" ... the Education Department said its rule protected community colleges, historically black colleges and universities and taxpayers 'from undue harm ... '"
The Obama rule is clearly directed at swindlers like Donald Trump and Trump University, not at legitimate institutes of learning.
The animus of this administration toward accountability and its contempt for ordinary Americans is truly breathtaking. Betsey DeVos is a prime example of the rottenness at its core.
3
The U.S. Dept of Education is today wholly owned by companies that make their money from student debt. The connections are so many and so brazen it's laughable. I believe, for example, I read recently that DeVos' former chief of staff just took an executive level job with the company now being sued by NYS for badly and perhaps intentionally mismanaging the public service loan forgiveness program. (An aside: DeVos' brother, the shady former CEO of Blackwater, is now being accused of recruiting spies to infiltrate teachers' unions.) Let me say, as a conservative, that it's beyond time to vote these awful people out of government.
15
I'm a bit slow. After all, I am upside down in Australia-but wasn't the President an owner of a school that bilked students?
Maybe I'm not the one that is upside down.
53
The big news (though not a surprise) is that 42 Republicans have such desperate and aggressive fealty towards swindlers that they voted against overturning the rule.
How servile the Republican base is, to endure this. It's embarrassing.
181
@sedanchair: The 'base' doesn't have to be servile or to endure this. For that matter, they don't even have to be Democrats if they aren't inclined to be. But they can't remain in the GOP and command respect or sympathy.
Their president-demigod is a leech. They should have been able to figure that out by now.
17
@sedanchair
Jan. 17, 2018, Eric Trump: my dad sees only one color, green.
14
Privileged billionaire political appointee makes life miserable for people who were conned by for-profit operators of scam colleges. Loathsome. Her cruelty is only surpassed by her incompetence and ignorance. Her disdain for us peons is evident in every decision she makes.
243
@themodprofessor "Let them eat loans."
5
Yup, we should bail out frackers (and banks and car companies as well as others) but not students ripped off by for profit colleges.
Welcome to republican socialism.
67
@Sarah
Stop it. Just stop it.
26
@Me, well put.
It does surprise me how many middle class Americans are against “socialism” (which in this country is social security, medicare, public schools, etc) which benefit the middle class, but vote for those who avidly support socialist welfare (ie taxpayer dollars) used for corporations and the wealthy (tax breaks, massive (and totally legal) tax avoidance ie middle class paying the wealthy’s taxes for them).
There are actually middle class voters who voted for someone who said (not kidding) that he was “smart” not to pay taxes - which is actually true because for every tax dollar he didn’t pay, his supporters paid for him from their wallets (and ours).
As you said, welcome to Republican Socialism - welfare for the wealthy.
30
@Other You are correct. As a math teacher I can explain why people, mostly lower and middle class, vote for the Republicans and against there own best financial interests...most people don't understand mathematics. Percentages to be exact. The state of Tennessee has for years tried to pass a state income tax while lower sales tax at the same time. Considering basic needs, like food, are sales taxed at a rate of roughly 9.97% for everyone, rich and poor alike, this tax is the most regressive and disproportionately hurts lower income households. While a state progressive income tax and lower sales tax would mathematically calculate to a lower total tax burden for those in lower and middle income brackets and more for those in a higher tax burden, thereby being "fairer" based on ability to pay. But you can't explain that to people who don't understand percentages, and by my estimation that is at least 80% of the public.
8
Too late Natasha your leader already did that.
1
BetsyDeVos or is it BetsyDeVworst
1
DeVos is a shill for the for-profit education industry. Her billionaire buddies are in danger. Oh my! So the cheated veterans and other defrauded students a have got to cough up their low salaries to further enrich these crooks. Want to lose more votes, Trump? I dare you to veto this bill.
4
DeVos, Prince, Meijers, Van Andels...all western Michigan brown shirts and an embarrassment to the state and nation.
2
Betsy DeVos worrying about anyone getting “free money” is one of the most laughable ideas I’ve ever heard. How much money has she earned or had to do anything for in the course of her life???? And what has the money that has been handed to her on a silver platter cost each American taxpayer????
