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--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: President Biden announced an extensive plan Wednesday that forgives hundreds of billions of dollars in federal student loans. Both of these targeted actions are for families who need it the most. Who is eligible and is the move legal? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, August 25th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: A whistleblower from within Twitter makes explosive allegations about the platform that may end up helping Elon Musk in court. We have the details. And polls are tightening across the country as the midterms approach. But Democrats still face an uphill battle. We talk with a Democratic strategist about his party's biggest headwinds heading into November.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Food and gas prices are higher than ever, which is why you need to lock in your price with Good Ranchers right now. Their inflation-proof model locks in your price the day you subscribe for the life of your subscription. You've got to go to GoodRanchers.com slash wire and get 30% off your order plus free shipping. That's GoodRanchers.com slash wire. Enter promo code wire at checkout. GoodRanchers, American meat delivered.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: On Wednesday, President Joe Biden unveiled a sweeping plan to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt in a move progressive lawmakers are calling a giant step forward. Here to break down who will be eligible for loan forgiveness and how the plan will be paid for is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So during the 2020 campaign, President Biden had promised to forgive all student debt for graduates of public colleges. And while this plan doesn't go that far, it is still the biggest move that we've ever seen from the federal government on debt forgiveness.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Under the order, borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year will have $10,000 of their federal student loan debt eliminated, while those receiving Pell grants, that's the majority of loan recipients, will have $20,000 eliminated. In total, the plan is expected to include the majority of the 40 million Americans currently with student loans.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's President Biden at the White House on Wednesday. Nearly 45 percent can have their student debt fully canceled. That's 20 million people who can start getting on with their lives.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The president also announced that he'd be extending the pandemic or freeze on student loan payments through the end of the year. They were initially set to resume next week on the 31st. And finally, Biden announced a proposal that'll cap monthly payments for those with income-driven repayment plans at 5% of a borrower's discretionary income.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, a lot of college students are excited about this, but how much will it cost? Yeah, Republicans on Wednesday were quick to point out that simply forgiving debt doesn't make it disappear and that someone has to pay it off. And in this case, that money will come from taxpayers.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: According to the Penn Wharton business model, which is viewed as kind of the gold standard for this sort of thing, it cost anywhere from $300 billion to $400 billion over the next decade.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now critics say that at a time when inflation is continuing to rise at record rates this is not the time to be spending all that money. Now, we're also, though, just a couple months away from midterm. So how much does that play into the timing?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, there's definitely a political element at play here as well. So over the last four years, the Democrat base, as we've talked about on the show, has increasingly started relying on college-educated voters who obviously are the ones with debt.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And it's not crazy to think that a move like this, just 10 weeks before midterms, could be part of a broader effort to drive turnout among younger voters who disproportionately hold student debt.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Remember, voters under the age of 30 are around half as likely to vote in midterms as those over the age of 60, and just 24% of young people voted last midterm cycle.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the timing of this definitely could be viewed as strategic.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, how have Democrats responded to this announcement? This was a big campaign promise.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, it was. So they celebrated the move as a victory for young people strapped with debt. As you can imagine, Republicans feel very differently. They view this as an issue of personal responsibility and say that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for loans that young people willingly took out.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They view it as a wealth transfer from the working class to wealthy Americans. And to that note, many people have pointed out that only 37% of Americans have a four-year college degree, and they're usually actually in higher income brackets.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So it'll really be lower income, non-college educated Americans that are largely footing the bill here. Republicans also bring up the legal element and have pointed out that just back in April, Speaker Pelosi herself said that President Biden did not have the authority to forgive student debt.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: 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 would have to be an act of Congress.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, the Biden administration says that they do have the authority based on the state of emergency caused by COVID and the economic harm suffered by borrowers. But regardless, an interesting angle to keep an eye on. We could see some legal pushback on those grounds.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for reporting. Anytime.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. Coming up, a whistleblower comes forward warning about national security threats posed by Twitter. Hey there, producer Colton here. Do you like to be the first to know about trendy news and current events? If so, you've got to get the Daily Wire Plus app.
--:-- Colton: Not only will you receive mobile notifications whenever something's happening, but you'll also have access to the best commentary to break it all down. Download the Daily Wire Plus app and keep up with the facts, no matter where your day takes you.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: An ex-Twitter executive has come forward alleging the company has reckless and negligent security standards. The former head of security claims the platform poses a major threat both to its users' data and national security.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: The controversy comes as billionaire Elon Musk has subpoenaed the company's former CEO, Jack Dorsey, to testify on his behalf about bots on the app. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham joins us now to tell us about the whistleblower's allegations and how they might impact the legal battle between Musk and Twitter.
--:-- Megan Basham: Hey, Georgia. Well, all of this stems from a complaint that the former Twitter head of security, a guy named Peter Zatko, submitted to Congress and a number of federal agencies last month.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, that report was then leaked to the Washington Post and CNN. And in it, he says the company has violated its agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to uphold sound security practices.
--:-- Megan Basham: So just to detail some of these claims, Zatko says too many lower staffers had access to the platform central controls and to sensitive user data. He claims India successfully pressured the company to hire a member of the Indian government who also had access to that sensitive data.
--:-- Megan Basham: He also says Twitter may be employing foreign spies and that the company knows that hostile nations like Russia and China are using the platform to run disinformation campaigns, and they're really not doing much to stop it.
--:-- Megan Basham: Finally, he claims that Twitter leadership has been deliberately misleading its own board and government officials about all of this. He says that when he brought these concerns to Twitter's new CEO, Parag Agrawal, Agrawal fired him.
