The United States Constitution is, still, the ultimate law of the land. That august document outlines strict limits on what the federal government can and cannot do. The Tenth Amendment to that document clearly states that, unless the federal government has specific constitutional authorization for an action or policy, then it is prohibited from taking said action or implementing the policy. The Constitution may be changed only through the amendment process, which, by design, is a high bar to hurdle. 

Unless you are Joe Biden, of course, in which case the Constitution is just something that applies to other people. A recent Issues & Insights editorial has some cogent analysis.

The Supreme Court told President Joe Biden that he didn’t have the authority to forgive student loan debt. But he did anyway, bragging that the Court “didn’t stop me.” So why do we even have a legislative branch and a high court if the president is going to make law as if he were a king?

It’s Biden’s party, and its activist media, that has been carping for years about losing “our democracy.” Yet when a Democratic president bypasses the checks and balances that are the backbone of our republic, the three co-equal branches framework of government that is intended to guard against descending into a dictatorship, they celebrate rather than condemn.

Maybe it’s because they care about the integrity of our system of government only when it’s making policies they want.

Note that the last sentence is exactly correct. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, smacked down the first student loan forgiveness plan. But people in the Biden Administration (it is doubtful in the extreme that Joe Biden is alert and aware enough to have much part in this) immediately set to finding a workaround. Contesting it will require an entirely new set of court filings, likely going all the way back to the Supreme Court. 

Feature, not bug.

Can you imagine the outcry if a Republican administration was so defiant of a Supreme Court decision?

In her concurring opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted that “when it comes to” national policy, “the Constitution gives Congress the reins — a point of context that no reasonable interpreter could ignore.”

But high court rulings apparently don’t apply when a Democratic president decides they don’t. Last week, the White House played the role of unreasonable interpreter and announced “$1.2 billion in student debt cancellation for almost 153,000 borrowers.”

“The Biden-Harris administration has now approved nearly $138 billion in student debt cancellation for almost 3.9 million borrowers through more than two dozen executive actions,” according to a White House fact sheet.

Biden acknowledged last week that “my MAGA Republican friends in the Congress, elected officials, and special interests stepped in and sued us,” and that “the Supreme Court blocked it.”

In this, we have a President of the United States, bragging - bragging - about openly defying a Supreme Court decision, as well as the Congress of the United States. The Executive branch has no authority - none - to take this action. But then, there is no constitutional provision for the federal government to be involved in education in any way whatsoever; there's a good argument to be made that the very existence of a federal Department of Education (or a host of other federal agencies) should not exist at all.

See Related: This Is the Way: Thomas Massie Introduces Bill to Demolish the Department of Education 

Joe Biden 'Cancels' Another $1.2 Billion in Student Loan Debt — Six Months Ahead of Schedule

Then there's the legacy media, who along with Democrats (but I repeat myself) are largely ignoring the constitutional aspects. If a Republican president, say, one named Trump, took this same action, Congressional Democrats would be waving the Constitution and raising Ned over the issue.

There is no intellectual consistency with these people. Their ethics are purely circumstantial. This year is an election year, and the idea of student loan forgiveness - by which I mean, taking money away from people who have behaved responsibly and giving it to Underwater Ethnic Dog-Polishing Studies majors who borrowed for useless degrees - is popular among the mushy-headed left, which is an important Democrat constituency. 

So, yes, the Biden Administration is defying a Supreme Court decision, ignoring the proper role of Congress, and abrogating centuries of contract law. These kids signed contracts - and now the Biden Administration wants to simply hand-wave them away. It's not about the Constitution, it's not about the law, it's not about ethics, and it's certainly not about what's right; it's an election year, and it's all about the Side. Once you realize that, all the rest starts to make sense.