Mitt Romney Loves For-Profit Colleges/ Student Loan Mill Scams! (Video)

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Obama's 2013 Budget Boosts Higher Education; Shuts Out For-Profits/ Student Loan Mill Schools

5 Things President Obama's 2013 Budget Does For Higher Education


1) Rein In Higher Education Costs. Tuition & Fees, Student Loan Mills (For-Profit Schools)

President Obama's FY 2013 budget would create a $1 billion "Race to the Top" fund for colleges. In addition, Obama is seeking a $55 million to fund the "First in the World" program for colleges that "encourage productivity and efficiency."

Obama is also proposing to increase federally funded research at universities in certain areas. The National Institutes of Health would see no funding increase, for instance, but new policies would increase the money available for grants by 7 percent.

Other research areas would see between 1 percent and as much as a 110 percent increase in funding grant spending.


2) Boost Quality Of Education Spending At Community Colleges.

Obama's budget offers an $8 billion proposal to encourage colleges and businesses to work together to train 2 million workers in high-growth industries.

Obama would include financial incentives to ensure that students find permanent jobs. Inside Higher Ed reports the money would also support paid internships for low-income college students.


3) Restrict Spending At & Shut Out Most For-Profit Colleges Which Are Nothing More Than Student Loan Mills.

Some of the president's budget initiatives would shut out for-profit colleges. Obama would enact stricter rules on for-profit colleges. For-profits would not be eligible for money from the "Race to the Top" or "First in the World" programs, nor would they get any research grants.

During Obama's tenure, for-profits have increasingly come under scrutiny by the administration and been subject to investigations by Congress.


4) Increase Pell Grant Funds For Middle Class & Low Income Students Seeking Bachelors & Associate Degrees From REAL Schools NOT For-Profits!

The maximum Pell grant award would be bumped up by a hair to $5,635, an increase of $85. Pell grants have not been adjusted to the cost of college over the past 30 years, but were spared during 2011 budget negotiations.


5) Increase College Student Work Study Grants By 15% To Allow Additional Eligibility For More Middle Class & Low Income Students.

Obama's budget would increase spending on the federal work study program by 15 percent. The president is also calling for suspending a student loan interest rate scheduled to double this summer.

Inside Higher Ed reports the funding formula for the Perkins federal student loan program would be "revamped" to push colleges to keep net tuition low and provide "good value." That value would be based on the ability of graduating students to get jobs and pay off their loans, as well as a school serving a higher proportion of low-income students.

Obama is also requesting a 390 percent increase in teacher education assistance, upping the allocation from $41 to $201 million. This is particularly tailored to train more science and math teachers.


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For-Proft College Student Loan Defaults Skyrocket! Scams! Cosmetology Schools Too!

Student Loan Defaults Reach Highest Level In More Than A Decade

Students at for-profit colleges are more than twice as likely to default on federal loans as their peers at public institutions, according to new data released Monday by the Department of Education that also shows the highest percentage of students defaulting on loans in more than a decade.

The overall student loan default rate increased from 7 percent last year to 8.8 percent -- the highest rate since the government released similar data in 1999. An outsized share of that increase came from the for-profit college sector, which had both the highest percentage of defaults and the greatest increase in defaults, compared to public universities and private nonprofit schools.

Defaults at for-profit schools jumped from 11.6 percent to 15 percent this year, as opposed to an increase of 6 percent to 7.2 percent at public institutions and 4 percent to 4.6 percent at private nonprofit schools, raising questions about the degree to which for-profit schools are preparing students for careers that will allow them to pay off debts.

Because the government must track loan repayment over two years, Monday's data represents the first full assessment of students' ability to repay college loans in the Great Recession. And the numbers were bleak: the overall student loan default rate increased at the highest rate in two decades.

"We do think the economy is a big factor in the growth of these student loan default rates," said James Kvaal, a deputy undersecretary of education. "Another trend worth highlighting is the growth in for-profit colleges. Many of those colleges offer excellent, innovative programs, but we do also see disproportionate default rates among students who are enrolled in those programs."

For-profit colleges have been conspicuous beneficiaries of the economic downturn, as many of the publicly traded corporations that own such institutions expanded enrollments rapidly as legions of unemployed Americans looked to college as a way to improve their fortunes.

The high number of student loan defaults at for-profit institutions has prompted heightened government scrutiny in recent years, amid evidence that some schools aggressively market their programs to students but fail to deliver on the promise of careers. For-profit schools typically cost nearly twice as much as public colleges and universities, and students on average graduate with much higher student loan debt.

Because of the high costs, students at for-profit colleges borrow at much higher rates than those who attend public or private nonprofit schools. According to an analysis of federal education data by The Institute for College Access and Success, 92 percent of students at for-profit colleges took out student loans in the 2007-'08 school year, compared to 27 percent of students at public colleges and 60 percent at private nonprofit colleges.

For-profit colleges have also aggressively targeted minority students. Black and Hispanic students make up 28 percent of undergraduate students nationwide, but they represent nearly half of all students in the for-profit college sector.

"When you see 15 percent of borrowers at for-profit colleges are defaulting, its important to remember that almost all students at those colleges are borrowing, so that shows a much more significant problem in that one sector," said Debbie Cochrane, program director at the Institute of College Access and Success.

Nearly half of all student loan defaults measured by the Department of Education could be attributed to students at for-profit colleges, even though students at such schools represent less than 28 percent of all borrowers.

The federal government measures student loan default rates as a way to gauge student success, and to determine whether certain schools should be eligible to receive federal student aid dollars.

