Supreme Court Decision to Block Student Loan Forgiveness Draws Outrage: ‘An Unelected Superlegislature That Can’t Be Checked’
Within minutes of the Supreme Court striking down President Biden’s plan to forgive student loan debt, social media was ablaze with outrage Friday.
With Biden’s plan, up to $20,000 in student loan debt would’ve been eliminated for millions of Americans — 26 million applied, to be specific. But, in a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that one of the states that challenged the plan had legal grounds to do so, and said Biden didn’t have the authority to forgive so much debt without authorization from Congress.
Among those who were upset with the decision were Biden, Senator Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The latter two pointed out that multiple justices who voted against this plan live pretty lavish lives.
Unthinkable.
This fight isn’t over. I’ll have more to announce when I address the nation this afternoon. https://t.co/wGBuwBySB7— President Biden (@POTUS) June 30, 2023
The hypocrisy is clear:
As justices accept lavish, six-figure gifts, they don’t dare to help Americans saddled with student loan debt, instead siding with the powerful, big-monied interests.— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 30, 2023
Justice Alito accepted tens of thousands of dollars in lavish vacation gifts from a billionaire who lobbied to cancel the student loan forgiveness.
After the gifts, Alito voted to overturn. This SCOTUS’ corruption undercuts its own legitimacy by putting its rulings up for sale.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 30, 2023
The decision to block Biden’s plan came within minutes of the Supreme Court also ruling in favor of a web designer with anti-LGBT beliefs, saying that the First Amendment protects her right to refuse service to gay people, which prompted even further outrage.
“Happy f— the supreme court day to all who celebrate,” one person wrote, posting a screenshot of back-to-back news notifications about the decisions.
happy fuck the supreme court day to all who celebrate pic.twitter.com/7I0pxAlgVk
— blaire erskine (@blaireerskine) June 30, 2023
Time to email my student loan providers and let them know they can refuse to accept my gay money
— Chris Stedman (@ChrisDStedman) June 30, 2023
The Supreme Court decided against gay rights in a case that didn't involve any gay people and against debt forgiveness in a case where the lenders were fine with the issue. They're not acting like judges, they're acting like an unelected superlegislature that can't be checked.
— Aaron (@BobbyBigWheel) June 30, 2023
Others pointed out that countless Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans were forgiven, despite the fact that the initiative resulted in widespread fraud. Billions of dollars went to companies owned by celebrities, as well as companies that were doing just fine during COVID, even though it was designed to help small businesses.
“Every single congressperson who received forgiveness on their PPP loans and opposed student loan forgiveness should be shamed and voted out of office,” one person tweeted. “Biggest hypocrites alive.”
so it’s ok to forgive PPP loans but not student debt #StudentLoanForgiveness pic.twitter.com/gIH7YAZD6h
— Cloud9ineDreams
(@Cloud9ineDreams) June 30, 2023
Sorry folks, if we’re not getting student loan debt relief, then it’s time to pay back those automatically forgiven PPP loans at 6.8% interest, retroactive to April 2020.
Sorry, but the gov has made it clear that giving people billions of dollars is an intolerable moral hazard.— Decorum Disassembly – mas.to/@decorummanager (@DecorumManager) June 30, 2023
Every single congressperson who received forgiveness on their PPP loans and opposed student loan forgiveness should be shamed and voted out of office.
Biggest hypocrites alive.— B.W. Carlin (@BaileyCarlin) June 30, 2023
Students should have simply created a shell company, applied for a PPP loan and paid off their student loans with it.
— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) June 30, 2023
You can see more reactions to the Supreme Court’s latest decision below.
majority of us after seeing the Supreme Court decision on student loan forgiveness #StudentLoanForgiveness pic.twitter.com/0Aup02z8ll
— Cloud9ineDreams
(@Cloud9ineDreams) June 30, 2023
Nobody was paying back them student loans anyway. Jokes on them. pic.twitter.com/nHxtDE3zjp
— The Moment. (@itsKARY_) June 30, 2023
get ready for an incredible day on here where every person who speaks out against student loan forgiveness has their PPP loan forgiveness pulled up in a “this you?” quote tweet
— ashley ray is ON TOUR (@theashleyray) June 30, 2023
Total student loan debt that would have been erased for millions of Americans: $400 billion
Total cost of the Trump tax cuts that largely benefited the wealthy and corporations: $1.9 trillion
This is what I mean when I say the system is rigged.— Robert Reich (@RBReich) June 30, 2023
By striking down student loan debt, the US is likely to enter an immediate rescission this fall when tens of millions of Americans will resume payment of loans in place of their current disposable income. #SCOTUS #StudentLoanForgiveness
— Eric M. Leiderman (@EricLeiderman) June 30, 2023
I'm constantly reminded of that tumblr post where a girl is explaining to her mother that no one under 30 expects anything good to happen ever again #StudentLoanForgiveness #CancelStudentDebt
— Flying Bi-Son (@SaintSnKJack) June 30, 2023
