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Head 2 Head
Student Loan Forgiveness Sparks Heated Debate
To reduce inflation, battle climate change, reduce gas prices, stem rising crime and to protect our southern border, President Joe Biden has forgiven $10,000 in federal student loans and extended $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year. A study by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School found that "Between 69% and 73% of debt forgiven accrues to households in the top 60% of income distribution" and the total cost could reach $1 trillion. Even many Democrats are outraged. Jason Furman, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama said: "I've been critical of student debt loan relief for the last two years, but the plan came in, frankly, much worse than I expected. It was supposed to be about $250 billion. I thought that was a bad idea, I expressed that. Instead, it's probably about $500 billion. At this point in our economy, we really don't need to be adding $500 billion of deficit spending for a purpose that frankly includes wealthy law students and business school graduates getting tens of thousands of dollars." Many of these grad school degree recipients work in jobs that do not even require college degrees, let alone advanced degrees from expensive colleges and universities. The cost of college has long exceeded the rate of inflation, primarily because of the availability of government money that creates an incentive to jack up tuition and hire more administrators lest the college lose millions of dollars. This will turbocharge the impetus to raise college admissions, never mind universities like those of the Ivy League with endowments substantial enough to admit students for free. Hate to be a buzzkill, but is the debt forgiveness even legal? Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on Aug. 24, 2022, said: "President Biden's bold action is a strong step in Democrats' fight to expand ac-
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Student Debt Relief -- Reparations for Rich cess to higher education and empower every American to reach fulfillment. By delivering historic targeted student debt relief to mil-
White People lions of borrowers, more working families will be able to meet their kitchen table needs." But Pelosi on July 28, 2021, said: "People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress." Charlie Rose, General Counsel, former Obama Department of Education, on May 7, 2021, agreed with Pelosi. Rose said: "If the Larry Elderissue is litigated, the more persuasive analyses tend to support the conclusion that the Executive Branch likely does not have the unilateral authority to engage in mass student debt cancellation." What, one might ask, about the suckers who paid off their student loans and the majority of Americans, many of whom are minorities, who never attended college? Let's propose an addendum to the plan. Because most criminals will not benefit from student loan forgiveness, and to combat "systemic racism," Biden should allow thieves of color and/or thieves from the LGBTQIA+ community to keep $10,000 worth of stolen goods, if taken from a white college graduate. Win-win. Under the category of "you cannot make this up," Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe tweeted, "Good news for thousands of my former students. I'm grateful on their behalf, Mr. President." In other words, the prof celebrates loan forgiveness for Harvard law grads, those most capable of paying off their own loans. Let's hear it for reparations for rich white people! While we have the moLarry Elder continued to page 20 W hile in the White House, Former President Donald Trump enjoyed a well-earned reputation for using Twitter to attack and hit back at critics of his administration. Since President Joe Biden took office, the use of the @WhiteHouse account on the social media platform was limited to touting specific policies and legislation for which the current administration sought to lift up. Until now. In a series of tweets, the White House spotlighted lawmakers complaining about student loan forgiveness despite the government ultimately forgiving those members of Congress Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
The White House account specifically homed in on GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Reps. Markwayne Mullin and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, and Vern Buchanan of Florida. Each received large PPP loans during the pandemic.
Greene went on television to call Biden’s student loan forgiveness unfair — to which the White House Twitter account sprang into action. “Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven,” the White House tweeted along with a video of the congresswoman complaining about Biden’s new student loan policy.
