Notes on student loan debt politics

John Ekdahl:

I’m curious how much student loan debt “Annie, Ashley, and Anthony” are carrying.

Via axios:

  • They particularly focus on Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini, the first lady’s top adviser Anthony Bernal, and longtime aide Ashley Williams, who joined the deputy chief of staff’s office when Tomasini ascended to the role earlier this year.
  • Those close aides have many duties. But officials recall instances of them helping Biden make up for mental lapses, including prompting him to remember people he has known for a long time.
  • Such moments could be dismissed as normal lapses. But many Biden aides now wonder whether they were signs of something deeper.
  • One former Biden aide told Axios: “Annie, Ashley and Anthony create a protective bubble around POTUS. He’s staffed so closely that he’s lost all independence. POTUS relies on staff to nudge him with reminders of who he’s meeting, including former staffers and advisers who Biden should easily remember without a reminder from Annie.”

and.

Ann Althouse:

But it’s too late not to pitch the old man overboard. They’ve let it show that they’ve been lying miserably for years about this presidency. And yet there is no way to begin to tell the truth. Old lies are better lies… usually. I would think.