Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) blew a gasket on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to her and many of her leftist progressive friends, SCOTUS shouldn’t be deciding if paying off student loan debt is Constitutionally legal or not. Thus leading to this epically unhinged rant yesterday.
defund teachers unions.
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) February 28, 2023
Supposedly, if it weren’t for the Covid pandemic, many teachers and health professionals wouldn’t be in this bind! She cites two examples:
Take Bonnie Weiler-Sagraves, a high school teacher and AFT member. Despite working diligently to pay off her loans for more than 30 years, Bonnie retains a student loan balance of over $60,000, which is nearly double her net income after deductions. The COVID-19 pandemic added to Bonnie’s already substantial financial burden, limiting her opportunities to supplement her meager teacher’s salary. When student-loan repayments restart, Bonnie simply doesn’t know where she’ll find the money — she already sold her home in order to help with repayments.
Nicole Brun-Cottan, another AFT member, works as a critical-care physical therapist. Nicole loves her work, despite the substantial mental toll accompanying the treatment of severely ill patients in intensive care units. Saddled with over $105,000 in student-loan debt that leaves her unable to afford a home, and exhausted from the massive influx of COVID-19 patients, Nicole has been forced to consider leaving her nonprofit health care system.
I took at look at both women. Both not only belong to the AFT, but are active board members in their respective states of Florida and Oregon. Which leads me to wonder, how much are they paying in union dues? Because it’s a certainty that the AFT doesn’t give out freebies. No union does that I know of.
While Randi blew a gasket on the steps of the Supreme Court, and described this issue as a “moral” one during interviews, how are the union dues being spent?
During its 2020-2021 fiscal year, AFT collected $196.7 million in dues from school employees, a $10 million increase from last year, despite having 13,390 fewer members. AFT members pay $235 each year in union dues.
AFT spent $49 million of members’ dues on politics last year, according to the union’s own reporting. The union spent an additional $6 million on “Contributions, Gifts, and Grants,” with much of this money going to political organizations. In total, this accounted for about 27% of AFT’s spending in 2020-2021.
Sooo, NOT being spent to help alleviate their members student loan debt. Randi pushed for teacher vaccine mandates, advocated shrilly for well over a year to keep schools closed, called parents warmongers, and coordinated behind the scenes with the CDC on guidance to KEEP the schools closed and our children masked up. But helping the teachers IN the union pay off their debt? Nope. Not going to happen.
I mean, Randi should donate some of her $444,000 per year salary to Bonnie and Nicole. Given the size of that salary, gifting $10,000 to each of them shouldn’t be a problem!
Oh, you thought Randi blowing a gasket yesterday was something to behold? Imagine her reaction if she was told to give up some of her salary for the teachers!
The thing is, Randi and the rest believe SCOTUS shouldn’t have a say in this.
It’s the same thing here. Congress has had YEARS to act on figuring out better ways to skin the cat on student loans and debt forgiveness. CONGRESS is the purse holder on this. Biden’s end-run around Congress loan forgiveness, which would cost U.S. taxpayers billions, is a blatant power grab.
Furthermore, Randi and others claim that since businesses received loans, then students should have their loans forgiven as well. Except that those two are not the same thing. Why? Because the PPP loans were approved by Congress and some parameters of those loans involved repayment. Biden’s use of the HEROES Act (which was ONLY intended for service members from Iraq and Afghanistan wars) is, as I said above, blatantly wrong.
On Tuesday, the Court heard challenges to Biden’s attempt to spend half a trillion dollars cancelling the college and graduate school debts of 43 million people.
With whose money? The national debt, of course, because Congress didn’t appropriate funds for this or raise taxes or fees to pay for it.
Biden claims to be using the emergency powers of the HEROES Act passed after 9/11, the purpose of which was to let presidents suspend some student loan rules for soldiers serving abroad.
Even Nancy Pelosi and Biden’s own Department of Education warned him that he didn’t have the power to do this.
Randi and the rest who blew gaskets yesterday don’t want their base to know and understand that. Instead it’s lots of chanting and unhinged rants.
