Archive for April, 2009
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
 Our friends over at Higher Ed Watch got the scoop today on what could turn out to be yet another student loan scandal in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). While a full investigation is still in order to determine whether wrong doing took place, this news is yet another example of why adopting the president’s proposal to phase out the FFELP, which includes wasteful subsidies to student loan companies, and use the estimated $94 billion in savings over ten years to expand student aid.
Higher Ed Watch found evidence to believe that the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation, the state’s loan agency, and the South Carolina State Education Assistance Authority, the state’s Guarantee agency, worked together to deny some students federal loans in order to take advantage of the Lender of Last Resort program. Under the program, loan companies are not liable for a single cent if a loan that they make goes into default, unlike regular loans made under the FFELP where the lender is on the hook for 3% of the loan, and the government covers the other 97%.
The program is rarely used because very few students are ever denied loans under the FFELP (the government assumes nearly all of the risk anyway, after all). The Department of Education is aware of the situation, and conducting a review of the program.
Tags: college affordability, corruption, student loans
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Thursday, April 30th, 2009
 We would like to extend our thanks to the hundreds of Representatives and Senators who voted to carry out the promise of true change that so many of us voted for in November. The final budget resolution, passed last night in the House and Senate, represents a foundation for moving forward with legislation that supports the goals laid out by President Obama’s budget: providing quality health care for all Americans, investing in clean energy and making education more affordable and accessible.
Finally, we have a Congress in power that realizes fixing this economy means addressing the fundamental problems that got us here in the first place and building a foundation for long-term growth and prosperity – from the ground up.
The budget resolution agreed upon by the House and the Senate preserves the President’s priorities to ensure a sound and swift economic recovery – while still cutting the deficit substantially. It also includes reconciliation instructions that will protect health care reform and education from a minority block in the Senate.
If young people are negatively impacted by our nation’s economic crisis, young people of color and those with limited access to resources are hit especially hard. We are extremely pleased that Congress has taken this much-needed step to make dramatic investments in these communities so that everyone has equal access to affordable health care, higher education, and the new jobs that come from greening our economy.
Members of Congress from every corner of America came together to pass the budget resolution, yet none of them were Republicans. In this economic crisis, we cannot afford more partisan bickering. It’s time we all come together to solve our nation’s problems.
The new budget is the first step, now we must seize the economic opportunity we have to invest in smart choices for our future.
As President Obama noted yesterday in the press conference marking his 100 days in office, “I think we’re off to a good start, but it’s just a start”.
Tags: budget, budget conference agreement, obama
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Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
The Conference Committee met this week to decide on the Budget Conference Agreement, which is basically a compromise between both chambers’ budget resolutions. The House just voted on the agreement and passed it 233-193. The agreement preserves Obama’s call for investment in health care reform, clean energy and affordable education. The budget agreement also includes reconciliation instructions for health care reform and education, to protect the future bills from being blocked by a minority of Senators.
The Senate is expected to vote on the budget agreement later today. Check out this article from the NY Times for more.
Tags: budget, budget conference agreement, conference committee
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Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
 While most sectors of the economy are facing tremendous hardship and laying people off, wind energy companies are soaring, vastly expanding manufacturing, creating green jobs and completing record amounts of clean energy projects.
Wind energy’s impressive first quarter (January – March) growth is a clear example of clean energy’s potential to set us on the path of economic recovery. Towns like Braddock, Pennsylvania, were hurting for many years as the global economy expanded, deregulation ran rampant, and corporations found it convenient to ship industries abroad. Wind power, renewable energy and conservation projects have the power to change that, and already are. Check out this amazing video about Braddock’s green recovery and their push for more investments in clean energy.
(more…)
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Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
We’re sick and tired of our health care system, and chances are, you are too!
Are you worried about not having health care coverage after you graduate? Do you have a job (or two!) that doesn’t provide health care? Do you have a horror story about a friend or family member battling the health insurance company to get decent care or coverage? Send us your stories!