4
Grifters gotta grift. Trump found a woman who has no problems with legalizing theft from some of our most vulnerable citizens. Nobody but the Trumpiest members of the cult actually agree with DeVos that these loans that went straight into the pockets of those who were working an unregulated system were "free money."
A government that actually cared about people would work tirelessly to alleviate the pain and hardship caused by the cycle of debt. Not steer the profits toward their cronies.
1
What I get from this is that Republicans do not want Americans to be educated. They also don't want to represent us. They do want to take our money and be done with us.
I checked myself after writing this. But then I considered this: Betsy DeVos is still in govt. That says it all.
1
Kakistocracy: Government by the corrupt, the inept and the cruel.
2
Truth. Democrats don’t let Democrats vote while blind.
1
Democrats don’t let Democrats vote for Republicans. Why wouldn’t we want the truth? I do. Biden is against abortion and Roe v Wade? Biden calls my Black brothers predators? I thought his treatment of Anita Hill was despicable enough. When I saw he would deny us all healthcare like I had when I lived in Japan, I was outraged. The more I learn about this Biden, the more horrifying he truly is.
1
And this time, we are being asked to willingly support just slightly less worse: ‘As Biden’s campaign seeks to keep him away from open microphones and limit his public appearances, serious questions are being asked about Biden’s mental health and his decades of right-wing positions and policies. Nathan Robinson, editor-in-chief of Current Affairs, discusses Biden’s record on criminal justice, the climate crisis, women’s reproductive rights, war, and trade. Robinson accurately predicted Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton and he argues it will all happen again if Biden is the candidate in November. His latest article is titled, “Democrats, You Really Do Not Want To Nominate Joe Biden.”’
1
Bad enough that she’s incompetent and functionally illiterate about education policy, she’s evil, to boot — which, come to think of it, is exactly what we need to do.
It’s a shame that she’ll probably have until next January to continue her campaign of havoc on students and educators.
2
Well let’s see if this holds up. DeVos is just another example of a long list of trump’s corrupt, greedy cronies hurting Americans. Wake up people and throw these people out of government.
1
I read stories like this and can’t help but wonder whether her real name is Cruella De Vos.
President Trump is an experts on defrauding students that needed to take out a student loan to attend Trump University. Secretary Devos favor for profit primary and secondary schools. Am I the only one that see the correlation? Profit before education!
1
Senator Lamar Alexander: the poster child for the Republican Party. What will the Senate do without his voice?
Soldiers are from the lower class, and it's only reasonable that worthless colleges should be able to scoop up whatever benefits the government accords them. We wouldn't want to show our gratitude, would we?
Having previously worked for a for-profit school, I can attest to the aggressive level these schools pursue veterans and their benefits while high level executives received fat bonuses.
4
My only question is why doesn't the government file lawsuits on behalf of students who have been ripped off by these for-profit schools. Or better yet, states can yank their business licenses for committing fraud. Why stick it to the taxpayer?
2
Why does the taxpayer pay to build stadiums for the wealthiest Americans? If we want government that doesn’t take every single thing we have left, we have to run for office ourselves and elect the candidates that will make good government that works .for. us, instead of for the wealthiest.
1
This woman has never done an honest day's work in her life. She is one of the last people in America who should be the chief advocate for students,teachers,schools. She was appointed by the founder of Trump university which should be a clue to her competence.
5
If Betsy Devos is like most human beings, she has numerous admirable qualities.
As far as I have been able to determine, precisely none of those positive qualities have been on display in her job as Education Secretary (other than the minor fact she often smiles at someone who is talking with her).
2
Betsy DeVos is an awful human being, who should never ever have been appointed to a public service post.
63
Such a cruel administration in every field of human endeavor from seeking a good education, to seeking asylum from gangs and violence - this administration has no heart, no feeling for their fellow human beings.
46
@Amala
There are more than five billion people in the world living on less than $10/day. We can't solve that problem by letting them immigrate here, ruining our own country with overpopulation.
As far as the loans are concerned, what's wrong with being held accountable? You take on a debt, and pay it back.
