Higher education in America is wounded, debased, devalued. The education marketplace is a wilderness. Educational gems go undistinguished from their ubiquitous knock-offs; unwary marks swim with unabashed sharks. The private sector has raided the public trust, literally and figuratively. How to stop the bleeding?
"As I wandered around the crowd of NYU students...protesting student debt...I couldn't believe the accumulated wealth they represented-for our industry. It was lip-smacking...As bill collectors and debt buyers only work on what is termed bad debt, which is guaranteed under these circumstances and in today's economic environment-we are in for lifetime employment!" ─ Jerry Ashton, student debt collections consultant quoted in an NCLC report
There are voices in the wilderness. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) for one. He has proposed legislation to reinstate the federal bankruptcy laws governing private student loans to allow discharge of private loan indebtedness. Last month, two state Attorneys General provided testimony before the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts during a hearing on the looming student debt crisis. One, Illinois AG Lisa Madigan, justified the change by emphasizing the differences between the federal and private loan processes and provisions.
There are material differences between federal and private loans. Private loans provide none of the protections afforded students who take out federal loans: interest rate caps, loan limits, income based repayment plans, deferment plans, and cancellation rights.
Student loan borrowing exceeded $100 billion in 2010; total outstanding student loan debt exceeded $1 trillion last year. There is now more student loan debt in this country than credit card debt.
Mark Warner watchers, whether supporters or skeptics must be scratching their heads wondering why Mark Warner repeatedly chooses GOPHERS of the far right wing with whom to work. Yes, there is another Dem on the list of sponsors. Yes, one needs to build coalitions to achieve anything in Congress. And, yes, bills often have co-sponsors from opposite parties. But Warner falls all over himself to deal with the real wingers (can we say, Rubio) of the other side. Surely, there are other potential congressional pals. and surely there is a better partner than a possible VP candidate for Mitt Romney. But yesterday the following announcement came forth from the offices of Warner and his new buds. Today, was the "big" day for the launch of another Warner-GOP alliance. Here is the announcement from yesterday.
WASHINGTON - Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 22, at 10:30am, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) will unveil bipartisan legislation, Startup Act 2.0, aimed at jumpstarting the economy through the creation and growth of new businesses. This bipartisan legislation sets out to prove the critics wrong: Congress can get something done during an election year by coming together to strengthen the economy and create jobs.
Efforts by some of our friends from the other side to characterize Sen. Mark Warner's comments this morning on MSNBC as akin to those of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, in the sense that they allegedly suggest that discussion of Romney's experience at Bain Capital ought to be off limits, are way off-base.
Sure, if you cherry-pick Warner's words, you can distort what he had to say as "taking issue with the Obama campaign's ad assault on Bain Capital." But if you look at Warner's entire comment, it is clear that Warner was making the same exact argument President Obama made yesterday in Chicago:
Bain Capital was a very successful business. I think they got a good return for their investors. That is what they were supposed to do. I think when you're in public life, though, what you've got is a different time horizon. The notion that everything in government is exactly the same way that it is in business, they're different time horizons when you've got to invest for the long haul, when you actually do the kind of early stage investing, whether in preschool, whether it's in K-12, whether infrastructure, that doesn't pay back quarter to quarter.
Not too long ago, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker was a supernova in the Democratic Party, but following his defense of Mitt Romney's tenure at the chop-shop Bain Capital, Booker appears to be more of a red dwarf. In the days after Booker's comments it was discovered that Bain Capital and the Financial Industry as a whole gave a whopping $565,000 for his 2002 campaign alone. Congratulations Mr. Booker, you're the latest contestant to enter the Democratic Party's doghouse alongside Brian Moran, Frank Leone, and some other notables.
I hope Mr. Booker's stupidity will stand as an example to other "stars" of the Democratic Party: don't take campaign contributions from anyone willing to throw money in your war chest and don't make it easier for President Obama's opponents to crucify him for calling a spade a spade. No, Bain Capital is not the kind of company that America should stand on. Bain Capital is a symbol of America's economic underside:a company that directly produces nothing, a company whose primary and sole concern is profit above all else.
The Democratic Party base expects that political representatives of the Democratic Party will represent their values and their beliefs. This means not taking campaign contributions from chop-shop financial companies, not taking a day job that ploys Americans into spending thousands on an education that will bear few if any fruits, or representing companies who transgress the law and harm Americans and our environment in the process. The list could on. Bottom line, we do not want you representing us now or ever.
Excuses such as "this is how the game is played," or "if I didn't take these contributions my opponents would have beaten me," will no longer suffice (and they never did). It's time that Democratic Party officials and politicians stand on their principles instead of sinking into the mud with their Republican Party counterparts. It may not be the easier path, but social gains are not made without hardships attached.