On Fox News, Buchanan insisted, “As a blue-collar kid who worked his way through college, I know firsthand the sacrifices people make to receive an education. Biden’s reckless, unilateral
In Epic Tweets, student loan giveaway is unWhite House fair to the 87 percent of AmerDrags Repubicans without student loan lican Opposition debt and those who played by to Student Loan the rules.” Forgiveness Tweeting the video, the White House rebuked Buchanan: “Congressman Vern Buchanan had over $2.3 million in PPP loans forgiven.” Also, on Fox, Mullin claimed, “We do not need farmers and ranchers, small business owners, and teachers in Oklahoma paying the debts of Ivy League Lawyers and doctors across the U.S.” The response from the White House was to put him on blast: “Congressman Markwayne Mullin had over $1.4 million in PPP loans forgiven.” Stacy Brown Responding to Hern’s tweet that claimed the administration “forced [taxpayers] to pay for other people’s college degrees,” the White House replied: “Congressman Kevin Hern had over $1 million in PPP loans forgiven.” The White House also pointed out that Congressman Mike Kelly had $987,237 in PPP loans forgiven, and Congressman Matt Gaetz had $482,321 in PPP loans forgiven. Social media erupted over the White House’s diss of Republicans attacking loan forgiveness. “Today is the day that Joe Biden officially became the second Black president of the United States,” Twitter user @BlackKnight10K wrote. “Because only my people would do some [stuff] as gangster as this.” @BlackKnight10K wasn’t done. “Yo, the White House twitter account has temporarily reinstated slavery in the United States because they are owning every single Republican who had a PPP loan forgiven,” the user wrote. Added U.S. military vet Eric Garcia: Stacy Brown continued to page 20
Headlines From Africa
A look at current news from the continent of Africa
Angola: With over 97% of the vote counted, Angola’s election commission reported that the formerly Marxist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola captured a 51% majority of the vote, leading the opposing National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA with 44.5% to claim victory. But because the MPLA did not receive a two-thirds majority, they will need a buy-in from other lawmakers to pass major reforms.
Cameroon: Authorities report that thousands who fled communal violence near the Chad and Nigeria borders are suffering from malnutrition with scores of children dying.
Chad: Over 340,000 people from more than 55,000 households have been affected by unprecedented flooding caused by torrential rains. Crops and farming land as well as hundreds of homes were also been destroyed by the swollen rivers and the record rains.
Congo: With the help of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed to initiate direct communications aimed at ending tensions and fighting in eastern Congo.
Ethiopia: A humanitarian truce to let food be brought to the besieged region of Tigray was broken on L.A. Focus/ September 2022 August 24th, raising fears of a return to all-out war in the north. At the same time, rebellions around the western and southern edges of Ethiopia threaten to fragment the entire country. Gambia: The government of Gambia is starting the implementation of two climate resilience projects to increase agricultural yields and food security for people in urban and rural areas. Kenya: Vice President William Ruto of Kenya was named the winner of the country’s presidential election last month, but long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga challenged the results and filed a petition in the nation’s Supreme Court seeking to overturn Ruto's victory. Four out of seven commissioners overseeing the elections have also challenged the vote. 8
to destabilize the embattled African country. Berlin’s decision to freeze troop deployments out of a United Nations mission came as relations deteriorated between Germany and Mali’s military junta, which has become increasingly belligerent toward the West. Namibia: Namibia’s central bank raised borrowing costs by the biggest margin in almost two decades to safeguard its currency peg with South Africa’s rand and quell inflation.
Nigeria: In an attempt to develop local talent, Nigeria's advertising regulator has decided to ban white and foreign models and voiceover artists. The measure —taking effect in October—is expected to boost the prospects of locals in the advertising industry which had been primarily reliant on white models and British accents.
Niger: Parched by extended dry spells that have disrupted crops, Niger is deploying rainmaking planes in a bid to alleviate a drought that has sparked fears of a food crisis in the desert nation.
Sierra Leone: Violent protests against soaring inflation and the rising cost of living rocked the capital of Sierra Leone last month. Food inflation is at the highest level in decades, almost doubling since one year ago.
South Africa: In the wake of rising unemployment, President Cyril Ramaphosa has given a seal of approval to the revised critical skills work visa as the country tightens its immigration laws. South Africa is now reserving some jobs for its nationals in a move that will leave millions of foreign nationals jobless.
Uganda: Officials have launched the Restore Africa program to enable a record 350,000 farming households to be more climate resilient. Restore Africa will work in 36 districts to improve degraded farms—an urgent task given the rapidly changing climate and the need to climate proof Ugandan farmers and their farming systems.
Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Could Provide Relief to Up to 43 Million Borrowers
KISHA SMITH
Staff
Last month, President Biden announced a three-part plan to provide debt relief for those he says need it most, citing the skyrocketing cumulative federal student loan debt–$1.6 trillion and rising for more than 45 million borrowers–as a significant burden on America’s middle class.
Offering targeted debt relief as part of a comprehensive effort to address the burden of growing college costs and make the student loan system more manageable for working families, Biden announced that the Department of Education would provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education, and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients.
Borrowers are eligible for the relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples). No high-income individual or high-income household — in the top 5% of incomes — will benefit from this action. To ensure a smooth transition to repayment and prevent unnecessary defaults, the pause on federal student loan repayment will be extended one final time through December 31, 2022. Borrowers should expect to resume payment in January 2023. "All this means people can finally crawl out from under that mountain of debt to get on top of their rent and their utilities. To finally think about buying a home or starting a family or starting a business," Biden said in remarks from the White House.
The President is also directing the Department of Education to make the student loan system more manageable for current and future borrowers by (1) cutting monthly payments in half for undergraduate loans; and (2) fixing the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program by proposing a rule that borrowers who have worked at a nonprofit, in the military, or in federal, state, tribal, or local government, receive appropriate credit toward loan forgiveness.
To further reduce the cost of college, the President has said that he will continue to fight to double the maximum Pell Grant and make community college free, noting that colleges had an obligation to keep prices reasonable and ensure borrowers get value for their investments, not debt they cannot afford. Added Biden, "It includes unprecedented investments –nearly $6 billion in historic Black colleges, much of which is focused on pandemic relief to help students cover tuition and other costs so they can stay in school," This Administration has already taken key steps to strengthen accountability, including in areas where the previous Administration weakened rules. The Department of Education is announcing new efforts to ensure student borrowers get value for their college costs.
The President freely admitted that the plan would not make everyone happy, stating “But I believe my plan is responsible and fair. It focuses the benefit on middle class and working families. It helps both current and future borrowers. And it will fix a badly broken system."
Since 1980, the total cost of both four-year public and four-year private college has nearly tripled even after accounting for inflation. Federal support has not kept up: Pell Grants once covered nearly 80 percent of the cost of a four-year public college degree for students from working families, but now only cover a third. That has left many students from low- and middle-income families with no choice but to borrow if they want to get a degree.
All told, the plan could provide relief to up to 43 million borrowers, including cancelling the full remaining balance for roughly 20 million borrowers and by targeting relief to borrowers with the highest economic need, the Administration’s actions would help narrow the racial wealth gap.
The Department of Education is also announcing new actions to hold accountable colleges that have contributed to the student debt crisis. These include publishing an annual watch list of the programs with the Money Matters continued to page 20
Biz News Briefs
State Launches College Savings for Millions of Students & All Newborns
Families of low-income public school students — 3.4 million across the state — can now access college savings accounts created in their children's names, with seed investments of between $500 and $1,500. The CalKIDS program, launched this month, invests $1.9 billion into accounts for low-income schoolage children in grades 1-12 and for newborn children born on or after July 1, 2022.
“California is telling our students that we believe they’re college material — not only do we believe it, we’ll invest in them directly,” said Governor Newsom. “With up to $1,500, we’re transforming lives, generating college-going mindsets, and creating generational wealth for millions of Californians.”
“My goal with this program was to bridge the gap between wealth inequality and the high cost of education,” said Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian. “CalKIDS will expand access to college through savings by providing each child born in the state of California a seed deposit in a ScholarShare 529 college savings account. Furthermore, thanks to Governor Newsom’s investment and expansion of the Program to make college more accessible to low-income California kids, additional deposits will be made for low-income first graders across the state, with supplemental deposits for foster and homeless youth. Our shared vision ensures each child across the state will have an opportunity at higher education.”
In the coming months, CalKIDS will send notification letters to qualifying children and families with more information. To find out more, visit calkids.org.