We spend billions more than other nations on health care, and yet we still have 46 million uninsured. In his budget proposal, President Obama pledged his commitment to making sure that ALL Americans have access to health care, not just those who can afford it. Budget resolutions in both the House and Senate, which are in the stages of being finalized, have set the stage for reforming our broken health care system and replacing it with quality, affordable health care we all can count on. Read more here about how this process will work.
As the battle for health care reform heats up, our representatives need to hear from real people like you who will benefit from quality health care now. There are a few key states — PA, OR, IA, NE, MT, WY and ME — where we will have to apply more pressure, so if you’re living in or attending school in any of those states, we especially want to hear from you.
If you’re interested in participating, please contact me ASAP at kandriulli@americanprogress.org for more information!
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Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
No, it’s not a headline from The Onion…as Think Progress reports, Rep. John Beohner (R-OH) announced yesterday that the House GOP is creating the American Energy Solutions Group, meant to “work on crafting Republican solutions to lower energy prices for American families and small businesses.”
So just who is going to be part of this group? According to the press release, the group will be led by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), a vocal opponent of cap and trade, and will also include none other than Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), both notorious deniers of global warming. Shimkus, you’ll remember, likened cap and trade to “an assault on democracy” just last week.
Here’s hoping they come up with some real solutions, but something tells us they are going to have a tough time of it.
Tags: budget, clean energy, congress, Global Warming
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Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
The House Energy and Commerce committee is finalizing the markup on their groundbreaking climate bill, the American Clean Energy and Secuirty Act (ACES). This bill has the potential to build a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty, create millions of green jobs, and stave off the threat of the climate crisis. Despite its potential, it still needs tons of work. Last week the E&C committee held tons of hearings and, as usual, young people (PowerShifters) were present! Check out what Joshua Tulkin, the Energy Action Coalition Field Director had to say about it:
Over 100 young in Power Shift shirts and green hard hats flooded capitol hill over four days, filling security lines, the hearings rooms, and all the space around talking to lobbyists, legislators, and staffers about solutions to the climate crisis. While big oil and coal companies hired “line standers” to save them a spot hours before, we relied on good old fashion people power to pack the hearings, providing a moral compass and delivering a strong message “it’s our future is at stake, don’t let us down”.
(more…)
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Monday, April 27th, 2009
Last week we worked with our partners at the US Students Association to get an op-ed published in Inside Higher Ed, a higher education trade publication. We argued that President Obama’s proposal for student aid reform—cutting a wasteful and inefficient corporate welfare program that would cost $94 billion more over ten years in order to expand need-based aid for students—is a damn good idea for students, young people, and the future of the country.
In today’s edition, the executive director of America’s Student Loan Providers, a lobbying group for student loan companies, responded with his own op-ed in the same publication.
A detailed (and extremely long) refutation of his claims is below the fold. (more…)
Tags: college affordability, student loans
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Monday, April 27th, 2009
“They are gearing up for battle. So am I. They will fight for their special interests. I will fight for…American students and their families. And for those who care about America’s future, this is a battle we can’t afford to lose.”
– President Obama responding to the “army of lobbyists” gathering to combat proposed student loan reform in the budget.
Tags: budget, college affordability, congress, News, obama, reconciliation, student loans
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Friday, April 24th, 2009
Today at the White House, President Obama met with a family struggling with student loans, reaffirming his commitment to making college more affordable. Here is a highlight from his remarks:
“…in a paradox of American life, at the very moment it’s never been more important to have a quality higher education, the cost of that kind of that kind of education has never been higher. Over the past few decades, the cost of tuition at private colleges has more than doubled, while costs at public institutions have nearly tripled. Compounding the problem, tuition has grown ten times faster than a typical family’s income, putting new pressure on families that are already strained and pricing far too many students out of college altogether. Yet, we have a student loan system where we’re giving lenders billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies that could be used to make college more affordable for all Americans.”
“…I am confident that if all of us here in Washington do what’s in the best interests of the people we represent, and reinvest not only in opening the doors of college but making sure students can walk through them, then we will help deliver the change that the American people sent us here to make. We will help Americans fulfill their promise as individuals. And we will help America fulfill its promise as a nation.”
Read the President’s full remarks here.
Tags: budget, college affordability, News, obama, Perkins
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