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, blasted the Christie Vilsack campaign in general and its manager, Jessica Vanden Berg, in particular, over a recent press release that said King had opposed reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. The Vilsack campaign, King said, is trying to create a "macaca moment" to attach to King.
The reference is to a 2006 Senate race in Virginia in which Democrat Jim Webb defeated incumbent Republican George Allen as part of a national wave that enabled Democrats to gain the majority in the Senate. Vanden Berg was Webb's campaign manager.
The concept that calling someone out for opposing the Violence Against Women Act is equivalent to George Allen's racist "macaca" comments (not to mention his long history of racist words and deeds) is, of course, crazy. ON the other hand, this IS raving right-wing lunatic Steve King we're talking about, so it's not exactly a shocker. Also crazy is the idea that somehow former Webb for Senate campaign manager Jessica Vanden Berg is responsible for "macaca." In reality, that was George Allen's doing, although the Webb campaign was smart enough to capitalize on it (with an unasked-for assist from NLS, which got the story rolling).
Anyway, I'd just remind Jessica of the advice given to me by Webb's 2006 senior strategist, Steve Jarding: when you're attacked by the likes of Steve King, or George Allen's minions, "wear their attacks as a badge of honor," because you know you're doing something right! In this case, Steve King appears to be terrified of Jessica Vanden Berg, and presumably of Christie Vilsack's campaign against him. Cool! Keep up the great work! :)
Of course, this "out of control spending" meme was utterly devoid of factual basis from the beginning, but that didn't stop the Teapublicans and their useful idiots in the corporate media from repeating it ad nauseum. For anyone who cares about that little thing known as "reality," though, the facts are these:
Although there was a big stimulus bill under Obama, federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since Dwight Eisenhower brought the Korean War to an end in the 1950s.
Even hapless Herbert Hoover managed to increase spending more than Obama has...
...Over Obama's four budget years, federal spending is on track to rise from $3.52 trillion to $3.58 trillion, an annualized increase of just 0.4%.
There has been no huge increase in spending under the current president, despite what you hear.
So why do we have such a big deficit? Very simple: President Obama inherited the historically LOW Bush tax rates, the two unpaid-for wars, an economy in free fall (since recovered, but not all the way yet). Then, Obama cut taxes even more, to something like 95% of Americans, in the "stimulus" passed to help get us out of the economic disaster inherited from Bush et al. Other than the "stimulus," though, "spending under Obama is falling at a 1.4% annual pace - the first decline in real spending since the early 1970s, when Richard Nixon was retreating from the quagmire in Vietnam." So much for the brain-dead Teapublican "out-of-control spending" meme. It's false in every way, and if the media had any brains or integrity, they would have been reporting that for 3 1/2 years now. Sadly, they don't, so a lot of people bought the "big lie," but that doesn't make it any smaller of a lie.
Look, she's a total right-wing nutjob, but as far as her (true) criticisms of George Allen are concerned, all I have to say is, "Go Jamie Radtke!!!" LOL
Absolutely superb answer, I strongly recommend that you listen to President Obama's entire answer to this question. The main point: the job of our country's President is not just to try and maximize profits for a few wealthy investors, it's to create opportunity and a thriving economy for every American. That's where Democrats like President Obama come out far, far ahead of Republican'ts like Willard "Mitt" Romney. And that's why everyone should vote Democratic in November, unless of course you want the Bain Capital approach brought to the country as a whole. No thanks!
Check this out: a side-by-side photographic comparison (click to "embiggen") of the official campaign HQ openings for Tim Kaine (slightly to the left) and George Allen (far, far right - lol). Kaine's was on January 22 and had more than 400 people in attendance. Allen's was yesterday, and as you can see, he got considerably fewer people than Kaine did, despite the fact that Allen's opening was 5 months later in the cycle than Kaine's, and just a few weeks out from the June 12 Republican primary. You'd think there might be at least a tiny bit of enthusiasm for ol' Felix, but apparently not. So sad (heh). Also, both openings we're held in Richmond, where the campaigns are headquartered just a few miles from each other, so Allen can't argue apples and oranges or whatever lame excuse he tries to come up with for his #FAIL.
P.S. See the "flip" for a similar side-by-side comparison of crowds for Willard "Mitt" Romney (pitiful, small, homogenous) and Barack Obama (large, enthusiastic, and diverse)
I'm not a Republican, nor do I play one on TV, but if I were a Republican, a few things from 11th CD Republican congressional candidate Chris Perkins voter file (click on image to "embiggen") would kinda make me go hmmmmm.
First off, notice that Perkins says he's "lived in Fairfax County since 1991," yet he didn't vote in any election for at least a decade(1996-2007) of that period? Wonderful.
