Breakups! Gates is quits with the Washington Post, and Buffet is following behind him

Breakups aren't always such a bad thing. Sometimes it is good to call it quits.

In this case, the relationship between Gates and the Washington Post has come to an end, and that news makes me wish I had a nice bottle of Champagne to pop. On top of that, Mr. Buffett will also be leaving the Company Board. I had heard from an inside source, around the same time I wrote about the sordid relationship between the Post and Kaplan, that Gates was going to call it quits with them. So you can imagine my elation at the moment! (For those of you who wish to think of me popping a bottle of champagne on behalf of the indentured educated class, go ahead and imagine hearing that cork gleefully freeing itself from its neck now).

Naturally, Donald Graham, the chairman of the Post, is one of the biggest defenders of the for-profits. I know. Shocking, right? So then everybody on the Hill reads the Post. They read problematic stories by Michelle Singletary (see here and here), and conclude that there's really not a problem when it comes to student loan debt. They are also busy convincing everyone that for-profits are necessary and good. Ha.

As previously mentioned, and picked up in a recent piece by Ms. Linda Stamato, in order to boost the reputation of Kaplan, recruiters were encouraged to tell prospective students that "'Kaplan is owned by The Washington Post, one of the best newspapers in the country, and that Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’s wife, Melinda Gates, were on our board of directors.'"

Luckily, Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffett have enough sense to know that they don't want their names run through the mud. Let's hear it for healthy breakups! 

 

Suicide and Murder-Suicides

The investigative work continues and I am collecting more stories about suicide and suicidal thoughts among student loan debtors. This research has led to reading extensively on widespread suicide-murders and lone suicides in the U.S. Many of these tragic events are a result of financial disaster. Suicide as an answer to economic calamity has definitely spiked in recent years. While I realize there  are a number of complex reasons for why people commit suicide or contend with suicidal thoughts, there is growing evidence which suggests that increased stress, regarding one's personal finances, has led to a number of untimely deaths. More worrisome, how many more will take their own lives because of financial ruin?

Harold Pollack wrote a piece in August 2010 about the relationship between unemployment and suicide. Here's the most noteworthy data from that piece:

- In 2007 the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline received 13,423 calls

- In 2009 the calls skyrocketed to 57,625

If you are willing to share your story about suicide/suicidal thoughts and student loan debt, I'd like to hear from you. The subject is serious and sensitive, so I will not share your name or identity with anyone.

Finally, please remember that you are not alone, and that there are resources for you. If you are considering suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline immediately (1-800-273-TALK (8255). More information is available at their site.


Related Links (AEM and other publications  by me):


"Student Loan Debtor Confesses: 'I Think About Jumping Out the 27th Floor Window of the Office Every Day," The Huffington Post (Dec 20, 2010)

Debt and Suicide (Radio interview with Shared Sacrifice; originally aired 16 December 2010)

Suicide Among Student Debtors - Who's Thought About It? (17 August 2010)

For The Indentured Class, Suicidal Thoughts Are Not Merely An Individual Problem (22 October 2010)

An Angry Mother Vents (4 October 2010)

Other Related Links:

99ers band together to save a life (27 January 2010) 

Suicide Rates Up Since Recession Began, Debt A 'Way of Life' For 99ers (26 July 2010)

Tomgram: Nick Turse, Desperate Times and Desperate Measures (28 January 2009)

The Economic Crisis Is Getting Bloody - Violent Deaths Are Now Following Evictions, Foreclosures, and Job Losses (20 November 2009)

 

Did anyone really see this coming? Proprietary schools pushing hard against gainful employment approach

Indentured educated servants: prepare yourself for some intense battles. With little resources to promote our voice inside the beltway, the recent developments attacking the gainful employment rule are worrisome. In addition, we have a new and despicable sheriff in town, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). But when it comes to the attacks, I doubt anyone saw these things coming, especially with regard to the proprietary schools. They're winning, and it is a crying shame.

Foxx is now the chairwoman of the higher-education subcommittee in the House of Representatives, and she has allies in the banking and student lending industry. She is against any form of regulation, and is targeting the gainful employment rule. Pell Grants are also vulnerable.

She also hopes to slash the budget of the Department of Education, and in ways that are not good for borrowers.

It sounds like those within the Department aren't too concerned. For instance, Eduardo Ochoa, assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Education Department, stated that the new rules will probably not be disconcerting for the proprietary schools. He added, "The regulations as they come out are going to be significantly different—I think they're going to be better, nuanced, and I think that there's a lot there that people will appreciate having other views reflected."

When someone like Ochoa uses words like 'nuanced,' that is code for the following: "we've been lobbied and pressured so hard, that we're going to cave to the demands of the for-profit industry." Well, we can all rest easy, knowing that the very schools that ought to be regulated are drafting the new rules. After all, that is the way things work these days in Washington.

If these are Foxx's plans, you can imagine what that means for current borrowers who need relief and immediate solutions. Rest assured, I'm working on angles and have some propositions out there.  

That's why we need to organize and demand answers from Congressman Virginia Foxx.   

