Student Loan Forgiveness Sparks Constitutional Debate

On August 25, 2022, Kim Monson examines President Biden’s controversial student loan forgiveness executive order with Washington policy expert Phil Kerpen and retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Bill Rutledge, exploring the constitutional ramifications and broader implications for American governance.

Constitutional Crisis Over Student Loan Forgiveness

Start listening at 34:05 – Hour 1

Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment, delivers a scathing analysis of Biden’s announcement to cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower. Kerpen argues the move represents a fundamental violation of constitutional separation of powers, with the president unilaterally spending hundreds of billions of dollars without congressional appropriation. He traces the crisis back to the Obama administration’s 2010 nationalization of student lending, which was sold as a revenue generator for Obamacare but has now transformed into a potential trillion-dollar taxpayer liability.

Kerpen explains that the policy makes a mockery of the previous week’s Inflation Reduction Act, since the student loan forgiveness far exceeds any alleged deficit savings from that legislation. He notes that economists across the political spectrum have criticized the policy as naked vote-buying that rewards a Democratic constituency at everyone else’s expense. The Supreme Court’s recent West Virginia v. EPA decision on major questions could provide grounds for legal challenge.

“We’ve essentially got the president of the United States spending somewhere on the order of half a trillion to a trillion dollars, without an appropriation from Congress, without any express direction from Congress to do so. It’s a grievous violation of our constitutional order.”

Phil Kerpen, President, American Commitment

Housing Market Opportunities Amid Uncertainty

Start listening at 25:03 – Hour 1

Karen Levine, award-winning RE/MAX Alliance realtor, provides perspective on the shifting housing market as interest rates climb. She counsels sellers that while they have gained significant appreciation over the past several years, buyers now have more negotiating power and may seek concessions. The dramatic change in interest rates has altered buying power calculations across the Front Range.

Levine notes that appraisal gaps, which often reached $50,000 to $75,000 during the market’s peak, are becoming less common as prices feel downward pressure. Buyers who had saved cash for appraisal gaps can now apply that money toward larger down payments to offset higher interest rates. Having navigated multiple recessions and booms throughout her career, Levine emphasizes that opportunity exists in every market condition.

“I’ve seen two if not three recessions. And I’ve seen what, two or three booms. And the thing is, in each marketplace there is opportunity.”

Karen Levine, RE/MAX Alliance

Government Overreach and Education Reform

Start listening at 70:18 – Hour 2

Bill Rutledge, a 94-year-old retired Air Force lieutenant colonel with over two decades of budget officer experience, brings historical perspective to the student loan debate. Rutledge emphasizes that student loans are contracts with legal obligations, and the president lacks constitutional authority to arbitrarily cancel debts. He views the forgiveness plan as a politically-timed action to solicit support from borrowers ahead of the midterm elections.

Drawing on his military experience with classified information and government bureaucracy, Rutledge argues the Department of Education should be abolished, noting it did not exist until the early 1970s and lacks constitutional basis. He advocates for decentralizing federal agencies, citing the successful relocation of Air Force personnel management to Texas as proof that government functions can operate effectively away from Washington. Rutledge recommends that political candidates study the Communist Manifesto, the U.S. Constitution, and George Orwell’s 1984 to understand the current administration’s direction.

“One of the first things that should be done after the election two years from now is that Department of Education should be abolished. There was no Department of Education until the early 70s. We didn’t need a Department of Education.”

Bill Rutledge, Lt. Colonel, USAF (Ret.)