Student loan debt is among the most difficult to discharge, persisting beyond even bankruptcy. Borrowers in default on student loans can be subject to wage garnishment as well as deductions from federal income tax refunds, and they are ineligible to receive federal student aid in the future.

"What is really sad about this is that most of these people are done -- this is their last chance, because they have now defaulted," said Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. "That will follow them to their grave. You can default on your house, but you can’t default on a student loan."

The Department of Education data released Monday is a snapshot of students over two years: the government tracked those who began repaying loans between October 2008 and September 2009, and measured whether they defaulted on those loans before October 2010. A loan is considered in default if no payment has been made after 360 days.

In a statement, Brian Moran, the head of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which represents for-profit colleges, said he was "disappointed" to see the data but noted, "we believe that the default rates will go down when the economy improves and the unemployment rate drops."

"Despite today's disappointing news, we should remain focused on the overarching missions, which is to help individuals rise as high as their talent, ability and ambition will take them," Moran’s statement read.

Under current regulations, schools that have student loan default rates in excess of 25 percent for three consecutive years can face sanctions or lose access to federal student lending programs. Five schools were subject to sanctions this year, four of which were for-profit schools.

Beginning in 2014, the Department of Education will start to analyze student loan default rates over three years, as opposed to the current two-year window. Data from the Department of Education shows that many more students default in the third year after entering loan repayment. And some schools have actively managed their default rates by putting students into loan deferment or forbearance plans that prevent defaulting within the two-year window, but do little beyond that timeframe.

"That’s a good thing if that helps those students manage their student loan responsibilities, but in some cases it may serve just to delay the default and increase the amount of the loan," said Kvaal, the deputy undersecretary of education.


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GOP's 2012 Campaign Agenda Hurts American Voters!!

Attention American Voters!

Decision 2012 Is Just Around The Corner!

If You Haven't Yet Decided Which Political Party To Support Or Which Presidential Candidate To Cast Your Ballot For Next Year, Please Allow Me To Reveal The Republican Party/ GOP's 2012 Campaign Agenda.

After Reading This Blog Post, I'm Sure You Will Agree That Barack Obama May NOT Be Perfect (NO Human Being Is!) But That You'd Rather Support Him Than A GOP Presidential Candidate Who Cares More About Lining Their Own Pockets, Than About Your Best Interest.

Besides In Case You Failed To Watch The 2012 GOP Primary Debate Which Aired On Fox News May 5, As You Can Tell The Pickings Are VERY Slim This Time Around!

Who Am I Endorsing You Ask?

Well After Much Reflection & Observation I Have Decided To Support Pres. Barack Obama.

NO Its NOT Because He's Black!!

NO Its NOT Because He's A Democrat!!

I Have NEVER Voted Straight Ticket Or Straight Democrat & I Don't Plan To Do So Now.

And Yes I Have Voted For Republican Candidates In The Past & Will Probably Do So In The Future.

Ex: In The 2012 Race For North Carolina Governor I Plan To Cast My Ballot For GOP Candidate Pat McCrory Vs. Sitting Democrat Governor Bev Perdue.

She Knows Why.

I'm Black & Her Policies Have NOT Been Favorable To North Carolina's Black Citizens. Even Though Were It Not For Black Voters Gov. Perdue Would NOT Be Sitting In The N.C. Governor's Seat.

With That Said, Why Should I Continue Wasting My Vote On A Gubernatorial Candidate Who Is Just Going To Do The Same Exact Thing Once She's Re-elected?

Since There's Absolutely NO Way I'd Miss An Opportunity To Express My Political Freedom (Voting), I'd Rather Throw My Support Behind Gov. Perdue's Opposition, Pat McCrory.

As To The Reason Why I'm Supporting Sitting President Barack H. Obama, Its Because Hands Down Whether Anyone Else Agrees Or Not I Truly Believe That Because Pres. Obama Did NOT Come From A Wealthy Family He Sincerely Understands & Really Does Care About People From All Walks Of Life Regardless of Their Ethnicity, Educational Achievements Or Lack Of, Socio-Economic Status, etc.,

Pres. Obama Didn't Achieve Anything Via Special Entitlements Or Special Interests.

Instead He Worked Extremely HARD For His Accomplishments!

Thus He's The BEST Possible Person For The Job!

So What If Some Of His Policies & Decisions Ticked Me Off!

No Human Being Always Agrees With Another Human Being 100% Of The Time. If So Than Something Is Wrong.

But That's Life!

You Disagree Than Move On.

At The End Of The Day Its What Matters Most That Counts.

Now Hold On To Your Seat While Perusing Over What GOP Lawmakers/ Candidates Have Planned For America's Voters In 2012 & Beyond!

Including Their Own Loyal Republican Constituency!


THE 2012 GOP CAMPAIGN AGENDA:


1) Fewer Jobs For Middle Class & Lower Income Workers!

Where Are ALL Those Manufacturing Jobs GOP Lawmakers/ Candidates Promised To Bring Back To America From Overseas After Winning Last November's Elections??

What About Infrastructure Jobs Right Here In America?

Why Are GOP Lawmakers Refusing To Accept Funds To Build High Speed Rail Lines, Bridges, Tunnels, etc., When Such Huge Infrastructure Projects Help To Create Long Term Employment?

Even If Those Types Of Jobs Only Last Five Years, Isn't It Better To Have People Working For Five Years Than NOT Have Them Working For Five Years??


