While many in the liberal media were lauding President Biden for announcing he plans to cancel between $10,000 and $20,000 in student debt per borrower, CNN’s At This Hour swallowed the hard pill and admitted that not only was the move legally questionable but also could cause inflation to spike yet again. But whatever goodwill that reporting may have garnered was squandered immediately by them parroting the Big Lie that we’re not in a recession.
As they were discussing the justifiable outrage among those who didn’t take out student loans and those who paid theirs off, CNN host Chris Wallace recalled that “in 2021, both Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi said that the president didn't have the unilateral power to forgive student loans.”
“So, you know, there’s a big jump from that to what the President ended up doing yesterday. And as a result, you're going to definitely see court challenges to this sooner rather than later,” he added.
Host Kate Bolduan “for sure” agreed and seemed to scoff at the executive branch’s attempt to legally justify the move:
For sure, because the legal basis behind this the Department of Education put out, is -- gets back to an act that was passed post 9/11 to help in times of war and emergency and they're trying to attribute this to pandemic, to apply to this as well. So, there’s 100 percent going to be legal challenges to this.
And after playing a soundbite of her pressing Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on “why are so many people upset about it,” Bolduan teed up Wallace to go off.
"Well, they're delivering for some of the American people if you're somebody under the income limit of $125,000” and “if you had a Pell Grant, a $20,000 break. It’s delivering for you.” But “if you're a working-class person who never went to college, you're not going to get any of this $300 billion it’s going to cost the government,” he said.
Wallace also noted the threat of even more inflation would rise if Biden’s plan went through:
There is also the concern about inflation. Larry Summers, who’s probably been more accurate about projecting inflation than anybody says, “look, these people who are going to be spending that -- paying off their student loans, that's more money in their pocket, they're going to go out and spend, that raises demand, that raises prices, that raises inflation. Which may well be the number one concern. Certainly, the number one economic concern of most Americans, according to the polls. So it didn't deliver for them.
But Bolduan was also interested in a lifeline for Democrats in November and wanted to know how low inflation would have to become to blunt the coming red wave. It was during this answer that Wallace spewed the Big Lie that “we are not in a recession now by most standards.”
He immediately threw in a qualifier, suggesting “maybe technically one could argue.” Adding: “But if you keep raising interest rates by so much, into next year, it certainly increases the threat of a recession that everybody agrees and is not just a technical marker.”
The long-time definition (until Biden took office) is that a recession is two quarters of negative growth, which we have.
The spewing of the Big Lie was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Safelite and Liberty Mutual. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s At This Hour
August 25, 2022
11:07:34 a.m. Eastern(…)
CHRIS WALLACE: It is worth pointing out, incidentally, in 2021, both Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi said that the president didn't have the unilateral power to forgive student loans. So, you know, there’s a big jump from that to what the President ended up doing yesterday. And as a result, you're going to definitely see court challenges to this sooner rather than later.
KATE BOLDUAN: For sure, because the legal basis behind this the Department of Education put out, is -- gets back to an act that was passed post 9/11 to help in times of war and emergency and they're trying to attribute this to pandemic, to apply to this as well. So, there’s 100 percent going to be legal challenges to this.
But I'm still left with a question that I actually asked last night of the secretary of education. I want to play for you -- I want to get your take on it, let me play it for you first.
[Cuts to video]
If this is such a good thing, why are so many people upset about it?
MIGUEL CARDONA (Education secretary): Look, the people that I'm talking to are thrilled. I talked to a teacher yesterday who said, “this is going to help me, now I can help my daughter go to college.” I've gotten communication from folks all over the country saying, “we needed this, thank you.”
And I think what the president was referring to earlier, it reminds me a lot of school reopening. I had people telling me, “don't open schools, it is unsafe.” I had other people saying, “if you don't open it, you're doing a disservice to students.” We're delivering for the American people based on what we know to be true.
[Cuts back to live]
BOLDUAN: What do you think of that?
WALLACE: Well, they're delivering for some of the American people if you're somebody under the income limit of $125,000, a single person. And you're going to get a $10,000 break or if you had a Pell Grant, a $20,000 break. It’s delivering for you. If you're a working-class person who never went to college, you're not going to get any of this $300 billion it’s going to cost the government.
There is also the concern about inflation. Larry Summers, who’s probably been more accurate about projecting inflation than anybody says, “look, these people who are going to be spending that -- paying off their student loans, that's more money in their pocket, they're going to go out and spend, that raises demand, that raises prices, that raises inflation. Which may well be the number one concern. Certainly, the number one economic concern of most Americans, according to the polls. So it didn't deliver for them.
BOLDUAN: So, let me ask you, on the economy, actually, the economic news out this morning, the way Christine Romans put it this morning I think is pretty perfect, is that the outlook for the economy is looking less lousy. Second quarter GDP declined less than previously thought. I just really love that take. Probably because we're all cynics. But the economy is still shrinking, you’ve got the new jobs number showing that the labor market is still strong, but again, as you said, inflation is still a huge problem.
Whenever we have anyone from the White House on and I ask them to set their bar or their goal of when they are going to think we're out of the inflation woods, they will not go there. They don’t want to set a marker.
Is it clear to you though how good it has to get for people, voters, the public, to feel like it is getting better?
WALLACE: Well, certainly lower. You're talking eight -- close to nine percent inflation. Nobody thinks that's good. It is a hard question. And a totally subjective question. If it is six or seven percent, which is less lousy than eight or nine percent, people may say – as we do, a lot of us with gas prices when it’s a dollar lower than a month ago – you know, that's better. Whether that's enough to make them vote for Democrats rather than Republicans, that's a real question.
And one of the reasons, you know, was mentioned earlier, Jay Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve is speaking at a big economic symposium in Jackson Hole, tomorrow, one of the things people will be looking at is how long he thinks he's going to have to go heavy on the interest rates. He’s certainly going to go 50 of 75 basis points in September.
But people are really going to be looking, what’s he going to say about later in the year, what’s he going to say about 2023. And, you know, that's going to be a real indication of the increasing threat because we are not in a recession now by most standards, maybe technically one could argue. But if you keep raising interest rates by so much, into next year, it certainly increases the threat of a recession that everybody agrees and is not just a technical marker.
(…)
