Questions about Biden's Student Loan Plan?
There have been lots of questions about President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, ever since he announced it on Aug. 24.
Under his plan, individuals who meet income requirements will be eligible for up to $10,000 in debt cancellation. Another $10,000 could be waived for some people who also received federal Pell Grants, which are awarded to students based on financial need.
But who is eligible for debt forgiveness? Which loans will be forgiven? When will the debt be canceled?
There are also financial questions raised by friends and foes alike: How much will it cost? How will the plan affect inflation? How might it affect college tuition?
There's even the most basic question: Does the Biden administration have the authority to cancel student loan debt?
Our staff -- D'Angelo Gore, Rob Farley and Lori Robertson -- has answers to all of these questions and more in our article "Q&A on Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Plan."
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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have relied on numerous experts in the fields of epidemiology, immunology and virology, to name a few. One such expert is Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He is also a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology & microbiology, and co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development. He has an undergraduate degree in molecular biophysics from Yale University (1980), a Ph.D. in biochemical parasitology from Rockefeller University (1986) and a medical degree from Cornell University (1987). He has been cited in seven of our stories -- most recently to explain why the COVID-19 vaccines over time have become less effective at preventing symptomatic infection, while remaining highly effective in preventing severe disease and death. Read more.
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The Department of Justice has identified more than 300 "unique documents" marked as classified that had been stored at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property, DOJ court filings show. On Jan. 18, the National Archives and Records Administration received 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago, and 14 of them contained “184 unique documents bearing classification markings," including "92 documents marked as SECRET, and 25 documents marked as TOP SECRET.” On June 3, Trump’s attorney handed over an envelope in response to a grand jury subpoena that contained “38 unique documents bearing classification markings," including "16 documents marked as SECRET, and 17 documents marked as TOP SECRET." On Aug 8, an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago uncovered 13 boxes that held “over one hundred unique documents with classification markings." Read more. |
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Deputy Managing Editor Rob Farley’s story on the controversial film "2000 Mules" was cited in a Newsweek article about a delay in releasing the book version of conservative activist Dinesh D'Souza's film about the 2020 election.
Rob's article -- "Evidence Gaps in '2000 Mules'" -- took a hard look at the film's flimsy evidence for its sweeping claim that Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election was the result of widespread fraud.
D'Souza's film relied on geotracking data of cell phones in five swing states to claim that some 2,000 cell phone users -- i.e., mules -- stuffed the ballot boxes with illegal ballots, because they were geolocated in the immediate vicinity of 10 or more ballot drop boxes and five or more liberal nonprofits.
As Newsweek writes:
FactCheck.org said D'Souza's adherence to True the Vote, which paid $2 million for geo-tracking data of cellphones used in targeted areas of five swing states in the weeks leading up to the presidential election, "is speculative and does not provide the 'definitive' proof that Trump and the filmmakers claim."
Rob's findings were later echoed by former Attorney General Bill Barr, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump.
In testimony before the House special committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Barr said, "[I]f you take 2 million cell phones and figure out where they are physically in a big city like Atlanta, or wherever, just by definition you’re going to find many hundreds of them have passed by and spent time in the vicinity of these boxes. And the premise that if you go by five boxes, or whatever it was, you know, that that’s a mule is just indefensible."
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Reader: Was Biden forced to build a wall around his Rehoboth home for security? How long has he owned Rehoboth home.
FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: A local newspaper, the Cape Gazette, covered a Sussex County Board of Adjustment meeting on April 4, 2022, when the board voted 4-0 to allow Turnstone Holdings to build a fence at President Biden’s property in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. According to its article:
Turnstone Holdings LLC CEO Harvey Ryan made the presentation to the board on behalf of the Bidens. The Rehoboth beach builder was awarded a $445,000 contract by the Department of Homeland Security, with the Secret Service as the subagency, to construct the fence. Modifications to the contract have increased the cost to $463,000.
“The property is unique in size and presented a challenge for security,” Ryan said. “It was purchased before security measures were required. These are minimum variances with the least modifications as possible.'
USAspending.gov – the official source for federal government spending data – shows that the Department of Homeland Security has awarded $490,324 to Turnstone Holdings, a Rehoboth Beach company, to install “security fencing.” The original contract was for $456,548, but additional work has increased the price to $490,324.
As for how long Biden has owned this beach home, an Associated Press article in USA Today says:
He bought the beach house after leaving the vice presidency, aided by an $8 million, multibook deal that he and his wife, Jill, signed.
“Throughout our careers, Jill and I have dreamed of being able to buy a place at the beach at home where we can bring the whole family,” Biden said in a statement upon buying the home. “We feel very lucky that we’re now able to make that happen.”
The Cape Gazette article includes a photo of the president's house in Rehoboth.
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Wrapping Up
Here's what else we've got for you this week:
- "Timeline of FBI Investigation of Trump’s Handling of Highly Classified Documents": Here we provide a timeline of the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago and its investigation of former President Donald Trump's handling of highly classified documents. We will update the timeline with new information as warranted.
- "Widespread Claims Misrepresent Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines": As the virus that causes COVID-19 has evolved, the vaccines have become less effective in preventing symptomatic infection while remaining highly effective in preventing severe disease and death. This shift has been misrepresented by anti-vaccine influencers who falsely claim that it means the vaccines don’t work and have been ineffective all along.
- "Commentator Ben Shapiro Didn’t Receive $20K in Federal Loan Forgiveness": Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro criticized the Biden administration’s decision to forgive some student loan debt. Liberal social media accounts then falsely claimed Shapiro had received a loan of about $20,000 that had been forgiven as part of the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Two other people with the same name had received PPP loans.
- "Post Makes Baseless Allegations About Public Health Response to Monkeypox Outbreak": A post published in English and Spanish repeats the debunked idea that the current monkeypox outbreak might have resulted from a virus that was created in a lab. The post also baselessly alleges that the World Health Organization’s decision to declare the outbreak a public health emergency was due to financial incentives."
Y lo que publicamos en español (English versions are accessible in each story):
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