Up to $1,500 for 3.4 Million School-Age Children:
• $500 Automatic Deposit: Eligible low-income public school students in grades 1-12. • $500 Additional Deposit: Eligible low-income public school students in grades 1-12 identified as foster youth. • $500 Additional Deposit: Eligible low-income public school students in grades 1-12 identified as homeless.
Up to $100 for Newborn Children:
• $25 Automatic Deposit: Every eligible child born on or after
July 1, 2022.
• $25 Additional Deposit: Those who register on the program’s online portal. • $50 Additional Deposit: Those who link a new or existing
ScholarShare 529 account to the CalKIDS account.
L.A.’s own Fawn Weaver, daughter of the prolific author Bunny Wilson and late Pastor Frank Wilson, is celebrating a huge milestone of her own. Weaver is the chairman, CEO and founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, which was recently ranked among the top 1,000 companies honored on Inc. Magazine 2022 listing of the 5,000 most successful companies in America. The company– which has grown more than 3,000 percent since its first year–announced in 2021 that it has become the bestselling African American owned and founded spirit brand in history, having sold 1.5 million bottles of its super premium whiskey. Little wonder why as Uncle Nearest has earned 509 awards, including 59 Best in
Uncle Nearest Class, and 335 Gold, Double Gold and Platinum medals for its whiskey.
Named One of America’s Most Successful Companies
Snoop Dogg’s Business Empire Continues to Expand
Calvin Broadus (aka Snoop Dogg) recently branched out into the world of kid songs and nursery rhymes with the launch of “Doggyland”, a You Tube channel aimed at helping kids learn social-emotional skills through rap, dance, and song. The show – aimed at toddlers to 8-yearolds – features a colorful cast of dogs in a vibrant world where they sing fun and educational songs that teach social, learning and cognitive skills. The 50-year-old rapper has also entered the cereal game with “Snoop Loopz””, the latest product from the Broadus Foods line he co-founded with fellow rapper "Master P" that includes oatmeal, grits, pancake mix and syrup. “More corn, more flavor & more marshmallows, that’s what separated us from the rest”, Master P wrote in an Instagram post of the gluten free cereal. “If you like Fruit Loops then you will love SnoopLoopz!!”
Mattel Sues Rap Snacks
Last month, Mattel Inc. filed a lawsuit in L.A. Federal Court against Rap Snacks, the popular Miami-based snack brand that features rap artists. The toy company alleges that the company infringed on its Barbie trademark with the early summer launch of its “Barbie-Que Honey Truffle” chips, featuring Nicki Minaj on the label. The California-based toymaker argues that the snack creates confusion among consumers, falsely associating the product with its Barbie brand. The company sought an order to block Rap Snacks from using its trademark and is hoping to receive unspecified damages along with profits from the sales of the chips. Nicki Minaj was not named in the suit…Speaking of chips, WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson has become the first-ever female athlete to sign a sponsorship deal with Ruffles. The 6-foot, 4-inch, four-time WNBA All-Star power forward for the Las Vegas Aces and Olympic gold medalist is tipping off her multi-year contract with the game-changing launch of the new Ruffles Ridge Twists product line, including her own signature flavor, Smoky BBQ. The product will be available in stores nationwide in the coming weeks and is currently available on snacks.com in 5.5oz bags for $5.59 and 1.75oz bags for $2.29.
Like much of the western United States, California is in the midst of what experts are calling a “megadrought”, claiming that the last 22 years has marked the driest period since records started being kept nearly 1,200 years ago. While lack of water may affect all citizens equally— and as lawmakers in the state scramble to figure out long term solutions to make up for the state’s dwindling water supplies— the ability to provide reliably safe water is an issue that overwhelmingly affects our states most vulnerable populations including people of color.
Despite California being the first state in the union to declare that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes”, as stated in legislation passed in 2012 under Governor Jerry Brown, a blistering audit recently released by acting State Auditor Michael Tilden confirms that California is failing many of its citizens on their right to safe, clean water.