2) Killing Medicare & Medicaid, Opposing Community Health Center Funding & Denying Disability Checks To TRULY Disabled Middle Class And Lower Income Citizens!!

Why Does The GOP Want To Kill Medicare, Thus Killing Off Elderly Americans & Hurting Many Senior Citizens?

In Fact This Idea Sounds Quite Similar To Sarah Palin's "Death Panel" LIE From 2009 When She Claimed That Pres.Obama's Health Care Bill Would Kill Off Senior Citizens.

Why Not Save Medicare & Medicaid By Stopping The Fraud Which Occurs In Each State Because Governors Frequently Use Medicare & Medicaid Funding To Balance Their State Budgets??

Why Are GOP Lawmakers Plotting To Eliminate Medicaid Thus Leaving Millions Of Middle Class & Lower Income Children & Youth Without Access To Proper Medical & Dental Care?

Why Are GOP Lawmakers In Opposition To Funding For Community Health Centers Which Helps Provide Access To Quality Medical Care In Urban/ Poor Communities And Which Employ Medical Students Who Earned Their Medical Degrees Via Government-Backed Physician Training Programs??

And Why Are Super Wealthy American Citizens Being Allowed To STILL Receive Social Security Checks Regardless Of Their Assets, While Millions Of Truly Disabled Middle Class And Lower Income Citizens Are Denied Disability Checks Everyday In This Country?


3) Supporting More Tax Breaks & Corporate Loopholes For Billionaires & Millionaires! Yet Opposed To Revising U.S. Tax Code!

Why Is The GOP Opposed To Raising Taxes On Millionaires & Billionaires When Those SAME Millionaires & Billionaires Are Sending American Jobs Overseas While Benefiting From Huge Tax Breaks??

Why Is The GOP Working So Diligently To Keep The Current Corrupt U.S. Tax Code As Is, Thus Allowing Billionaires & Millionaires To Pay ZERO To Very Little In Federal & State Taxes?

As The Middle Class & Lower Income Citizens Wages Decline We Pay HIGHER Taxes.

As The Rich Get Richer (By Sending Jobs Overseas To Pay Lower Wages), They Pay FEWER Taxes.

Sometimes NOTHING At All!


4) In Favor Of Making It Harder For Small Business Owners, Especially Black & Hispanic-Owned Small Business Owners To Get Credit Or Be Approved For Loans, Thus Adversely Affecting Job Growth!

So Can Anyone Tell Me Why GOP Lawmakers Are In Favor Of Allowing Big Banks (Too Big Too Fail) NOT To Approve Creditworthy, Low Interest Loans For Small Business Owners, Especially Minority-Owned Small Businesses?

If Small Business Owners Can't Get Decent Loans, Than How Can They Continue To Help Create Jobs For Their Communities? Especially Urban Communities.

And While We're On That Subject, Can Someone Please Tell Me Why GOP Lawmakers Are Allowing The 3 Largest Credit Reporting Agencies:
Equifax, Experian & Trans Union, To Continue Practicing Discrimination Against Black & Hispanic Citizens As It Relates To Credit & FICO Scores?

Why Are There Always More Errors On The Credit Reporting Files Of Black & Hispanic Consumers Vs. White Consumers?

Such Racist Practices In The Workplace & Business World Adversely Affects Employment Opportunities For Black & Hispanic Job Seekers.

Do You Mean To Tell Me That ONLY White People Have Perfect Or Near Perfect Credit Scores??

BULL!!!!

Perhaps This Explains Why Some GOP Lawmakers Are Opposing Elizabeth Warren's Confirmation As Director Of Pres. Obama's Consumer Protection Agency!


5) Giving Tax Subsidies To BIG Oil Companies! Especially Foreign Oil Companies!!

Why Does The GOP Wish To Continue Giving Huge Tax Subsidies To BIG Oil Companies? Especially Foreign Oil Companies?



6) Gas Price Gouging!

Why Is The GOP Engaging In Gas Price Gouging For Political Gain??


7) RACISM & DISCRIMINATION!

Why Is The GOP Engaging In Such Ugly Racist, Divisive Behavior Prior To The 2012 Elections?

Why Does The GOP Wish To Continue Job Discrimination, Gender Discrimination, Age Discrimination, Etc., All For Political Gain??


8) Killing Pell Grants, Pushing High Interest Student Loans To Black & Hispanic College Students, Verifying Black & Hispanic Students NOT White College Students & Supporting Segregated Public Schools With Federal Money!!

Why Is The GOP Working To Kill Pell Grants Thus Hindering The Education Of Millions Of Black & Hispanic College Students??

Thus Those Same Black & Hispanic Students Are Being Forced To Apply For & Accept High Interest Student Loans, While White Students Are Still Being Allowed To Receive Pell Grants & Receive Low Interest Student Loans.

In Addition More Than 75% Of All Black & Hispanic College Students Financial Aid Profiles Are Being Consistently Verified Annually By The U.S. Dept Of Education & FASFA, While Only About 20% Of White College Students Are Being Consistently Annually Verified.

Such Discriminatory Student Financial Aid Practices Are Frequently Used At Private Or Technical Schools In The South.
Ex. North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia.

Even Though There Have Been Numerous Civil Rights Complaints Filed To The U.S. Dept Of Education For Further Investigation Into Such Discriminatory Practices, STILL It Continues!

How Can This Be?

Do You Meant To Tell Me That The Parents Of White Students ALL Have Perfect Credit & The Parents Of Black Students ALL Have Bad Credit??

BULL!!