BREAKING: Hundreds of students, from near and far, have gathered outside of the US Supreme Court building Chanting "This is what Democracy looks like," in order to support President Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness plan. These students hope to help convince the SCOTUS that this… https://t.co/gFGIUqtR57 pic.twitter.com/Wvt30MMeQP
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) February 28, 2023
I wonder who paid for all their really nice and colorful signs? Again, Congress has had plenty of time to act, but they haven’t.
SCOTUS needs to follow the law and cancel student debt. pic.twitter.com/aU5LC5qCPK
— Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@RepBowman) February 28, 2023
Memo to Jamaal and Randi, before either of you blow another gasket, answer me this. Did Congress, at any time in the last three years, give Joe the authority to unilaterally wipe out student loan debt? Oh, that didn’t happen? You. Don’t. Say.
Feature Photo Credit: Randi Weingarten in February 2020, photo by Keith Mellnick via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, CC BY 2.0
Chad King says: I’m getting all weepy about a couple of union hacks who voluntarily took down huge amounts of student loans and now claim they don’t have the means of repaying them (actually, they want me to repay them for them). My bet is that those two women (I assume they’re women, but you never know!) each have over $1,000 a month of cell phone, television content, and auto loans (or lease payments). It used to be that people prioritized and paid their debts first. Now repaying debts that were voluntarily incurred seems to be what these folks do with whatever money they have left after paying for what they want. Of course, this is the same way the federal government approaches social security and Medicare–spend money on everything else and hope for the best. Our country is in a lot of trouble.
Cameron says: Make the colleges financially responsible for this and I guarantee that tuition costs will be the lowest in the First World.
GWB says: And a lot fewer people will be going to college.
And that will make the progressives angry, as that is a “right” now, in their eyes.
But the other thing that will have to be done, is to remove the gov’t entirely from the processing or funding of these loans. That is an egregious breach of their constitutional duty.
GWB says: Despite working diligently to pay off her loans for more than 30 years, Bonnie retains a student loan balance of over $60,000, which is nearly double her net income after deductions.
I sure as hell hope that lady doesn’t teach math.
her meager teacher’s salary
Again, math. I’m also betting the average pay in that district is higher than her “meager salary”. So, Randi, start looking at all those zero-value-added “administrators” her district is paying and see what you can do there.
she already sold her home in order to help with repayments
Wow. How little equity did she have in that home that it couldn’t retire most of $60,000 in debt. After 30 years. Sounds to me like she isn’t smart enough to be teaching my kids.
another AFT member, works as a critical-care physical therapist
Wait, WHAT?! SHE DOESN’T EVEN WORK AS A TEACHER. Why is she a member of AFT?
nonprofit health care system
Which should have lower salaries, in general. So, another one who can’t do math. And, one whom – IF she were a teacher – I wouldn’t want teaching my kids.
described this issue as a “moral” one
Well, it is. I think it’s morally wrong for the gov’t to loan students money (or guarantee it) and I think it’s morally wrong for colleges to accept that meddling in the marketplace. And I think it’s morally wrong for people to want to welsh on their legal and financial obligations.
The thing is, Randi and the rest believe SCOTUS shouldn’t have a say in this.
Which is why none of them should have a say anywhere in our education system. Period.
since businesses received loans, then students should have their loans forgiven as well
And, again, this sort of logical fallacy sort of obviates their authority to teach my children anything or be in authority over those who do. This is 3rd grade level logical fallacy stuff.
Chanting “This is what Democracy looks like,”
And is exactly why we DON’T HAVE A DEMOCRACY. We do not have mob rule (technically) in the US of A, we are supposed to have rule of LAW. We are a REPUBLIC. Not understanding that is why you’re unemployable idiots stuck with mountains of debt.
SCOTUS needs to follow the law and cancel student debt.
Wow. And this guy is a congressman. And he is NOT dumber than his constituents. THIS is the real problem in America – an electorate that elects these sorts of people.
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