Free Republic

Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest people in the world with a net worth of $142 billion, according to Bloomberg, is also known for his generosity. He has donated billions to charity over the years, but when it comes to his kids, handouts aren’t part of the deal. In the HBO Becoming Warren Buffett documentary, Susie Buffett shared a story that gives a glimpse into her father's frugality. This wasn't the first time she had discussed it. Back in 2011, a Globe and Mail article mentioned that Susie once asked her father for a $41,000 loan to renovate her kitchen...

We're told that we need to forgive every dollar of the $1.74 trillion in student loan debt because young people are being crushed under a mountain of bad loans. How were they supposed to know that majoring in Environmental Activism wouldn't allow them to earn enough money to pay back their loan? That said, young people are so overburdened in college loan debt that they can't buy a house, or start a family, or even move out of their parent's home. That's been the narrative advanced by Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and every other advocate to make student...

The retiree says a local rooftop solar company and its partners forged her signature to sign her up for a loan she could not afford. If you’ve scrolled through social media lately, there’s a good chance you’ve seen an ad for rooftop solar. The latest government incentives are so generous, some ads claim, that you can get a new roof for free with the panels — and eliminate your electric bills in the process. Claver Campbell, a 76-year-old homeowner in Queens, came across one such ad on Facebook about a year ago, she recalled. It promised a new roof and...

Seven Republican-led states on Tuesday filed a lawsuit to challenge the Biden administration's latest student debt forgiveness plan, saying the U.S. Department of Education was taking steps to start canceling loans as soon as this week. The lawsuit came less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Biden administration's bid to revive a different student debt relief plan that was designed to lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers and speed up loan forgiveness for some.

The Biden-Harris team has signaled that it’s gearing up for an “October Surprise” on student loan cancellation — although it might come even sooner, sneaking in before early voting starts. Once again, they are trying to shift hundreds of billions of dollars in loans onto the 90% of Americans who don’t owe student debt, to gain favor with voters who do. And this time they’ve added a brazen direct-marketing campaign to appeal to those indebted voters, just ahead of the presidential election. Their new loan-forgiveness effort is particularly devious because it is designed with the administration’s previous court losses in...

A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily blocked a key Biden administration student loan forgiveness and repayment plan. The order could have significant ramifications for millions of borrowers.. Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education plan is a new income-driven repayment program designed to provide affordable payments and multiple pathways to loan forgiveness. The Education Department unveiled the SAVE plan last year, and began implementing the program in phases. But several groups of Republican-led states filed two separate legal challenges this spring, arguing that the Biden administration exceeded the authority Congress provided. Thursday’s appeals court ruling is just the latest...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A judge recently placed a Louisville skyscraper in a receivership after its owners defaulted on a $28 million loan, according to new court documents. A lawsuit was filed in June by lender Wilmington Trust National Association in Jefferson County Circuit Court, and accused the owners of the Meidinger Tower of failing to make a monthly payment of $142,204.82 last November. The plaintiffs also claim the owners have not made a payment in any subsequent month.

The Congressional Budget Office reports the 2024 budget deficit will near $2 trillion.. In 2024, the federal budget deficit is estimated to reach nearly $2 trillion, according to new projections released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week. In February, the agency predicted that the deficit would only be $1.58 trillion. However, spending increases have caused the projected deficit to increase by $400 billion, a staggering 27 percent hike. According to the CBO, 80 percent of the spike in the deficit can be blamed on four sources of government spending. The largest source, responsible for $145 billion of the...

“The investments that Russia had have matured. So Russia’s funds are sitting in cash, but they’re generating income for the institution which Russia has no claim on,” she concluded. The G7 agreed on the American proposal Thursday during a summit in Italy. The move allows the world leaders to tap into the interest being accumulated at European banking institutions from the frozen assets to the tune of $50 billion. Yellen added that the G7 has made it clear to Moscow that the actual assets will remain frozen until Russia agrees to pay for the damages Ukraine has sustained over the...

G7 leaders will agree on a new $50-billion loan for Ukraine as they gather Thursday for a summit at a plush resort in southern Italy. The funds will come from profits stripped off frozen Russian assets. AFP reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will fly in to join U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan for the talks at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in Puglia. The money is destined to to help Kyiv with defence, budgetary support, and reconstruction after more than two years of war with Russia.

