This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In what appeared to be an obvious effort to curry favor from younger voters, Joe Biden some time ago announced a plan to "forgive" hundreds of billions of dollars in student loans.
They wouldn't be "forgiven," it's just that Biden would force taxpayers, instead of borrowers, to repay them.
The Supreme Court struck down the scheme, explaining the law simply doesn't allow Biden to burden taxpayers with such individual debt.
But he's continued to try to do it, recently announcing more "forgiveness" and boasting that," The Supreme Court blocked it, but that didn't stop me."
Now, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, whose state was one of those who won on the original challenge to Biden's plan, says the fight will be back in court, and the states will win again.
It is at the Free Beacon that Kobach noted Biden is pushing for a standard where the president can ignore the Supreme Court.
"Last summer, the Court struck down Biden’s student loan forgiveness program in a 6-3 decision, holding that it violated federal law. But desperate to motivate young voters in the November election, Biden is pressing ahead anyway: Last week, he announced a modified version of the loan forgiveness program," Kobach wrote.
"The new plan is slightly smaller than the old one—$138 billion vs. $430 billion—but just as illegal. Last time, the attorneys general of six states—Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, and South Carolina—banded together to sue the Biden administration, taking the case to the Supreme Court. We won. This time, Kansas will take the lead in suing the administration, and we intend to win again."
He said the law simply doesn't allow Biden to act like a king.
The Higher Education Act of 1965 "clearly addressed the possibility of forgiving or reducing student loans. The Supreme Court noted only four scenarios where borrowers can have their loans forgiven: (1) borrowers who are public servants, (2) borrowers permanently disabled and unable to work, (3) borrowers who go bankrupt, and (4) borrowers who were effectively swindled by their schools."
Kobach continued, "As the Supreme Court made clear last year, only Congress can authorize the forgiveness of student loans, which requires spending taxpayer money—because, of course, the loans are not forgiven but transferred to the American taxpayer. The Constitution vests the power of the purse in Congress, and Biden’s Department of Education can do only what Congress authorizes it to do. Congress did not give the executive branch this authority in the Higher Education Act."
He said Biden may think he can persuade the public that forcing taxpayers to repay privately granted student loans is good, "but he won't be able to persuade the courts that it is legal."
He warned, "He is trying to exercise the powers of a king rather than the powers of a president in a constitutional republic. We will not let him get away with it."
