Letters to editor: Kudos to Brownley; student debt action wrong
Brownley deserves credit for IRA
On Aug. 16 President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act. This legislation will expand Medicare benefits, allow the government to negotiate drug prices and lower the premium to participate in the Affordable Care Act. The revenue to support these enhanced benefits, will be paid by multi-national corporations and wealthy individuals — many with history of paying zero taxes, courtesy of tax loopholes.
The bulk of the revenue ($370 billion) is dedicated to transitioning us to a clean energy economy, cutting carbon emissions approximately 40% by 2030. Investments in new green energy jobs, financial incentives to weatherproof your home, purchase electric energy efficient appliances, heat pumps, battery storage, solar, and/or a new or used EV, will help us transition from the fossil fuels, the primary culprit responsible for our climate crisis.
Much of the credit for passing the IRA belongs to Rep. Julia Brownley — serving as a member of the U. S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis since 2019. The report produced by this committee in June 2020 (Solving the Climate Crisis) was instrumental in convincing the House and Senate about the urgency to act on climate change. We should thank Rep. Brownley and other members of Congress who supported this legislation. However, much more needs to be done to insure a healthy and habitable planet for current and future generations. According to the United Nations, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we must totally stop burning fossil fuels by 2050 to avoid the worst consequences.
If you are interested playing a part transitioning to a cleaner, healthier and more secure world, consider joining a local chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby, 350.org. or similar organization. We need to work together to remind our legislators that the IRA is only a down payment and much more needs to be done.
Thomas Seigner, Westlake Village
Canceling student debt is unfair
Re: The Associated Press’ Aug. 25 article, “Plan to cancel student loan debt”:
I cannot believe President Biden’s action is legal. The article cites an opinion that it is legal under some obscure piece of legislation. That may be accurate as far as it goes, but it boggles the mind that it could be legal. How can any government official (allegedly, the Secretary of Education) have the power to wipe out $300 billion of government assets which means the national debt is instantly increased by that amount? Nancy Pelosi agrees with me.
Another point in the article is that a relatively small number of students have massive debts. To earn over, say $10,000, in the early years of job experience doesn’t seem too hard, especially since a college education does improve earning power over those without that piece of paper. That’s what Senate Pro-tem Patrick Leahy did back when tuition was more reasonable. And the action doesn’t provide any relieve for those earning more than $125,000 per year. That’s misleading because who earns that amount as a starting salary? And what happens when an initial salary less than that reaches that level? Sounds like a massive administrative problem.
Finally, even if this action stands the inevitable legal challenges, this action is grossly unfair to those who either took no debt or who paid it back.
I fervently hope this act will backfire on Mr. Biden in the midterms.
Jerry Lewi, Thousand Oaks
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Letters: Kudos to Brownley; student debt action wrong