President Joe Biden introduced new provisions to his student debt relief plan earlier this month, and the primary beneficiaries are high-income earners, according to a new analysis released by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. While Biden’s 2023 SAVE Plan already put taxpayers on the hook for $475 billion, the new plans add another $84 billion to the tally — largely by “canceling” the student debt of some 750,000 households making more than $312,000 a year on average. The average debt relief for these households is $25,500, the study found. In June 2023, the Supreme Court struck down...

Borrowing to pay for college is about to get more expensive: The interest rate on new federal student loans for undergraduates during the upcoming 2024-25 academic year will be the highest in 12 years. The federal student loan interest rate will be 6.53% for undergraduate students, up from 5.5% for the current year. The interest rate has not been that high on any undergraduate loans since the 2012-13 school year. Graduate students will see an 8.08% interest rate this coming academic year, up from 7.05%. And PLUS loans, which are available to both parents and graduate students, will come with...

Attorney generals for 17 Republican-led states have sued the Biden administration over its latest student loan debt forgiveness plan, arguing it does not have the authority to wipe out student loan debt for an estimated 30 million Americans. Under Biden’s new effort, called the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, “borrowers who originally took out $12,000 or less in loans and have been in repayment for 10 years are eligible to get their remaining debt canceled,” an April 8 news release states. The SAVE plan would also forgive debt for “borrowers in public service for 10 years who have made...

Three years ago, 28-year-old Blaisey Arnold entered a local auto dealership and came away with the keys to an $84,000 Chevy Tahoe. But this month, the wedding photographer and mother shared a video to TikTok describing how she was forced to sell her dream car.

On Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Heather Boushey stated that President Joe Biden is fighting inflation and its impact by “lowering the cost of student debt for all of those borrowers” with the student loan plan he announced earlier in the week. Boushey said, “[T]he President has been focused on using all the tools that he has at his disposal to make sure that he lowers costs for families. So, this is the first President to be negotiating with Big Pharma over prescription drug prices. That’s going to lower prices for...

On Monday, the Biden administration unveiled its new student loan debt proposal, which, if finalized, would eliminate some debt for as many as 25 million borrowers.These plans primarily target those with "runaway interest" and borrowers who have been making payments for two decades. Moreover, it aims to assist those eligible for forgiveness through income-driven repayment (IDR) schemes and individuals enduring financial hardship."The plans would give borrowers $20,000 in loan forgiveness for balances that have grown due to unpaid interest since entering repayment, regardless of income. Those who qualify for the SAVE IDR plan would get the full balance of their...

Yesterday afternoon, Joe Biden visited Wisconsin and announced a new student loan bailout program, “a proposal that would cancel at least some debt” for more than 30 million borrowers.Then, last night, Alexandria Ocasion-Cortez joined Stephen Colbert on the Late Show to discuss the move, applauding Biden’s gift of “hope” for college graduates who will now have the opportunity to… “travel abroad” on trips they would have been otherwise unable to afford if they were held to the original stipulations of the loan.By passing the debt onto people who didn’t incur it—er, I mean, by implementing loan “forgiveness,” Biden is buying...

On Monday’s broadcast of CBS’s “Late Show,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) stated that the student loan plan announced by President Joe Biden earlier in the day is “hope” for those who benefit from the plan to be able to do different things, including traveling abroad. Ocasio-Cortez said, “Actually, I’m going to be one of the few” that doesn’t get any benefits from the program, “I’m a member of Congress. I’m a little bit outside the threshold and bounds. But, if I wasn’t, just a few years ago, waitress me, five years ago, would have benefited from it. Congresswoman me will...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is capping clawbacks of benefit overpayments at 10% of benefits checks instead of 100% after being criticized for draconian repayment plans that left some beneficiaries destitute. Social Security Commissioner Martin O'Malley said in a statement that the agency would cease "the heavy-handed practice of intercepting 100% of an overpaid beneficiary's monthly Social Security benefit" if they failed to respond to a demand for repayment. Additionally, the Social Security Administration will extend repayment plans to 60 months, up from its limit of 36 months, giving recipients an additional two years to repay the money. The changes...

The Biden administration will soon roll out a sweeping new student loan forgiveness proposal that could impact millions of Americans. Despite its smaller scope than President Joe Biden’s first education debt relief plan that the Supreme Court ultimately blocked, this new aid package could still forgive the debt for as many as 10 million Americans, according to one rough estimate by higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. Biden is planning to provide details of his new debt forgiveness plan during a speech Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The president likely wants to start forgiving debt...