And Why Are GOP Lawmakers In Support Of Using Federal Money To Segregate Public Schools Nationwide??


9) No Challenging GOP Presidential Frontrunner!

Who Is The GOP's 2012 Presidential Race Frontrunner??

So Far The Current 2012 GOP Candidates Are BORING & Present NO Real Challenge To Barack Obama Which Is GREAT For Him!

Ex: Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, etc.,

If The GOP REALLY Thinks Herman Cain Can Beat Barack Obama, I Have Some Swamp Land In Florida I'd Love To Sell You!! Ha Ha Ha!


10) Michael Steele's Firing & More Racism!!

Let's Be Real For A Moment Shall We?

Did The GOP Fire Michael Steele Because He Was Black?

Or Because He Was A Black Man With His OWN Mind, Who Spoke Up?

Why Does The GOP Appear To Hate Black People & Other People Of Color?? What Have We Done Wrong To Your Party??


11) Debt Ceiling Bribery!!

Why Are GOP Lawmakers Intentionally Choosing NOT To Raise The Debt Ceiling When They Did It So Nicely (Without Drama) When Pres. George W. Bush Was Still In Office??

In Fact The Debt Ceiling Was Raised Twice While Pres. G. W. Bush Was Still In Office!

Can You Explain Why GOP Lawmakers Voted "YES" To Raise The Debt Ceiling Without Spending Caps For G. W. Bush & "NO" Or "Maybe" With Spending Caps For Pres. Obama??

If It Isn't Racism Than What Is It??



12) Opposing Labor Unions & Opposing Workers' Rights!

Why Does The GOP Hate Labor Unions, Workers' Rights & Collective Bargaining Rights??

Is It Because The GOP Supports Paying American Workers Lower Wages And Providing Them With Little To No Benefits??

Including School Teachers, Police Officers & Firefighters??


13) Osama Bin Laden's Death, G.W.Bush's "War On Terror", Government Contractors & Bringing American Troops Home!

Why Did It Take Pres. Obama's Administration 2 Years To Locate & Kill Key Al-Qaeda Leader Osama Bin Laden, Yet G.W. Bush's Administration Wasted 8 Years, Spent Trillion$ & NEVER Located Him??

I Appreciate Pres. G.W. Bush's Efforts But Why Did It Take Him 8 Years To NOT Find Osama??

Why Does The GOP Want To Continue The Unnecessary "War On Terror"?

Not To Protect Our National Security But ONLY For The Purpose Of Continuing To Award Fat Government Contracts As Political Favors!

Why Did The GOP Attempt To Diminish Pres. Obama Administration's Credit For Locating & Killing Osama Bin Laden In 2 Years, While It Took G.W. Bush's Administration 8 Years To NEVER Locate Or Kill Him??

When Will GOP Lawmakers Begin Working With Pres. Obama To Help Safely Transition Our Troops Out Of Afghanistan??

I'm Not Saying The U.S. Should Totally Abandon Afghanistan Or Pakistan, However Different Strategies For Catching Terrorists Are Necessary In The 21st Century.


14) Opposing Alternative & Renewable Energy!!

Why Does The GOP Continue To Oppose Pres. Obama's Alternative, Renewable, Green Energy Policies?

Isn't It Time For America To STOP Depending On Foreign Oil & Fossil Fuel??



15) Opposition To Common Sense Yet FAIR Illegal Immigration Policies!

Why Have GOP Lawmakers Been So Resistant To Pres. Obama's Policies & Plans To Help Illegal Immigrants Find A Fair Path To U.S. Citizenship?

Why Are GOP Lawmakers Still Allowing Illegal Immigrants To Be Racially Profiled & Deported For Simple, Non-Violent, Non-Drug Related Offenses?

Ex: Traffic Tickets.



16) Opposing The Consumer Protection Agency & Supporting Corrupt Foreclosure Practices!

Why Are GOP Lawmakers Fighting Against Pres. Obama's Consumer Protection Agency & Continuing To Support Corrupt Foreclosure Practices Which Have Caused Millions Of Homeowners To Lose Their Homes?

Ex: Country Wide & Indy Mac.


17) Supporting Privatization Of Prisons While Helping To Imprison More Black & Hispanic Men!

Why Are GOP Lawmakers & Candidates In Support Of Privatization Of Prisons & Jails Which Encourages The Imprisoning Of Black & Hispanic Citizens?

Even Those Who Commit Non-Violent, Non-Drug Related Offenses Or Are First Time Offenders?

Why Are GOP Lawmakers In Favor Of More Black & Hispanic Men Being Thrown Into Prison For Minor Offenses Than Investing Money Into Sending More Black & Hispanic Men To College?

While WHITE Men Are Committing Far More Serious Offenses (Felonies) & Are Instead Just Walking Away With Probation Or A Slap On The Wrist??

Inquiring Minds Would REALLY Like To Know!!

Now As You Can See The GOP's 2012 Campaign Agenda Platform Is Seriously Lopsided To ONLY Help Super Wealthy, White Citizens, NOT The Average American Voter!

As President Obama Said Today "We've Got Better Stuff To Do" For ALL Americans NOT Just Wealthy White Citizens.

GOP Candidates You're Screwed Dudes!!

VOTE OBAMA IN 2012!!!!!!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Foes Revise Plan to Curb New Agency

After losing a contentious battle last year over creating an agency to protect consumers against deceptive financial products, Republicans are fighting the battle again, determined to rein in the independence and financing of the agency.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been one of Washington’s drawn-out passion plays, featuring bankers and finance companies that want to undermine the agency and have villainized Elizabeth Warren, the hard-edged Harvard law professor President Obama picked to start it.

