Bill for student-loan cancellations comes in — nearly $3,100 per household

NEWS AND OPINION:

“The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has updated its baseline estimates of how much the federal student loan program will cost taxpayers, and the numbers aren’t pretty. The latest official estimates show that taxpayers will spend $393 billion on the federal student loan program between 2024 and 2034, or around $3,100 per household,” advises a new analysis from Preston Cooper, who covers policy issues for Forbes.

“Around $221 billion of that cost comes from expected losses on the $1.1 trillion in student loans that the federal government will issue between 2024 and 2034, according to the CBO’s official accounting procedures. Using more comprehensive fair-value accounting techniques, losses on those loans could reach $278 billion. Another $34 billion will be spent administering the student loan programs,” Mr. Cooper wrote.

“The costs of running the student loan program have exploded in recent years, as past CBO projections show. In 2014, the agency projected that taxpayers would profit to the tune of 11 cents for every dollar of student loans the federal government issued in fiscal year 2024. But the most recent projections figure instead that taxpayers will lose 20 cents on the dollar for loans issued this fiscal year,” he also noted.

Some are not happy with these figures.

“It makes no sense that the average taxpayer, someone who works for a living and pays their fair share, must pick up the tab for deadbeat former students and pay off their student loans. You borrowed it, you owe it, you should have to pay for it,” noted Saul Anuzis, former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, in a comment shared with Inside the Beltway.

Find more of his commentary at SaulsNews.com.

ONE FOR ELISE

Rep. Elise Stefanik received the Ronald Reagan Defender of Freedom Award at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference, which took place in the nation’s capital over the weekend and ended Sunday.

The award was presented by Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the coalition, which is a national grassroots movement of nearly 3 million members focused on mobilizing and training people of faith for “effective civic action.”

Ms. Stefanik, a New York Republican who also serves as House Republican Conference Chair — revealed her personal mission during an acceptance speech.

“My goal every single day is to make sure House Republicans are unified, that we are focusing on the issues that matter to the American people, that we are going on offense communicating our positive message of making America great again and the America First movement. And we are crisscrossing this country to not only flip the Senate, but to gain seats in the House, and most importantly, to reelect Donald J. Trump,” Ms. Stefanik told her audience.

DEBATE BUZZ INCREASES

“Barring any last minute surprises, CNN on Thursday will host Democratic President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump in their first debate of the 2024 general election. Four years ago, when the same candidates met in the kickoff debate of the 2020 cycle, the liberal broadcast and cable networks crudely blasted Trump’s performance and crowned Biden the ’winner’ of ’the worst debate in modern history,’” writes Rich Noyes, contributing editor to Newsbusters.org, a conservative press watchdog.

“In fact, this year’s debate moderators, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, were among the most strident voices castigating Trump for his aggressive posture in that September 29, 2020 debate,” Mr. Noyes said, recalling that Mr. Tapper referred to the debate as “a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck,” and then blamed Mr. Trump for “the disgrace.”

Mr. Noye offered a wide array of examples of Trump bashing four years ago on CNN — along with MSNBC, CBS and NBC. Will the nation witness the same kind of criticism from the networks this time around?

“It’s now four years later and CNN is running the presidential debate. Maybe it will be a high-minded discussion that will enlighten and uplift the country,” Mr. Noyes writes.

“If not, you can bet journalists will be quick to blame Donald Trump, not Joe Biden. Or themselves,” he concludes.

FAITHFUL READERS

Things appear to be looking up in the book world as far as sales are concerned. And one particular demographic is leading the way.

Some 1,277 publishers that report results to the Association of American Publishers have revealed that their overall sales are up by 18.3% compared to last year, according to the latest sales figures.

“Every major category posted an increase over last April, and proved a heartening change of pace following a flat first quarter this year. With the April bounce, total sales for reporting publishers were up 4.2% in the first four months of 2024 over the comparable period a year ago,” Publisher’s Weekly said in a report released Sunday.

“The religious book segment had the largest improvement in April, with sales up 38.2% across all formats. The largest increase came in the segment’s biggest category, hardcover, with sales jumping 41.5%, helped in part by a substantial decline in returns,” the report said.

“Sales of books for adult readers rose 25.1% in April. Digital audiobooks continued their strong performance in the month, with sales skyrocketing 57.3% over the comparable period a year ago. E-book sales also did well, with sales up 19.8%. The two big print formats, hardcover and trade paperback, had gains of 17.6% and 29.2%, respectively,” the report noted.

POLL DU JOUR

• 60% say they are more concerned about the cost of living than they were three months ago.

• 54% of U.S. adults say credit card debt is a source of financial anxiety.

• 51% say they often spend more than they should.

• 38% expect to spend the same on traveling this summer compared to last year.

• 25% expect to spend more on traveling.

• 17% expect to spend more on home renovations.

• 15% expect to spend more on special events like graduations.

• 13% expect to spend more on large purchases like appliances or cars.

SOURCE: An Ipsos/BMO survey of 2,505 U.S. adults conducted online Feb. 28-March 18 and released Friday.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.