According to Tilden’s report over 370 water systems across the state which serve more than 920,000 Californians were not meeting water quality standards as of December 2021. The report states that more than two-thirds of these systems are located in disadvantaged communities with significant financial need, forcing residents who can least afford it to “purchase more expensive bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes”, not to mention the long term negative health outcomes associated with being exposed to unsafe drinking water which include increased risk of liver and kidney problems as well as cancer.
All of which conjures up images of Flint, Michigan, where thousands lined up to get clean water after city’s residents were sickened after being exposed to dangerous levels of lead, and outbreaks of Legionnaire disease killed at least 12 people. And even more recently, Jackson, Mississippi where the city has been without potable running water for weeks and residents have been advised to shower with their mouths closed.
In L.A. County, the right for all communities to have equal access to safe, reliable drinking water is a major concern— as historically, wealthier and more established cities were able to lay claim to a greater stake in the clean drinking water supply.
Environmental lawyer Jennifer Hernandez, who runs the Land Use and Environmental Law Group at the law firm, Holland and Knight, explains how water deals made over a hundred years ago are negatively affecting unincorporated areas which are largely made of communities of color.
“Many of the smaller cities in L.A. County emerged after the major water deals were brokered, and those deals only served the bigger, wealthier cities that were organized to go after the water,” reports Hernandez. “Unincorporated county areas, which tended to have higher percentages of black and Latino residents and had local governments that were either just getting started or non-existent weren’t at the table when the big water pie was getting sliced up.”
Hernandez says the L.A. County water system as it is currently set up was working well until around the mid-seventies. Since then, a population boom of around 20 million along with the dwindling water supply due to extreme drought conditions has caused an inequity in the quality of water being supplied. The result is the larger, more economically stable areas getting a greater stake in the supply of fresh drinking water, and smaller areas left to try to find solutions on ways to create supply— including using treated sewage water.
“Right now, there is really only one important solution to water supply and that is to treat sewer water,” says Hernandez. “Of course, that's pretty ridiculous but that's the solution L.A. has accepted. It shouldn't be the only solution for the folks of south L.A.— they should have the right to the same healthy and sustainable water as the wealthier and older cities.”
Adriana Renteria, Director of Public Participation at the State Water Control Board points to the racist policies of redlining and segregation directly contributing to the disparity in water quality across the counties.
“Smaller communities of color were intentionally not incorporated by nearby cities,” says Renteria. “Sometimes cities would essentially grow around these immigrant communities and those immigrant communities would be left unincorporated. When you look at the history of which communities were incorporated and which ones were redlined, you will see that there's a legacy of historic disinvestment so those communities which were not incorporated had to create their own special district.
“Many of them to this day still run their water district with their own people. You can imagine how hard it would be to manage a complex water system if you’re a volunteer, and that’s what is happening today.”
There are currently 205 separate water systems in L.A. County, each in charge of providing water for the connections in their jurisdiction. Some water systems, like the L.A. Department of Water and Power which serves 681,000 customers, are large and relatively stable and reliable— while smaller systems struggle to meet quality standards.
According to the State Water Control Board (SWCB)--the government agency tasked with overseeing the allocation of the state’s water resources for all purposes— small public water systems are often less resilient to natural disasters, such as drought and fire, have more difficulty adjusting to regulatory changes, and may struggle to fund infrastructure maintenance and replacement due to poor economies of scale and
KEITH DELAWDER
Contributor
lack of staff.
One example of a small water system failing was in 2017 when 7,000 residents in the Compton/Willowbrook area complained about murky brown water with a foul odor coming from their pipes. The residents were all customers of the Sativa Water District whose aging pipes were leaching manganese into the water, along with failing wells and contaminated ground water.
Sativa serviced largely Black and Latino neighborhoods whose residents were predominantly low income. The County ended up dissolving Sativa completely and having the L.A. County Department of Public Works serve the area before it was eventually bought by Suburban Water Systems.
The joining of two or more water systems— with a larger system usually absorbing a smaller system— is called water system consolidation and according to Adriana Renteria, it can be a good solution to helping provide clean water to areas in need.