Ms. Warren has characterized the fight as one in which opponents are trying to stick “a knife in the ribs of the agency.” In a recent interview, she said, “the fight has now shifted. It didn’t stop, it just moved from being a fight out in the headlines, out in the middle of the street, to a fight in the back alleys.”

But on Thursday, the fight returned to the open as 44 Senate Republicans sent a letter to Mr. Obama saying they “will not support the consideration of any nominee, regardless of party affiliation, “to direct the bureau until the agency is restructured.

With 44 of 47 Republican senators digging in against the bureau, Democrats would be unable to gather the 60 votes necessary to end a filibuster and bring a vote on a nominee for director of the agency. That leaves the president with the option of a recess appointment, a move that would anger legislators whose support the president is likely to need to tackle other issues, like cutting the deficit and raising the debt ceiling.

Already, three bills are pending in the House of Representatives to alter the agency’s charter, making it easier for other regulators to overturn the bureau’s rules and replacing its director with a five-person commission.

“This is about accountability,” said Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee. “The bureau, as currently structured, lacks any semblance of the checks and balances inherent in the Constitution. Everyone supports consumer protection, but we should never entrust a single person with this much power and public money.”

The White House defended the agency’s structure, saying it provided “the strongest consumer protections in history.”

“The consumer agency’s sole mission is to protect American families and provide the tools they need to make smart financial decisions,” said Amy Brundage, a White House spokeswoman. “For far too long, American consumers have fallen victim to fraud, misleading claims and powerful special interests, and the president believes that American families who were the hardest hit by this financial crisis deserve an independent watchdog to protect consumers and prevent predatory lending and other abuses in the future. “

While the rhetoric surrounding the fight over the consumer bureau has recently focused on its structure, behind the scenes it has been as much about Ms. Warren, who was widely believed to be unable to pass confirmation in the Senate last year. As an alternative, Mr. Obama appointed Ms. Warren last September as a special adviser to oversee the “standing up” of the agency, and she has hired officials who will carry out the regulation of mortgage loans, credit cards, payday lenders and other sellers of financial products.

But until the bureau has a formal director, it cannot write rules governing consumer finance or begin overseeing previously unregulated agencies like payday lenders.

In some ways, Ms. Warren’s own celebrity might be getting in the way of that effort. She is a dynamic public speaker who has for years championed the right of the middle class to receive plain-English explanations of often-complex financial products. But that effort has drawn criticism from some bankers, who feel she has unfairly accused them of exploiting consumers.

Several candidates for director of the bureau have reportedly turned down the opportunity, with at least one saying that she thought Ms. Warren should get the job. As the delay in selecting a nominee has lengthened, supporters of Ms. Warren have characterized her nomination as inevitable.

“There’s no doubt that the fact she’s there has made it more complicated to recruit a director,” said an Obama administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity and who was not authorized to discuss the search process. “She’s done a terrific job attracting talent to the agency,” the official said. But recent efforts by supporters to portray her as the putative nominee are proving “mildly counterproductive,” the official said.

Ms. Warren herself has deflected speculation about her taking the job, saying it is for the president to decide.

For much of the last few weeks, Ms. Warren has been speaking publicly about what she calls attacks on the consumer agency. “Every day, somebody’s got a plan to undercut this agency, to knock it down,” she said. “The conversation is effectively: ‘Oh, we’d really like to kill this thing but it might be too popular for that — that might cause too much blowback. So can we find a way to maim it?’ ”

Republicans have complained that the bureau, which is to be housed in the Federal Reserve and whose budget is independent of Congressional oversight, has broad powers but does not have to answer to anyone. Republican opponents say they are simply trying to ensure that the agency does not interfere with other regulators that look after the safety and soundness of banks and financial institutions.

The Senate group urged the establishment of a board of directors to oversee the bureau, and a House bill similarly calls for the establishment of a five-member commission. A board structure would be similar to the Federal Reserve, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — agencies whose consumer oversight will be shifted to the new consumer bureau on July 21, a year after President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank bank regulation act into law.

Legislators also have called for the consumer bureau to be subject to the Congressional appropriations process. As established, its budget is set as a percentage of the Federal Reserve’s budget and is not subject to approval by Congress.

Consumer groups responded angrily Thursday to the Republican letter. “It’s sort of breathtaking,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, which lobbied for the creation of the consumer bureau. “They’re saying, ‘We’re not O.K. with an effective consumer bureau.’ ”

In spite of the continued resistance, Ms. Warren is moving ahead with efforts to begin the consumer agency’s work. Later this month, it is to begin circulating drafts of new consumer mortgage forms that combine two complicated documents that consumers are required to receive as part of a home purchase into a single form that the agency hopes will be easier for homebuyers to understand.










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Sources: CBS News, CNN, Fox News, Huffington Post, MSNBC, NY Times, Youtube, Google Maps

Columbia University Students Selling Drugs To Pay Tuition? "Operation Ivy League"

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Five Columbia Students Charged With Selling Drugs On Campus


Five students at Columbia University in New York were arrested and accused of selling drugs at fraternity houses and other on-campus residences.

The indictment of the students and three other people followed a five-month investigation called “Operation Ivy League,” authorities said yesterday. Undercover officers spent $11,000 in 31 purchases of drugs including cocaine, marijuana, powdered MDMA or ecstasy, and LSD-laced Altoids mints and Sweetarts candy, the New York City Police Department and Bridget G. Brennan, a special narcotics prosecutor, said in a statement.