Original source: Eric Kelderman,"Rep Foxx calls for Streamlining Regulations and Cutting Spending," The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 25, 2011 

Related Links

Kelly Field, "Obama Calls for Spending Freeze but Says He'll Spare Education," The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 25, 2011

Shame more people didn't vote that way in her district.

Obama's Metamorphosis: From Center-Center-Right to Right-Right

Last year I listened to the SOTU while driving through the South. We had to tune in by AM radio, and at times the crackling speech was as we went deeper into the south. We were headed to South Korea, and I still had hopes for what Obama intended to do for the country. While that sense of hope was somewhat of a flicker, it was still there. Today, that then dwindling flicker has been fully extinguished. Not even a faint string of smoke or the leftover hint of hot wax remains.

When President Obama delivered his last SOTU, I had even received a letter from him a few weeks weeks earlier about the student lending crisis. Of course, the President didn't call it that, but that's why he was responding to me. As of this date, the White House continues to shift the conversation back to the same sorry message. They can't get away from the safe and easy lines that relate to prospective and current students. To hell with the current debtors. Even though the outstanding student loan debt is nearing a whopping $900 billion, we're still going to talk about how we'll take care of those who don't currently carry the burden of debt. Oh, and we'll be sure to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.  Because helping prospective students is really going to make a difference when it comes to a generation, actually generations, of people who are part of the indentured educated class. Keep up the good work! You're really making a friggin' difference.

In President Obama's last SOTU, he mentioned student loan debt at least four times. His most inspiring line was this: "In the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college."

He should have added, "well, what I mean to say is, no prospective students should go broke when they go to college in the future. To hell with those of you who are current student loan debtors. We've been convinced that you're not a problem in D.C. That's what the the associations for the universities and students are telling us. Oh, so is the College Board. I'm pretty sure I've had some dinners with Nelnet and Sallie Mae. Besides, I read the Post, and they never seem to make a stink about student loan debt. They've all assured me that you're really not a concern. So, to hell with you. But . . . please rally around me for my next election, so that I can break more promises and then bitterly complain that you are ungrateful and whiny!"

Welcome to the new age of Right-Right Obama.

Related Links

"Bitter Taste, Bad Letter," July 19, 2010

"You don't say? The President tells the Arizona Daily that higher education needs to be affordable," September 28, 2010


"Last call with the White House," February 5, 2010

"Quick Notes: The President's State of the Union Address," January 21, 2010

"The Obama Administration: Why they have failed (Part II)," January 11, 2010

"The Obama Administration: Why they have failed," January 7, 2010 

Other related links

"Barack Obama - Out of the closet," Michael Brenner, Huffington Post, January 24, 2011

"Obama's transformation culminates in Tuesday's State of the Union Address," Sam Youngman, The Hill, January 24, 2011

Olbermann calls Obama a sellout, MSNBC, December 7, 2010

Good luck, indentured educated citizens! You're on your own!

Quick links: Our favorite gal, Sallie Mae

For those of you interested in market updates and news-related stories about Sallie Mae, I've decided to post bi-monthly updates of relevant links with annotations. Since we're all big fans of Ms. Mae, she's the first on the list for this new feature at AEM. In the future, I will also post quick links about Mr. Nelnet. If you would like me to feature other lenders, please don't hesitate to submit the names of your favorite companies! After all, we know how much they care about the indentured educated class.

So, without further adieu, let's see all the great and dismal and infuriating things that is in the news about Ms. Mae.

- "Sallie Mae Hints at Dividends," WSJ, January 20, 2011 

SLM may return cash to shareholders. She hasn't done so since 2007. They've made these promises to investors in the past, but then have failed to follow through. The best news in this article? SLM's fourth-quarter earnings are up by 45%! Great news for us, right?

- "Calls from student loan firm aggravate non-borrowers," Chicago Tribune, January 20, 2011

So this story is about a couple with the last name of Collins. It turns out they started receiving calls from Sallie Mae . . .  get this . . . non-stop, even though they were non-borrowers. I know, I know, it's shocking to those of you who are aware of the amazing quality of customer service that Ms. Company Mae possesses. She's a real lady when it comes to phone call etiquette and fair treatment. In any event, the Collins shared the same last name with one of Ms. Mae's debtors (lucky them!). Even though the couple told Sallie to stop calling day in and day out, the very next day - you guessed it - the phone would ring again and again and again and again. You get my point. And of course it would be damned Sallie on the other end of the line wanting to chit-chat. Luckily, there's a happy ending for the couple. As for the debtor, I doubt that's the case for him.

- "Sallie Mae Tops Zacks Estimate," Daily Markets.com, January 20, 2011

"SLM Corp. (SLM: 14.13 +0.31 +2.24%), better known as Sallie Mae, reported fourth quarter 2010 core earnings of $401 million or 75 cents per share, ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 72 cents. The results compare favorably with prior-year quarter’s core earnings of $268 million or 44 cents per share. Favorable results were primarily driven by decrease in loan loss provisions and gains from repurchasing debt. During the quarter, the company repurchased $1.3 billion of debt with realized gains of $118 million."

 You can count on us! We are experts in terrorizing and demoralizing the indentured educated class.