Second, since 2008, when Perkins actually did finally start voting on occasion, he still managed to not vote in any primaries (e.g., Keith Fimian vs. Pat Herrity) or municipal elections (e.g., County Board).
Third, also note that Perkins failed to vote in the 2010 general election between Rep. Gerry Connolly and Keith Fimian, an election which Connolly won by a mere 981 votes out of more than 220,000 votes cast. In other words, if 982 Republicans like Perkins had voted, instead of sitting on their butts, Keith Fimian would have defeated Gerry Connolly for Congress. As a Democrat, of course, I'm thrilled that Perkins and 981 other Republicans had better things to do than exercise their core American right (and, I'd argue, duty) to vote. If I were a Republican, though, I might not be too thrilled, nor would I be particularly inclined to support this guy for the 2012 Republican nomination. But then again, I doubt Republicans think like you and me...
P.S. Perkins did find time to support Blue Dog "Democrat" Gene Taylor of Mississippi during the final days of the 2010 campaign, including volunteering on Taylor's campaign for two weeks! Priorities, priorities. According to the FEC, Taylor then gave Perkins $1,000 on May 13, 2011. As I said earlier -- hmmmmm.
For his "day job," Moran is a lobbyist and spokesman for the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU), a chivalric defender of for-profit (rip-off) colleges that do little to equip their students for the job market while overburdening their futures with mounds of debt.
The facts against the efficacy of for-profit colleges are clear and Mr. Moran appears to understand some of its failings. Moran stated that "I freely admit that there are some challenges to our sector," challenges like throwing scores of Americans into a financial strait-jacket? Yes, this is a "challenge," but not one that Moran himself is likely to face as the loudspeaker for these private sector rip-offs.
Making a living is one thing, but doing so at the expense of others and for an industry that preys upon unsuspecting job seekers is the equivalent of moral slime-mold.
It's high time that the Democratic Party purge itself of the Brian Morans of the party so that passionate public servants with high moral standards can lead the party into a brighter era unobstructed by the ghosts of its lobbying past.
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, May 21. Also, check out the new video, "Romney Economics: Job Loss and Bankruptcy at Ampad."
Maybe it was an unguarded moment but a Mercer tweet last night revealed a lot. The decks are cleared for a McAuliffe gubernatorial run. But nothing portends smooth sailing. Creigh Deeds picked up no wind from Obama. Tim Kaine is barely drafting. There's little reason to believe Terry will benefit...unless.
"This is our opportunity to get some payback and to show them that this isn't a movement, this is about governing. We're here to stay. We are the 'New Majority' and its time that they get used to it." - Senator Don McEachin at the 7th District Convention
The conventional wisdom that 2009 was the result of a disillusioned electorate (an electorate that expected immediate change and economic recovery) is absolute drek or balderdash or a more colorful word I would have used in the Marine Corps. Those of us raised in the old south have the embedded memory of a bipolar Democratic Party; a party whose statewide politics and national politics were distinct and different. A Party that in 1964 could convince the same demographic to prefer both Orval Faubus and Lyndon Baines Johnson. Or maintain its stranglehold on statewide offices despite yielding the national contest to Goldwater. This isn't your father's Democratic Party.
There is good cause that President Obama's organization never counted on the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA). There really isn't anything behind the curtain. It is an organization designed to support incumbents; a self-licking ice cream cone. It relies on the repugnance of the alternative rather than an appeal to shared values. This worked well when the other side offered up Kilgores and Gilmores in the era of a bumbling Bush, but the Republicans are no longer cooperating. Republicans staying home was more important than the Democratic candidate carrying the day. That won't work for Obama and it won't work for Terry McAuliffe.
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Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, May 23.
Higher education in America is wounded, debased, devalued. The education marketplace is a wilderness. Educational gems go undistinguished from their ubiquitous knock-offs; unwary marks swim with unabashed sharks. The private sector has raided the public trust, literally and figuratively. How to stop the bleeding?
Efforts by some of our friends from the other side to characterize Sen. Mark Warner's comments this morning on MSNBC as akin to those of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, in the sense that they allegedly suggest that discussion of Romney's experience at Bain Capital ought to be off limits, are way off-base.
Of course, this "out of control spending" meme was utterly devoid of factual basis from the beginning, but that didn't stop the Teapublicans and their useful idiots in the corporate media from repeating it ad nauseum. For anyone who cares about that little thing known as "reality," though, 
Maybe it was an unguarded moment but a Mercer tweet last night revealed a lot. The decks are cleared for a McAuliffe gubernatorial run. But nothing portends smooth sailing. Creigh Deeds picked up no wind from Obama. Tim Kaine is barely drafting. There's little reason to believe Terry will benefit...unless.
