Business Success, Student Loan Debt, and Desperate Officials

What happens when you think AI is lying about you?

Good morning. It's Saturday, Jan. 20, and we're covering student loan debt, desperate election officials, potential Wiggins trade, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.

American Fact of the Day!

The largest snowflake ever recorded landed in Montana: In 1887 a snowflake measuring 15 inches across made its way down to earth. It landed right here in Montana, which somehow isn't surprising for a state that does such a great job at all things cold.

Breaking Updates

Maine Election Official So Desperate to Keep Trump off Ballot She's Appealing Judge's Hold on Decision

Maine’s Democrat secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, is so determined to promote “trust in our free, safe and secure elections” that she wants to make sure voters in the state aren’t allowed to vote for the leading GOP contender, former President Donald Trump.

After Trump appealed Bellows' unilateral decision to keep his name off the Republican primary ballot, Superior Court Judge Michaela Murphy called for a hold on her decision while the nation waits for the Supreme Court to weigh in on a similar situation in Colorado. Waiting for the nation’s top court to render judgment was just too inconvenient for Bellows, evidently, as she announced Friday that she was going to appeal Murphy's decision to the state's top court, and she wants a quick answer

Bellows had argued that letting people vote for their chosen candidate posed a grave danger: Bellows had warned that punting the decision on Trump’s eligibility would put Maine in a “precarious position,” saying voters may end up casting their votes with Trump’s qualification in doubt. The state’s Super Tuesday, March 5 primary is fast approaching, and the Supreme Court won’t hear oral arguments until next month, Bellows noted.

The answer should come quickly because Maine state law demands a short timeframe for the court to act; the parties will now have four days to file their written briefs. The court must come to a decision within 14 days of the judge’s Wednesday ruling.

Read more updates here

Biden Admin Again Thumbs Its Nose at SCOTUS, 'Forgives' $5B More in Student Loan Debt

Back in June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Biden Administration's plan to forgive some $430 billion in student loan debt, the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act), was unconstitutional.

Then they moved forward in July like nothing ever happened at SCOTUS, bulldozing $39 million in student loans. On Friday, they've gone and thumbed their nose once again--at both the members of the High Court and the American people:

President Biden announced Friday that his administration is forgiving $5 billion in student debt for another 74,000 borrowers, marking the latest round of debt cancellation since the Supreme Court voided the president's student loan forgiveness program.[...]

Mr. Biden said that of the borrowers who can receive relief, nearly 44,000 are teachers, nurses, firefighters and others who are eligible for forgiveness after working 10 years of public service. Almost 30,000 Americans who will have their debt wiped clean have been repaying their loans for at least 20 years, but did not get the relief they earned through income-based plans, the president said.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said: The Biden-Harris administration has worked relentlessly to fix our country's broken student loan system and address the needless hurdles and administrative inaccuracies that, in the past, kept borrowers from getting the student debt forgiveness they deserved.

Let me make sure I'm getting this straight: the Biden folks are fixing a broken system by forcing the rest of us--the American people who didn't promise to repay these loans--to shoulder the burden of higher taxes for years to come.

Read more updates here

American Sports & Culture

American Business & Markets

American Politics