“The students arrested today supplied dangerous substances to their friends and other students to turn a quick profit, but subjected themselves to risks, of which they were either ignorant or in denial,” Brennan said in yesterday’s statement.

The Columbia students were identified as Harrison David, 20; Chris Coles, 20; Adam Klein, 20; Jose Stephan Perez, 20; and Michael Wymbs, 22. All of the students pleaded not guilty during an initial appearance before judge Michael Sonberg yesterday.

Coles is from Philadelphia; David is from Wrentham, Massachusetts; Klein is from Cloister, New Jersey; and Perez is from Atlanta, said Kati Cornell, a spokeswoman for the special narcotics office. The three people accused of being their suppliers aren’t students.

William Novak, an assistant district attorney, said David, a third-year engineering student, told investigators he used drug proceeds to help cover tuition costs. Tuition is about $41,600 for the 2010-11 academic year, according to the university’s website.

‘Limited Financial Ability’

Perez, who wore a Columbia sweatshirt at his arraignment, is a scholarship student with “limited financial ability,” and his mother is a marine biologist with a modest income, his attorney, Robert Weinstein, said in court yesterday.

Wymbs, a senior with a 3.5 grade point average, never had a run-in with the law before yesterday’s arrest, said his attorney, Michael Bachner. He is applying to graduate schools and hopes the arrest won’t derail those plans, Bachner said.

Wymbs was student council president and salutatorian in high school and in the summer worked as a biostatician for a cancer research program, Bachner said. His father, who was in court yesterday, is a professor of international business in the city and his mother is a partner at a law firm.

Most of the sales took place in common areas and bedrooms at the Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha and Psi Upsilon fraternities, according to the statement. Coles and Wymbs allegedly sold drugs from their rooms at the Intercultural House and East Campus Housing.

Expulsion Possible

Students who violate the school’s prohibition on illicit drugs may face disciplinary measures that can include expulsion, according to the university’s website.

“The alleged behavior of the students involved in this incident goes against not only state and federal law, but also university policy and the principles we have set -- and strive together to maintain -- for our community,” Columbia told students in a message yesterday, according to an e-mail from school spokesman Robert Hornsby. “Please rest assured we are taking this matter very seriously.”

Columbia, founded in 1754, has about 25,000 students. Graduates include President Barack Obama and Warren Buffett, the chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., who attended Columbia Business School. It is one of eight private schools in the northeastern U.S. that make up the Ivy League.

Alleged Suppliers

Alleged suppliers Miron Sarzynski, 23, and his girlfriend, Megan Asper, 22, were arrested on Oct. 27 in the East Village section of Manhattan, the statement said. Sarzynski allegedly sold drugs to undercover officers seven times and made drugs at his apartment on East Sixth Street.

Searches of the students’ rooms this morning yielded a bottle of LSD, 50 capsules of MDMA, 15 Adderall pills, more than half a pound of marijuana and about $2,000 in cash, the statement said.

An October raid of Sarzynski’s apartment turned up two dozen marijuana plants, equipment for growing marijuana, jars of the drug DMT, a bottle of LSD, $1,200 cash and two air pistols.

Sarzynski is also charged with attempting to kidnap a pair of rival cocaine traffickers who he thought stole money from him, and trying to hire an undercover officer to help him, according to the statement.

Kidnapping Plan

Sarzynski’s alleged plan was to kidnap the rival traffickers with a stun gun, hold them for ransom and torture them by giving them a heavy dose of LSD, the statement said. He planned to kill them if they didn’t pay, and handed a vial of LSD to the officer before his arrest.

A third alleged cocaine supplier, Roberto Lagares, 30, was arrested Dec. 5 at the Kingsborough Houses, a New York City Housing Authority Development in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, according to the police statement.

Sarzynski and Asper were arraigned last month and are still in custody, Cornell said. Lagares was arraigned yesterday. Bail for the eight suspects was set between $10,000 and $250,000.

Psi Upsilon had no “official comment” on yesterday’s events “but will continue to cooperate with the university to ‘get to the bottom of this.’” Paul Warren, president of Pi Kappa Alpha, didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment, and Carlos Eduardo Rodriguez Castillo, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, declined to comment in a telephone interview.


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Sources: Bloomberg.com, MSNBC, NY Daily News, Google Maps

Charlotte Teen Mom Beats Odds, Wins 2 College Scholarships

This young lady chose to have her baby NOT an Abortion and continue her Education. Despite all odds she made it, winning 2 college scholarships. God is Good!


Charlotte Teen Mom Wins 2 College Scholarships: "Everybody Told Me It Was The End"



Hawthorne High student Olivia Leverette, 17, remembers crying the day a doctor revealed she was 16 weeks pregnant.

"Everybody told me it was the end," she says. "I wouldn't be able to go to school, I wouldn't accomplish anything. I was going to be a statistic."

Next week, Olivia will prove them wrong by graduating a year earlier than expected - after being voted "most dependable," "most successful" and "most goal-oriented."

She has not one, but two multi-year scholarships, and an internship this summer working for the police department.

Her dream is to be either a homicide detective or a judge, so she'll start classes this fall at UNC Charlotte, majoring in criminal justice. Then, she says, it will be on to law school.

Somewhere in between, her daughter, Azariah, will start first grade.

How Olivia has managed it all marvels even the school's principal, Tracey Pickard.

