OnPolitics: We still don’t have a debt limit deal
It’s another complicated day in Washington as lawmakers struggle to reach a deal on the debt ceiling, OnPolitics readers. But we’ll get to that further below.
In the meantime …
Got student loans? You’re going to want to read this.
The Education Department on Wednesday announced a sweeping overhaul to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that will immediately erase the debt of 22,000 borrowers to the tune of $1.7 billion.
The redesign of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is President Joe Biden’s latest effort to address the nation’s growing $1.7 trillion in student loan debt and ease the burden of struggling borrowers.
More news in higher education: Leaders of historically Black colleges and universities say President Joe Biden’s budget package falls far short of how much the historically underfunded institutions need.
The aid, currently penciled in for $1.45 billion in the bill to be distributed over a period of four years beginning in 2022, is much less than supporters anticipated, putting HBCUs at a disadvantage and risking Biden’s support from a key constituency.
It’s Amy and Mabinty, with the news of the day.
The drama over the debt limit continues
Here’s the latest news: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered Democrats on Wednesday the opportunity for a short-term extension of the debt limit, to avoid the threat of a looming default, but it wasn’t clear whether Democrats would accept.
prompting a fierce backlash from Chinese officials.
Nikki Haley plots the GOP future, with or without Trump
Nikki Haley told fellow Republicans Tuesday that they have an urgent mission to renew their conservative convictions, the latest in a series of high-profile speeches by potential GOP presidential candidates maneuvering in the shadow of former President Donald Trump.
“A large portion of our people are plagued by self-doubt or even by hatred of America. It’s a pandemic much more damaging than any virus,” Haley said in a heavily promoted speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Institute in Simi Valley, Calif.
Stressing her experience as governor of South Carolina and then ambassador to the United Nations, Haley said Republicans also need to confront enemies abroad and face down Democratic pessimists at home.
Many of the speeches are seen as overtures to possible presidential campaigns in 2024.
“If Trump runs, they probably don’t have a chance:” Many political analysts say other Republicans probably hope Trump does not run again, given his fundraising, his high name recognition and his remaining support among Republican voters despite the tumultuous ending of his presidency in January.
If Trump doesn’t run in 2024, Jack Pitney, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, said, the other would-be candidates “want to be ready for a window of opportunity that will open and close very quickly. Otherwise, somebody else will seize the moment, leaving them behind, probably forever.”
“Unless he is in a hospital bed or jail cell in 2024, he’s running,” he said.
Today is the birthday of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. One of her most famous quotes: “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” – Amy and Mabinty
Article source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~/668893336/0/usatodaycomwashington-topstories~OnPolitics-We-still-dont-have-a-debt-limit-deal/