@april I think he definitely is behind Kauvanaugh's debt relief. For some reason I see Leo falling through the floor. Now that he's become known outside the Christian Nationalist bubble, perhaps he'll have a loss of influence.
For those of you who might be interested, PBS will be running a documentary on Clarence and Ginni Thomas this coming Sunday, 5/14. I heard the documentary filmmaker interviewed this morning, which was fascinating. “Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court” should also be available to watch in full at pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS App and on Frontline’s YouTube channel.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/clarence-thomas-black-power-movement/
I recommend this documentary without reservation. It's American surrealism. For example, I didn't know that Clarence Thomas was aligned with the Black Panther Party in his youth. . .
I wonder how that student loan forgiveness thing is gonna work out in Supreme Court. Funny that republicans think bailing out banks and businesses but shriek and shrill when poor people get help with these predatory student loans.
@fnwilliamson Nathan, I couldn’t agree more. I’m still really hoping they rule in favor of student loans forgiveness. I’m also realistic enough to be prepared for a different ruling.
If not loan forgiveness, maybe something even better will come forward after the election of ‘24. Young people need a hand up more now than ever before.
Let’s keep our vibe as high as we can, imagine the world as we’d like to see it, and do whatever we can to make it happen.
Let’s keep our vibe as high as we can, imagine the world as we’d like to see it, and do whatever we can to make it happen.
Yes, yes, and Amen.
If not loan forgiveness, maybe something even better will come forward after the election of ‘24. Young people need a hand up more now than ever before.
I don't have a read on this but I will say that I feel there will be some substantial changes to Student Loans going forward. For one thing, the part of the SCOTUS case that is under review is the 10K of forgiveness - many of the other changes that came along with that EO will remain in effect which are good starts - particularly not having interest compile over top of your payments if your minimum payment doesn't cover it all.
I worked 3 jobs during college (97-2003) to pay for things - it wasn't sustainable then and it would probably be 6 jobs today - I never knew whether I was coming or going. I ended up with 20K in loans for my Masters Degree which - after paying in the wrong payment plan for 10 years, ballooned to nearly 50K. I was resigning myself to around 100K (I'm finishing an advanced degree at the moment) of debt until I die but the temporary leniency for PSLF kicked in and my Masters loans were discharged one week ago - I'm still in shock over it. It was a game changer for me and I want this for everyone.
Millenials and Gen Z will push this issue!
Congratulations! That is excellent news and must be such a relief!!!
@dannyboy I’m so happy for you! Your education will pay off in the long run, and the longer you’re in school the better right now.
The world is turning and you’re absolutely right, it’s young people who are providing most of the energy we need. Actually, we need all of us, scattered across generations. It’s simply that young people seem to be arriving on the planet ready to shift the focus and frequency much faster than any previous generation.
I empathize with everyone who either chose not to go to school or worked multiple jobs to pay off debt for school. I have paid close to $100,000 in various forms of education without any forgiveness. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
A mantra I’ve been working with for a couple of months now is: How good can it get?
@livingfree I've long been an advocate for a massive youth coalition between Generations X, Y, & Z that could double as a voting bloc in electoral politics.
Our generational differences are much smaller than the media would have us believe.
Here is a piece I wrote about how we youth could form a powerful voting bloc if we just got together.
A mantra I’ve been working with for a couple of months now is: How good can it get?
I saw this on another forum: "You'll only know that it's getting better when it stops getting worse." I've been seeing lately that it seems to have stopped getting worse, so perhaps, @dannyboy, we have finally reached the bottom point of the graph. ;-)
Great Voting Rights and Supreme Court news. Alabama was found to had denied African American voters a reasonable chance to elect a second representative of their choice. The session given minority voters a chance for fair representation and may have a reverberation through out the country.
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/08/1181002182/supreme-court-voting-rights
@jovesta We are seeing court reform in the latest RTF night. Those predictions are being compiled now and should be available for subscribers within one week.
Tomorrow they supposedly decide on gay rights and student loan debt.
I’m feeling discouraged after the court rescinded affirmative action, and school loan relief, while allowing businesses to openly discriminate against our LGBTQ community.
Typically, I'm an eternal optimist, able to find the silver lining in every challenge, but this just feels heavy.
The injustice of saddling young people with school loan debt while those same justices admit to being wine and dined by wealthy friends who want favors, the covid business loan fraud and so many other breaks given to the wealthiest Americans makes this tough.
I know the future is bright and we will eventually see a more just culture, but that is not today.
I did not supply link but these issues are easily found in every mainstream news website.
Surely, these actions will inspire people to vote for Democrats...
What makes this so upsetting is that the majority is just making it up to get the result they want, more blatantly and shamelessly than ever. Their reasoning is tortured. The cases should have been dismissed for lack of standing, especially the 303 Creative v. Elenis case. Courts are not supposed to work this way. You are not supposed to get a court, any court, to hear your case based simply on something that could happen. You have to have an actual injury. That's a hallmark of our legal system but apparently it's no longer necessary.
They have a plan to erase the gains made during the latter half of the 20th century and turn the country into the kind of place that suits a small fringe minority.
You have to hope people wake up. I mean, SCOTUS is making it impossible to ignore what they are doing.
Seems like we have a SCOTUS that makes decisions by proxy and prejudice.
Re: proxy, the Court just decided a case based on thin air that was brought by Alliance Defending Freedom (conservative legal group) on behalf of Lori Smith, the complainant:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/30/politics/colorado-web-designer-court-filings/index.html
Can the Court make a proxy decision even though no factual case ever existed? If so, should this decision be vacated due to no standing? It seems the Court, with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, engineered a "case" it wanted to decide.
Re: prejudice, should a SCOTUS justice apply personal prejudice and bias in their decisions? In his written decision regarding affirmative action, Clarence Thomas includes his personal beliefs and experiences as part justification for his decision to end college affirmative action. Do we want to have justices that make decisions based on their personal bias? Are they moralists?
Please feel free to correct me if I'm missing something, but things feel very "abnormal" on the Court.
I want to point out that Biden's comments after the court this week ought to become a clarion call.
That Roberts was described as "smug" yesterday tells me a lot. I had thought he wanted to preserve a legacy, but he's been around too much orange Kool-aid, and history will not be kind.
@kathleen-m, yes, things are "abnormal" You have a court packed by a fringe faction. But like all things, the wider and crazier the swing, the harder it goes the other way. The court is generally not in sync with what's happening at the local level, and those that voted a particular way in 2016 usually did so on a single issue. The problem for them, a fair number are now having their world put asunder.
Additionally, from my anecdotal observations, people that might have been sad, angry, or depressed are now focused. This means emotion is leaving the center-center left.
There is an old saying along the lines of don't ask for something, you might just get it. While GOP types may be breathing a sigh of relief that summer is here, it will be short-lived. A deal with the devil in the form of the Federalist Society (et al) is coming home to roost. They asked for it, and they got it.