As far as being misled, shouldn't these students be doing their own research on job prospects, before they make any commitment?
1
@Peter Rasmussen Sorry it's way out of line to blame the students. The jobs are often there but the training offered by the for-profits is substandard at best. I knew someone who worked for a for-profit broadcasting school. Students took out $7,000 guaranteed student loans for a three-month course of instruction if you can call it that. Most after they graduated found that the training was useless. The majority of the grads NEVER get a job in the industry. Indefensible. No guaranteed student loans for for-profit schools. Most are scams and their placement record is horrible.
4
The GOP is after the youth vote.
7
“Fake news”is now being parroted by every high and low gop employee instead of a well thought of defense for their indefensible actions. One would think these gop employees all graduated from trump U.
34
DeVos is a shameless Trump sycophant. I can't wait to see her tossed out along with the rest of the denizens of Trump's swamp in November. I would only hope that an IRS audit of her finances would soon follow.
58
Since she has a personal financial interest in schools, her motives are suspect.
2
Ugh she is one of the dangerous lowest of the lows
39
You think Devos is bad, just wait until Biden is president. He’ll make you feel .much. nicer about getting stabbed through the heart with debt.
3
Does it hurt when you try to think?
49
I think it must.
16
Really? Biden would never push for student debt relief or free public college. You can get college for almost free in Germany, even as an American, did you know? Biden was also openly talking about being against Roe v Wade not that long ago. It’s doesn’t hurt when I think, until I realize Biden would veto universal healthcare, a major, basic cornerstone of civilization, which I enjoyed while living in France.
4
Install corrupt figureheads to hollow out government departments and institutions from the inside, at the behest of the industries they purport to regulate, then richly reward them for their service after the fact, all the while using your own corruption, malice and incompetence as “proof” that government doesn’t work: the GOP philosophy of government at work, friends. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when greed and cynicism are your only guiding principles.
46
Ms. DeVos is a secret plant who works for the private education industry. I don't know which will make me happier. Trump loosing the presidency or DeVos getting fired.
49
@Better in blue She's not so "secret" - both otherwise agree 100%
17
Protecting educational grifters who cheat students is just one of DeVos' passions. Take a look at the Department's 2021 Budget Summary: https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget21/summary/21summary.pdf.
It proposes that funds that have through the 2020 budget been allocated programmatically be tossed into block grants, assuring that some programs in some states will surely be killed on political or religious grounds, instead of funded on the basis of programmatic need.
But you know that with our amoral President, obfuscation and dishonesty abound. Consider this statement in the budget:
“Now is the time to fight for the forgotten child, and that’s what we’re doing with respect to education. ... In my Administration, these children are forgotten no longer. ... We believe that every parent should have educational freedom for their children. Earlier this year, I asked Congress to pass a federal tax credit to support state-based scholarship programs, so we can provide over 1 million more students with school choice. People want school choice. They want to have their child go to a school that they want to have their child go to. It’s very simple.” -President Donald J. Trump
The attempt here to shift public funds to private and religious education couldn't be more obvious. It's yet another assault on public education and on our Constitutional Separation of State and Church.
45
The thing running through my mind as I read this: HA HA!
Cruella DeVos gets rebuked.
33
@CMC
Prefer in jail. She's a monster.
29
For student loan relief I'b be happy if they just reduced the loans to the principal, keeping the debt interest free, but if they want to cancel all the debt from scam for profit colleges I guess that would work also.
13
What I don’t get: why is that loser DeVos even there?Surely, she’d have more fun getting gold-plated manicures. Or maybe, that’s what she does all day, anyway.
There can be only two reasons why she’s in this job, and they’re not mutually exclusive. (A) she gets a personal ego kick out of being in public office. (B) she actually has a deep-rooted conviction that education is a privilege, not a right, and so she is on a mission to effectively destroy education for those who can’t pay for it out of their pockets.
Either way: could any normal, sane person really want this to continue for another four years?
37
Would she stay on for Biden though, since he also doesn’t believe in student debt relief or free public colleges, as they have in civilized countries where they appropriately value the next generation? I bet Biden would ask her to stay.