"She gets up every morning at the crack of drawn, takes care of her child, comes to school on time at 7 a.m., stays a full day, and, even on bad days, she still comes out on top," says Pickard.

"What else can she face in life that she can't get through? She simply refuses not to succeed."

Communities in Schools helped with a teen-parenting program that included child care for 11-month-old Azariah. Olivia also has the support of her parents, Alfreida and David, and a younger brother, Harrison, 13, who still lives at home. (The family of Azariah's father is also involved in her upbringing.)

Alfreida was there when the doctor told Olivia she was pregnant. At first, the mother says, she almost fainted, partially sliding out of her chair. Then she cried. "Because I saw her (Olivia) crying," she explained.

It was the last thing she expected from a quiet child who family members jokingly accused of not knowing how to speak.

However, Olivia was more worried about her father's reaction. Both her parents are in their 50s, and everybody in the family admits dad is as traditional as they come.

"When the doctor told me, I just kept screaming, 'What's my daddy going to say? What's my daddy going to say?' That's all I said for an hour."

Alfreida says it definitely strained Olivia's relationship with her father, who had big dreams for his little girl.

"Before this, the two of them were inseparable. I mean, they pushed me to the side," she says. "He needed his own time to heal in his own way."

In the meantime, she says Olivia has changed. The shy kid in the family is now outgoing, laughs more and says what's on her mind.

Alfreida credits Olivia's baby.

Olivia agrees. In fact, she says everything that has happened to her in the past year is because of Azariah.

Not all of it was good, she concedes.

A lot of her friends abandoned her, because their parents considered her a bad influence. Even some members of her own family stopped speaking to her, she says.

"I felt abandoned," Olivia says. "But then I saw Azariah's face that first time and I realized it wasn't just me anymore. I had to stop thinking about just myself, because there was someone I had to make a better life for. To do that, I needed a way out."

So here she is less than a year later, graduating early, headed for college and dreaming of being a homicide detective, of all things.

Azariah is going to be right there with her.

That name, by the way, is Hebrew.

Translation: "Helped by God."


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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Google Maps

Education Cuts Are Dumbing Down America & Hurting Minorities, Where's Obama?

Protests Over Education Cutbacks Snarl Traffic, Lead To Arrests


A California movement protesting $1 billion in budget cuts to the state's university system appeared to have burgeoned into a nationwide demonstration on Thursday.

Students and professors in dozens of states were challenging administrators and state lawmakers over budget cuts and tuition increases that they say are reducing students' class options and increasing their expenses.

Some of the demonstrations turned chaotic. In Oakland, California, police arrested 160 protesters who shut down a major freeway, according to city police spokeswoman April McFarland.

The Oakland protesters had left a march from the University of California, Berkeley to Oakland City Hall and wound up on the Interstate 980/880 interchange, CNN San Francisco affiliate KGO reported. KCRA: Protesters threaten to block interstate

McFarland said the protesters brought Thursday evening rush hour traffic to a halt for an hour and 45 minutes.

One man is in critical condition after he tried to elude arrest by jumping off the freeway onto a tree, KGO reported. He fell from the tree onto the street below, a roughly 22 foot drop from the interchange, according to KGO.

At the University of California Davis, police held back student protesters who had threatened to shut down nearby Interstate 80, CNN affiliate KCRA in Sacramento reported.

Police fired rubber bullets into the ground in an effort to deter students, who made it as far as an I-80 exit ramp just south of campus.

At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, at least 15 people were arrested in demonstrations Thursday, according to CNN affiliate WTMJ.

A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee vice chancellor allowed a protester to drop off pamphlets in the chancellor's office, then called campus police when dozens of protesters tried to enter the building, according to WTMJ.

University police called the Milwaukee Police Department for backup, and officers spent an hour rounding up protesters.

Students yelled "Let her go!" and "What did he do?" as Milwaukee police led students into their black and white vans.

Across the country, students told of having to work second jobs and make lifestyle adjustments in the face of dramatic tuition hikes.

"I work at two jobs, go to school full time to make ends meet," said Tyler, a fifth-year senior at San Francisco State University, where students and faculty protested Thursday. She did not give her last name.

"I have been here a really long time. I struggle to keep [taking] classes to be able to keep my financial aid every semester, and I really don't know when I'm going to be able to get out of here. Every semester, something is cut, and I can't get the class I need. Who knows when I will be out of here," she said.

Many of Thursday's demonstrations focused on cuts to state-funded colleges and universities, which supporters say drive up tuition, limit classes and make higher education unobtainable to many. A blog called Student Activism, which was compiling a list of the protests, said that 122 events were scheduled in 33 states -- most on campuses, and some at state capitols.

Professors and students say dissatisfaction, anger and an uncertain future had led to call for a "Day of Action" to defend education.

At the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, dozens of protesters gathered Thursday and chanted, "Hey hey, ho ho, these student fees have got to go."

Video submitted from the demonstration by a CNN iReporter calling himself Bowtieguy showed students carrying handmade signs with messages like "Where's Holub's pay cut?" -- a reference to university chancellor Robert C. Holub.

Another homemade sign read "Chop from the top."

At California State University-Fullerton, dozens of students marched outdoors, chanting, "Students united will never be divided." A video submitted by a CNN iReporter who calls herself MelissaF showed handmade signs saying "Protect humanities" and "What happened to our future?"

State funding for the California State University system was reduced by nearly $1 billion for the academic years between 2008 and 2010. Schools have responded by increasing fees, canceling classes, cutting student support programs and furloughing professors. Fees have increased 182 percent since 2002. Class waiting lists have doubled or tripled.

