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Informed you so.
Final yr, I made three predictions with respect to the CMP hall. The primary was that the referendum would cross resoundingly. Examine.
The second was that the Maine judiciary would maintain that the lease of land by the state to CMP can be overruled. Examine up to now on the first degree, now awaiting the Maine Supreme Judicial Courtroom’s ultimate choice.
Third, I guessed that the Maine Supreme Courtroom would reject the referendum on “ex publish facto” grounds – the regulation doesn’t usually allow the federal government to make new guidelines after-the-fact. Once more, principally verify in accordance with a call launched this week.
There may be loads to say concerning the ongoing saga surrounding Maine’s utility suppliers. However that’s for an additional day.
The “ex publish facto” try to vary Maine regulation to defeat the hydropower hall from Quebec is just like President Joe Biden’s latest pupil mortgage pronouncement.
Many on the left are extremely excited that Biden has introduced he’ll successfully wipe out $10,000 of pupil mortgage debt for tens of millions of debtors. For many others, it offends their sense of justice.
The left – and official White Home social media accounts – have gone into assault mode. They’ve centered on the forgivable loans issued beneath the Paycheck Safety Program and attacked recipients to try to confuse the problem.
However the PPP mortgage course of was forgivable from the outset if sure wickets have been hit. There are legit classes to study from this system in hindsight, together with credible criticisms. For instance, did giant regulation corporations really want a forgivable mortgage to maintain their folks employed? Most likely not.
Did family-run eating places want the assistance once they have been ordered to briefly shut? Yeah, they most likely did.
But no matter points existed with the PPP system have been designed into it from the outset. Everybody knew these can be forgivable loans. That was the very level.
Biden’s pupil mortgage forgiveness gambit is totally different. Nobody took a pupil mortgage considering that $10,000 would magically be forgiven. That wasn’t the deal.
So individuals who don’t profit from the forgiveness are, understandably, a bit miffed.
Think about Johnny. His coronary heart was set on attending Bowdoin School, however he fell into a troublesome spot the place he didn’t qualify for lots of economic help, however didn’t have assist to assist him pay the tutoring invoice. So, as a substitute, Johnny went to the College of Maine at Machias as a result of it was a extra fiscally prudent alternative. He graduated while not having to take loans.
Timmy was Johnny’s finest good friend. They have been in the identical boat. However Timmy determined to make the leap and grow to be a Bowdoin Polar Bear. He borrowed a bunch of cash to take action.
With Biden’s motion, Timmy will get – in essence – a $10,000 kiss. Johnny doesn’t. If Johnny knew that the foundations would change after-the-fact, perhaps he would have chosen a unique path.
These are the risks with altering the foundations after folks have already made their choices. As James Madison wrote in Federalist 44, explaining why ex publish facto legal guidelines and policymaking have been repugnant to the brand new American nation:
“The sober folks of America are weary of the fluctuating coverage which has directed the general public councils. They’ve seen with remorse and indignation that sudden adjustments and legislative interferences, in instances affecting private rights, grow to be jobs within the arms of enterprising and influential speculators, and snares to the more-industrious and fewer knowledgeable a part of the neighborhood.”
And whether or not you assume the CMP hall or Biden’s pupil mortgage insurance policies are good or dangerous, you must at all times be involved when the federal government adjustments the foundations after folks have made their choices.
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