--:-- Megan Basham: And what do we know about Zatko? Is he considered a reliable source?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yes, very reliable. So as the head of security, Zatko reported directly to first Dorsey and then Agrawal. So his claims, you have to say, are being treated much more seriously than if they came from someone lower down the food chain.
--:-- Megan Basham: And to give you a little bit of colorful information about Zatko, he was once known as something of a super hacker himself before he became this renowned security expert.
--:-- Megan Basham: He's also worked at Google and with the Department of Defense on cybersecurity. Jack Dorsey reportedly hired him because he was seen as this renegade figure who was willing to risk his reputation to tell truth to power.
--:-- Megan Basham: Zatko has said that his personal motto is "make a dent in the universe." So presumably that's what he thinks he's doing here.
--:-- Megan Basham: And how has Twitter responded to those claims? Well, they're trying to paint Zatko as a disgruntled ex-employee.
--:-- Megan Basham: They say he was fired for poor performance, and they told The Washington Post his claims are, quote, false, exaggerated, or out of date.
--:-- Megan Basham: They also put out a statement saying they fully stand by their previous claims about just how many bots and spam accounts are on the platform.
--:-- Megan Basham: Speaking of bots and spam, where do things stand with the Elon Musk lawsuit? You know, interestingly, the complaint specifically mentions Musk.
--:-- Megan Basham: Zatko accuses Twitter of, quote, lying about bots to Elon Musk. And then on Tuesday, Musk's attorney put out a statement saying, and I'll quote, we have already issued a subpoena for Mr. Zatko and that of other key employees curious in light of what we have been finding.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Musk gave his own little statement on Twitter in classic Musk style. Here's what he tweeted out alongside a Washington Post article about Zatko.
--:-- Megan Basham: I'll quote, so spam prevalence was shared with the board. But the board chose not to disclose that to the public.
--:-- Megan Basham: Later, Musk posted a meme of Jiminy Cricket from the movie Pinocchio with the lyric, give a little whistle.
--:-- Megan Basham: More seriously, though, the judge in the Musk case has previously denied his request for more information from more than a couple dozen Twitter staffers regarding bots and security.
--:-- Megan Basham: Legal experts are now saying that this Zatko bombshell might change the game on that, and it might give Musk a little more ammunition to demand that internal research.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, that trial is just about six weeks away, so it's going to be interesting to see what comes out.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. Democrats face a number of headwinds in the upcoming midterm elections. Joining us to discuss is Democratic strategist Doug Schoen, a former advisor to President Clinton.
--:-- Doug Schoen: So, Doug, which is the biggest issue facing Democratic candidates right now?
--:-- Doug Schoen: Unpopularity of Joe Biden, followed by the fact that the left has been intransigent on Kron and whether it be defunding the police cashless bail or related issues it creates an opportunity for the Republicans that need not and should not exist.
--:-- Doug Schoen: In your op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Monday, you noted that much of the increases in crime have come in solidly Democratic cities, but suburban swing voters are sensitive to this issue as well. How so?
--:-- Doug Schoen: Because most of those suburban swing voters moved out of cities. Many work in cities. Many have family and children in cities. And all they see and all they hear and all they experience is that crime has risen dramatically and that criminals are set free seemingly without reason.
--:-- Doug Schoen: What's behind these criminal reform district attorneys in New York and L.A., etc., who refuse to prosecute and keep criminals in jail?
--:-- Doug Schoen: I'd like to believe that what they say is what they mean. And what I mean by that is they say they'd rather put the money not into law enforcement, but into social remediation, social welfare programs.
--:-- Doug Schoen: I don't think it's an either or situation. In fact, I think you need to do both. But they, if you take them at their word, are basically saying the issue isn't policing, it's poverty, which to me is an ill-conceived notion.
--:-- Doug Schoen: Speaking of New York, we've seen a recent poll that found that 69 percent of New Yorkers are dissatisfied with Governor Kathy Hochul's approach to crime. Do you think there's a chance that she's defeated by Lee Zeldin?
--:-- Doug Schoen: I think it's a long shot. But Zeldin has an opportunity, particularly since he very tragically was a crime victim himself, managed to avoid serious harm. But the guy who attacked him on the campaign trail was in and out of jail within a day.
--:-- Doug Schoen: What about the perspective of women voters in general on this issue? Are they as concerned as men about the rising crime?
--:-- Doug Schoen: I think they are, simply because women are frequently crime victims themselves, and they find themselves much more at risk than they ever believe themselves to be.
--:-- Doug Schoen: So what can Democrats do to reverse their image as being soft on crime? Democrats can do a number of things.
--:-- Doug Schoen: First, they can strand Foursquare with the police. Second, they can support tough-on-crime policies that put people behind bars for crimes they commit with penalties commensurate to the crimes.
--:-- Doug Schoen: They can get rid of cashless bail. They can excise the language and philosophy of defunding the police from the lexicon of the Democratic Party.
--:-- Doug Schoen: Do you think Democrats are going to manage to turn things around before the midterms? The Senate elections look pretty good. As I calculated, it'll be 50-50. Maybe the Democrats even pick up a seat or two.
--:-- Doug Schoen: The House, I think, is going to go Republican, 25-30 seats. My best guess is that the result will be a split Congress-Republican controlling the House, the Democrats, either even in the Senate or slightly ahead.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Well, Doug, thanks so much for coming on.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Well, that's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
