein Granted Appeal

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein has been granted an appeal in New York State Court of Appeals, which will determine if the former movie mogul will be granted a new trial, or his 2020 conviction will be overturned.

"The decision was made by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, who said the top court will hear arguments from Weinstein's defense lawyers and the district attorney on whether the convicted movie mogul deserves a new trial. Weinstein was granted what is called a criminal leave application and the next step is for attorneys to file briefs," NBCNewYork.com reported.

Weinstein is currently serving 20 years for two first degree charges of committing third degree rape. He is currently in Los Angeles awaiting trial.

Vanessa Bryant Awarded 15 million Over Crash Photos

Vanessa Bryant, the wife of the late Los Angeles Lakers Basketball star, Kobe Bryant, was awarded, along with co-defendant Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also perished in the January 2020 helicopter crash, $15 million in damages.

Bryant at times left the courtroom, over the course of the nine-day trial, as grisly descriptions of the crash victims were presented. The case, brought against the Los Angeles Sherriff Department, implicated officers and others who arrived at the scene and took personal cell phone pictures of the debris field, that included body parts, and actively shared them with others.

"Two Los Angeles sheriff's deputies who shared graphic photos of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed nine people, including NBA star Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, were among the first to publicly express remorse for their role in the county-wide spread of the photos while testifying on Tuesday," Insider.com reported.

Nine passengers including Kobe Brynat and his daughter, Gianna Bryant, along with John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester, Emerson Lotzia, Jr., and Ara Zobayan, were killed when, on January 26, 2020, in thick fog, the pilot became disoriented.


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Uvalde School Shooting

The Uvalde School Board in a special meeting held Wednesday, August 24, 2022, unanimously voted to terminate police chief Pete Arredondo over his mishandling of the May 24, 2022 Robb Elementary School Massacre that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

Arredondo, who wrote the active shooter protocols, failed to act and honor his oath of office, failed to perform the role of incident commander, failed to accurately assess the unfolding situation, and failed to act according to the protocols that he authored.

"The Texas House report noted there were nearly 400 officers at the scene — including 149 from U.S. Border Patrol and 91 from the Texas Department of Public Safety — any one of whom could have taken the lead but did not," reported The Washington Post.

A written 17 page statement by Arredondo and his legal team headed by George Hyde, of Russell Rodriguez Hyde Bullock LLP, was presented and once again the embattled former police chief attempted to control the narrative, with various statements indicting Arredondo is due unspecified monetary damages, is being scapegoated and is receiving death threats, and the right to clear his name outside of the presented facts.

Moreover, the statement attempts to clarify the blame for the Uvalde massacre, which of course lies solely on the shooter. However, the response, which is also extremely clear with the presence of 376 officers, was determined at the onset to be egregious, horrific, and shocking with the potential to cause extreme loss of life, an all-too-common outcome of school shootings and the not first of its kind in America. While the predicate act was the shooter, the tiered responsibility, the fault and blame for not stopping him sooner rests first on former Uvalde police chief Pete Arredondo and then with each of the 375 officers at the scene.

 

For more information on President Joe Biden www.whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

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