After the US Supreme Court struck down his administration’s plan to cancel federal student loan debts for millions of Americans, President Joe Biden has unveiled a “new path” for relief, one that he assured is “legally sound” but will “take longer”. In remarks from the White House on 30 June, the president hit out at Republican state officials and legislators who supported the lawsuit which enabled the nation’s highest court to strike down his student debt forgiveness initiative, accusing many of them of hypocrisy for taking money from pandemic-era relief programs while opposing relatively meager relief for student loan borrowers. “Some of the same elected Republicans, members of Congress who strongly opposed relief for students, got hundreds of thousands of dollars themselves ... several members of Congress got over a million dollars — all those loans are forgiven,” he said. “The hypocrisy is stunning,” he said. Accompanied by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Mr Biden opened his remarks by acknowledging that there are likely “millions of Americans” who now “feel disappointed and discouraged or even a little bit angry about the court’s decision today on student debt”. “And I must admit, I do too,” he said. Still, Mr Biden reminded Americans that his administration has previously taken actions to reform student loan repayment programs to make them easier to access, and to keep borrowers from spending more than five per cent of disposable income on monthly repayments, and to strengthen loan forgiveness options for borrowers who take public service jobs. The president has directed Mr Cardona to “find a new way” to grant similar loan relief “as fast as we can” in a way that is “consistent” with the high court’s decision. On Friday, the Education Department issued the first step in the process of issuing new regulations under this so-called “negotiated rulemaking” process. In the mean time, Mr Biden said his administration is creating a temporary year-long “on-ramp repayment programme” under which conditions will remain largely the same as they have during the three-year pandemic-era pause in payments which is set to expire this fall. The department’s 12-month “on ramp” to begin repayments, from 1 October through 30 September, aims to prevent borrowers who miss repayments in that time period from delinquency, credit issues, default and referral to debt collection agencies. “During this period if you can pay your monthly bills you should, but if you cannot, if you miss payments, this on-ramp temporarily removes the threat of default,” he said. “Today’s decision closed one path. Now we’re going to pursue another — I’m never gonna stop fighting,” the president continued, adding that he will use “every tool” at his disposal to get Americans the student debt relief they need so they can “reach [their] dreams”. “It’s good for the economy. It’s good for the country. It’s gonna be good for you,” he said. Asked by reporters whether he’d given borrowers false hope by initiating the now-doomed forgiveness plan last year, Mr Biden angrily chided the GOP for having acted to take away the path to debt relief for millions. “I didn’t give any false hope. The question was whether or not I would do even more than was requested. What I did I felt was appropriate and was able to be done and would get done. I didn’t give borrowers false hope. But the Republicans snatched away the hope that they were given and it’s real, real hope,” he said. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling from the conservative majority argues that the president does not have the authority to implement sweeping relief, and that Congress never authorised the administration to do so. Under the plan unveiled by the Biden administration last year, millions of people who took out federally backed student loans would be eligible for up to $20,000 in relief. Borrowers earning up to $125,000, or $250,000 for married couples, would be eligible for up to $10,000 of their federal student loans to be wiped out. Those borrowers would be eligible to receive up to $20,000 in relief if they received Pell grants. Roughly 43 million federal student loan borrowers would be eligible for that relief, including 20 million people who stand to have their debts cancelled completely, according to the White House. Lawyers for the Biden administration contended that he has the authority to broadly cancel student loan debt under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, which allows the secretary of education to waive or modify loan provisions following a national emergency – in this case, Covid-19. Since March 2020, with congressional passage of the Cares Act, monthly payments on student loan debt have been frozen with interest rates set at zero per cent. That pandemic-era moratorium, first enacted under Donald Trump and extended several times, was paused a final time late last year. Over the last decade, the student loan debt crisis has exploded to a balance of nearly $2 trillion, most of which is wrapped up in federal loans. The amount of debt taken out to support student loans for higher education costs has surged alongside growing tuition costs, increased private university enrollment, stagnant wages and GOP-led governments stripping investments in higher education and aid, putting the burden of college costs largely on students and their families. Read More Supreme Court strikes down Biden’s plan to cancel student loan debts Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action, banning colleges from factoring race in admissions Biden condemns Supreme Court striking down affirmative action: ‘This is not a normal court’ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson delivers searing civil rights lesson in dissent to affirmative action ruling

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Head to Google’s homepage today and you’ll see its primary-coloured logo transformed into an elaborate floral display, accompanied by an imposing, androgynous face. This face belongs to the pioneering British artist known only as Gluck, who is celebrated both for their iconic portraits and picture frame designs, and for their bold rejection of gender norms. Google has used its Doodle design to pay tribute to the trailblazing visionary on what would have been their 128th birthday. So what do we know about Gluck? And why was their work so important? Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Gluck was born Hannah Gluckstein in London on 13 August 1895 to a wealthy catering family. However, as they grew older, they rejected their full name – asking to be referred to simply as Gluck. They attended the prestigious St. Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith before moving on to St John's Wood School of Art. During World War I, they moved to the village of Lamorna in Cornwall, which was known for its buzzing artists' community. There, Gluck began to defy gender norms and fashions, donning men’s clothes and sporting barbered hair. According to the Royal Academy of Art, they refused to identify with any artistic school or movement and so exhibited their work solely in “one-man shows”. They also wrote on the backs of publicity photos: “Please return in good condition to Gluck, no prefix, suffix or quotes.” And, as Google notes, when one art society identified Gluck as “Miss Gluck” on its letterhead, they immediately resigned. Still, despite what would have been eyebrow-raising practices at the time, Gluck earned popularity among their peers and the wider public. In 1932, Gluck designed and patented a three-tiered picture frame, which later became known as the Gluck frame. This traditionally matched the colour of the wall on which it hung, giving the illusion that the painting was part of the wall itself. But perhaps their most famous work was a double-portrait of Gluck and their lover Nesta Obermer, called ‘Medallion’. Gluck referred to the 1936 piece as the “YouWe” picture, which symbolised their spiritual, marital union with Obermer. They later explained that, on 23 June 1936, the couple had attended a production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne. Gluck felt that the intensity of the music fused them into one, inspiring the “YouWe” painting as a public declaration of love and commitment. “Now it is out,” they subsequently wrote to Obermer, “and to the rest of the Universe I call Beware! Beware! We are not to be trifled with.” Up until their relationship with Obermer, Gluck was better known for their still-lifes of flowers, which were inspired by arrangements created by their former lover, florist Constance Spry. After this affair ended and their relationship with Obermer blossomed in its place, Gluck’s subjects and style evolved, with the focus shifting to their alliance, which they saw as a true meeting of souls. In 1973, Gluck held their final exhibition, which debuted more than fifty paintings from across their career. As Google points out in the blurb to its Google tribute, Gluck refused to compromise artistically and personally, and their legacy continues to inspire artists to express themselves freely today. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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