"The less affordable education becomes, the less likely low-income students will be able to get a college education," said Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association and professor of history at California State University Los Angeles.

In addition to protests at numerous public colleges and universities in California, demonstrations also were planned for K-12 schools Thursday, according to the Student Activism blog.

On the other side of the country, in Georgia, a legislative committee proposed $300 million in cuts to the state's college system, on top of the $100 million cut in the past two years, University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams wrote in an open letter to students, faculty and staff.

"This is not our plan; these are not cuts we offered to make; and we will vigorously oppose any effort to implement them," Adams wrote.

In response, student organizers in Georgia are urging fellow students at every college in the state system to wear black this week to "symbolize the 'death' of our education," according to a post on Facebook.

In Colorado, hundreds rallied at the Capitol in Denver, holding signs and cheering.

In New York, students at New York University, which is private, planned to meet up to protest tuition increases and education cuts with students from Hunter College and the New School, two other private institutions in Manhattan, said NYU student Claire Lewis.

"It is a private university, but like a lot of public universities, our tuition is also getting increased," Lewis said. "This isn't anything new with the economic crisis with us; our tuition gets increased an average of 6 percent every year," she said.

"But lots of our students depend on federally funded grants and loans, and so the broader-nation education cuts definitely affect us." She added, "Kids literally work two or three jobs to pay for their tuition here."

In Maryland, students at the University of Maryland in College Park planned to walk out of class at noon, meet at the student union and then march to a plaza for a rally, according to a Facebook invitation.


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Sources: CNN, Google Maps

Obama Administration Introduces New Student Loan Re-Payment Plan...Its Income-Based

TIME----

College students are often forced to make a decision between two life paths: one that feeds the soul and one that feeds the bank account. Rarely do the two meet. As a result, the average college grad — who leaves school with about $23,000 in student-loan debt — either slogs along during those first few work years in satisfying (yet typically low-paying) jobs or makes a play for grinding corporate gigs that pay the bills and deaden the heart.

But all that stands to change on July 1 with the start of an income-based repayment (IBR) plan. The goal of the government initiative, which has been championed by Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, is to prevent payments on federal student loans from exceeding 15% of a borrower's disposable income above 150% of the poverty level. Borrowers who earn below that threshold (which in most states is about $16,000 for a single person with no dependents) wouldn't have to make any monthly payments at all.

These changes, alongside a $619 increase in the maximum Pell Grant and a reduction in the interest rate on new federal loans, arrive at a moment of seemingly runaway college costs on one end and a dismal economic outlook on the other. The Obama Administration is trying to lessen the pressure on aspiring students in ways both big and small. Last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a plan to simplify the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) — the form to apply for federal dollars — cutting at least 20% of the questions and making it easier to fill out online. For months now, Duncan has discussed the possibility of making Pell Grants an entitlement or guaranteed benefit like Social Security that would be protected from annual budget cuts. Duncan is also trying to transition to a system in which students get all their college loans from the government, rather than going through banks and other private lenders. The new IBR program does not apply to private loans.

Add up these steps, and the Obama Administration appears to be attacking the staggering cost of higher ed from the back end — that is, if we can't fix how much college costs, at least we can try to fix how you pay that cost back. "There's clearly a lot of work to do in bringing down the cost of college," says Edie Irons, spokesperson for the Project on Student Debt. "But even if you froze college tuition at every institution tomorrow, you'd still have this problem where people are borrowing incredible amounts of money to take important jobs that may not pay very well."

In the past, federal-loan repayment was structured so that a graduate would have to pay a certain amount of money each month, regardless of his or her income at the time. Under the IBR program, if you lose your job or are forced to take a pay cut, the amount you have to pay back per month will drop. If, however, your salary subsequently increases, your payments will still be capped at 15% of your disposable income. That is, of course, if you are eligible to participate in the program; grads with private loans are exempted as well as those who owe less than they earn in a year (use this calculator to figure out if you qualify). It's all based on a debt-to-income ratio and is fluid and flexible in a way that most government systems are not. And if the Education Department is serious about abolishing the two-track loan system (in which it provides direct loans as well as subsidizes private-lender loans), this is just one more way of convincing borrowers to throw their hat in with the feds.

One big upside is likely to be a reduction in the number of people who default on their student loans, a financial disaster that can destroy credit ratings and hike up interest rates on future loans. "In this economic recession, a lot of students are having a difficult time just paying for normal things like groceries or rent," says Carmen Berkley, president of the U.S. Student Association, an advocacy group. "This is really going to make sure that students are able to keep up with their loans and don't have to default. We want to be able to have good credit, to eventually be able to buy cars and houses too."

Under the IBR program, if students are still paying back college loans after 25 years, they will be eligible to have all debt erased (though, if the law stands as is, much of that remaining balance will be taxed as income). And if students go into a public-service career, they are eligible for loan forgiveness after a mere 10 years. While participants in programs such as AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, the military and other such institutions have long been eligible for loan reduction or forgiveness, this new program expands such mercy to potentially hundreds of thousands more students who won't be forced to make that knee-jerk decision between ideals and salary. "We really need college graduates to go into fields like teaching and social work and public-interest law and rural medical services," says Irons. "And because of the way people are forced to pay for education, they are less and less able to do those jobs. For society's sake, we should make it easier for them to do so."


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Sources: TIME, U.S. Dept of Ed, Whitehouse.gov, Flickr, Google Maps