Whether President Joe Biden’s misguided plan to forgive some $400 billion in federal student-loan debt goes forward will ultimately be up to the Supreme Court. For now, there’s more the federal government should be doing to rein in the costs of higher education — and thus reduce how much students borrow in the first place.

Old habits die hard, as the saying goes. But myths and legends do, too, as Hunter S. Thompson famously said.

Bipartisanship is the solution to some problems, but it also helped create them. On the one hand, if you are a classical liberal with a strong preference for fiscal responsibility, bipartisanship generally gets you nowhere. Big Capitol Hill deals mean big spending. On the other hand, the only path to reforming the drivers of our current and future debt or making other important changes is through a bipartisan agreement.

Ideas that start on the progressive fringes have a way of becoming government policy these days, as President Biden’s $400 billion student loan cancellation shows. Lo, Democrats in Congress are now pressing the President to impose rent control nationwide.

Defense spending is vital to the ensure the nation’s security. But that doesn’t mean the Pentagon should be above budget scrutiny. Far from it, as a recent audit reveals.

Thanks to El Niño, the world is about to experience something like time travel to the year 2050. It won’t be pleasant. But rather than devolve into panic at the grim climate future it portends, we should use it as a warning about the need to do more to slow global warming.

All things being equal, burning gas isn’t the best way to cook. Not only are newfangled electric induction burners faster, but research suggests a correlation between the old blue flames and higher rates of asthma. Then there’s the global emissions problem. All of which is to suggest that, if money and labor and energy were unlimited, New York would be wise to wave a wand and switch to electric ovens (and electric heat-pumps to warm buildings, while we’re at it, but that’s another editorial).

Like the hockey-masked villain in some cheesy horror flick, the GOP’s debt ceiling caucus just keeps coming back. Once again, the party’s more radical members are threatening to hold America’s full faith and credit hostage by refusing to raise the nation’s debt limit. The Treasury hit that $31.4 trillion limit Thursday, meaning it will have to be raised — as it routinely has been over the years, under both parties, to cover expenses incurred by both parties.

As we approach the midpoint of President Joe Biden’s first term, there is little doubt that he deserves a solid “A.” He has turned the economy around, gotten the pandemic under control, gotten inflation under control and laid the basis for a rapid transition to clean energy. No president since Lyndon Johnson has as much to show for their first two years in office. Unlike Johnson, Biden managed to push through key legislation with a tiny majority in the House and the thinnest possible margin in the Senate.

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed an imminent ban on noncompete contracts. Prohibiting these contracts is an important step toward assuring we still have access to the American Dream. It will help businesses innovate in our tight labor market, ensure workers are not stuck in dead-end jobs and make the United States more competitive with regards to our foreign counterparts.

The Biden administration recently declared that no one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana and that individuals convicted of simple possession at the federal level shall be pardoned. This ruling is consistent with the decades of scientific studies that have established the need for serious reform of marijuana policies. Clearly, our nation’s approach to substance use and addiction should always be conceived of through a public health rather than criminal justice lens.

The Biden administration has reached its halfway point, and a review of its foreign policy decisions suggests an administration touting the return of diplomacy while failing to meaningfully deliver on this tenet in many ways. The opposite of big-stick diplomacy, Biden and his administration are happy to speak harshly against our adversaries while failing to follow through with the necessary hard actions — big “schtick” diplomacy.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year issued a potentially devastating ruling for communities beleaguered by gun violence, striking down New York’s law regulating concealed weapons in public. The ruling employed the controversial legal theory of constitutional originalism: interpreting the Constitution based strictly on the original understanding of its text at the time it was adopted.

America’s vast and unchecked personal arsenals of guns have given us a shameful distinction: We are the only developed nation that now teaches its kindergartners how to wait in line for the bathroom and hide under desks for a mass shooting.

It will be up to the two special counsels to investigate and weigh the handling of secret documents by President Biden and former President Donald Trump. But the current questions should not obscure an enormous problem that has been festering for decades and threatens national security, democracy and accountability: The classification system for managing secrets is overwhelmed and desperately needs repair.

The biggest story of the year — the story we should all be paying attention to — is the increasing power of artificial intelligence. Computer code can write itself, chatbots can generate academic papers, and, with a few keystrokes, a website can produce an image worthy to be framed on any wall. Everywhere we turn, AI is outputting text and images that mimic (and often surpass) humans’ abilities.

The White House drove the country into an inflation mess because it refused to listen to economists and others who predicted the administration’s massive multitrillion-dollar spending spree would overheat the economy. Next time — let’s hope there isn’t a next time, but … — such willful ignorance may be more difficult to maintain thanks to a change in how the House scores legislation.

For the record, allow me to state that I am a Democrat, a former Hawaii County Council member (districts 7 and 6) for eight years, and a resident of Hawaii County for 27 years, and I understand legislative procedural processes. I am NOT opposed to having Hawaiian names for most of our civic buildings, parks, and places, etc. I understand why some Hawaiians, if not most, dislike the name and actions of “Captain Cook.”

One of the many problems with having former President Donald Trump around is that it becomes extremely difficult to assess normal misbehavior. It’s a significant reminder of how Trump continues to corrupt the nation’s politics.

Mark Twain is right that a lie travels around the world before the truth can put its pants on, but the truth has raced back to bite George Santos in the rear. That became clearer than ever Wednesday as leading New York Republicans demanded the new congressman resign immediately. Among them were state Republican Chair Nick Langworthy, Nassau County Chair Joseph Cairo, former Sen. Al D’Amato and Rep. Anthony Esposito. It is damning indeed when the party of Donald Trump in Trump’s native state considers a politician’s fabrications disqualifying.