“Consolidation can be an effective strategy in providing relief for smaller water systems that are buckling under the pressures of lack of supply along with years of neglect and underfunding,” says Renteria. “The issue becomes finding incentive for the company to take on the costs— also some residents fear that their rates will rise overnight.”
In his first week in office, Governor Newsom proposed providing permanent funding for safe drinking water projects to help more than 1 million Californians without access to clean drinking water, subsequently signing into law SB 200, which established the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund to help local water systems provide safe drinking water.
“The fact that more than a million Californians can’t rely on clean water to drink or bathe in is a moral disgrace,” said Newsom. “This funding is critically important to addressing California’s long-standing safe drinking water issues, and I would like to thank the Legislature for working collaboratively to pass this solution.”
During its August 18, 2020 meeting, the State Water Board publicly acknowledged that the historical effects of institutional racism be confronted throughout government, directing its staff to develop a Racial Equity Action Plan which would include specific actions the State Water Board would take to address racial inequities, as well as metrics to track progress.
“With this action plan,” the report stated, “we envision a sustainable California where race no longer predicts where clean water is available or who has access to it.”
But in his April 2022 resignation letter to the California State Water Resources Board, Max Gomberg, a climate and conservation manager, said he believed that the administration had failed to address inequities in the water rights system, citing local groundwater agencies dominated by representatives of irrigation districts and agricultural interests which get the lion’s share of the state water resources.
“The people in charge of those agencies have the least incentive to move quickly,” Gomberg said. “They fully intend to run out the clock and fight any state attempt to come in and get into their business.”
With shrinking water accessible from the Colorado River and California in the midst of one of its most extreme droughts on record, the concern for racial equity is only exacerbated.
That’s where organizations such as Groundswell for Water come in, organizing campaigns aimed at ensuring water equity for communities of color across the L.A. area, and throughout California. Groundswell is led by a coalition of local organizations and individuals who are advocating for new policies which enhance the delivery of water by supporting small water system operators throughout the state, many of which have been serving low income communities with unsafe water for decades.
“Groundswell was designed to pick up the water fight and deal with water equity as a social justice issue for communities of color,” says Robert Sausedo, President and CEO of Community Build Inc., a leading organization in the Groundswell coalition along with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, among others.
The organization has recently been involved in a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management, to make sure people of color have a seat at the table when it comes to creating water policy. “Those from disadvantaged communities tend to be at the end of the value sheet when it comes to getting clean drinking water and we need to be at the table like everyone else— on the front end of the deal,” says Sausedo. “The people that show up and fight are more likely to be communities that are economically stable, which means they are the first recipients of any new water and leave communities of concern out of the loop. That’s why we have to raise our voices now and deal with this right now. No one’s going to look out for the rights of communities of color unless we do it ourselves.”
For more information and how to get involved, visit groundswellforwater.com
IS YOUR WATER SAFE?
If you are someone who is wondering whether your water at home is safe, there are several resources available for checking the water quality in your area.
According to Jeff O’Keeffe, Supervising Sanitary Engineer for the State Water Resources Control Board’s Southern California Division of Drinking Water, the first step in finding out about your water’s quality is knowing where it comes from.
From there, O’Keefe advises that you look up your water system’s annual Consumer Confidence report–which each water system is required to publish– and gives information about the source of your water along with summarizing details about the risks of contaminants found in the water, and accounting of the system’ sanctions to restore safe drinking water.
“For those who are billed customers, you receive a of the Consumer Confidence reports directly, but many renters never see them so it’s important to look it up,” says O’Keeffe.
The SWCB also has a tool available through its Safe Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) program which monitors and identifies public water systems and domestic wells that are “at-risk”.
“On the SWCB’s website the SAFER program offers a dashboard where you can look up any community and see if they’re failing, or if they’re at risk and see how much funding we’re providing,” says Adriana Renteria. “For instance, in the east L.A. region there are a few at risk systems so you can use the dashboard to see where they are and if you will be affected.”