1
@Sarah These sound like the idle speculations of a disappointed primary voter. Want four more years of the Psycho at the helm? Keep helping with smears against Joe Biden.
26
@T R ____I read she believes America should be God's Kingdom on Earth. Under the umbrella of "choice", her goal and that of her fellow zealots, is using tax payer money to fund private aka parochial schools.
13
Will she be yachting with Franklin Graham and Roy Reed for Spring Break?
16
Why didn’t they list the 10 GOP Senators who broke ranks?
Anyone else annoyed at this?
7
@AA
After much googling (should be easier):
Capito (R-WV)
Collins (R-ME)
Ernst (R-IA)
Gardner (R-CO)
Hawley (R-MO)
McSally (R-AZ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Portman (R-OH)
Sullivan (R-AK)
Young (R-IN)
17
@4anon
Of course Collins and Murkowski would be on this list.
3
@4anon If I did the math right, there are five Dem. Senators missing. Does anyone know who they are, and why they didn't vote?
Absent? Abstaining? Against?
With all due respect, I think Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is the dumbest education secretary we were ever saddled with.
I think my cat Fred could do a better and more effective job, when he's not running for president or trying to catch a mouse.
51
It’s not dumb if your only aim is to destroy the American people. That’s the only way Devos being there makes sense. Sanders would kick her out of a job so fast, she would t know what happened.
7
@Sarah
True but never lose sight who wanted her in that position in the first place.
I don't think this dame is qualified to be a hall monitor or crossing guard and yet to think she is in charge of the ENTIRE education system in the country.
15
She’s not destroying the American people. Just the education system. Her boss is taking credit for destroying the American people; but only the non- million and billionaires
10
Billionaire Betsy DeVos, always trying to do the right thing.
NOT.
22
Devos’s father built her billions on a pyramid scheme, too, didn’t she? Amway? Classy, eh? Such admirable integrity.
12
“Restores rule of law and student choice” who writes this drivel? Just throw in some republican dog whistle words and be done with it. This administration and the toadies that are responsible for nonsense statements like the above are a national embarrassment.
21
@BBB Apparently the only thing they read are Orwell's novels, taken as a style manual.
3
Are younger Democrats watching this? The Trump DeVos rule was unfair and cruel to students, and protected corrupt and fraudulent institutions. Either Democratic candidate would put an end to this nonsense, and undo the harm that has already been done. But if we don't all vote for the nominee, no matter who it is, then we will see more and more of this senseless cruelty. The aim is to elect a Democratic president, and especially, to take back the Senate and hold the House. Trump University was one of these corrupt institutions. If I remember correctly, it was obligated to return $25 million to the students it defrauded. The Trump DeVos rule would have protected fraudulent Trump University and would have done significant damage to its victims.
23
@Robert, you make a vital point. For any former or new “Bernie or Bust” voters out there... we are experiencing the Bust. If that mantra is repeated this time again, we may never see another presidential election. All of us have lived through candidates who were not our first or even fifth choice for nominee, but voted for who was selected - because it’s the big picture that counts. We’ve all had youthful devotion and feelings of making a point, no matter what the cost, when our favored choice was not made. For the young in particular, you will have your whole lives to make your point and your mark, this is not that time. Unity, in times of peril (and yes this is that time) is what is called for.
10
The young CAN MAKE their point & mark in this election by voting for a Dem candidate.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they didn’t come through to VOTE for Bernie.......
Fear - you can smell it: The GOP can read the November 2020 tea leaves.
15
@Troy
Right? Since when did they ever give a hoot about anyone but themselves, except around election time.
Their motives are as transparent as they are self serving.
12
Any public school teacher is vastly more qualified to be Secretary of Education than Betsy DeVos. She is a parody of a mean rich girl.
31
@Babs Whose brother is Erik Prince of Darkness
21
Wow, she’s so awful even McConnell blushed.
22
WOW! There were 10 Republican's who actually voted with Democrats against a DeVos policy that reeks. I applaud them. Maybe, they will start voting with Democrats to oversee and stop DeVos from dismantling the Education Department and enacting policies that undermine public education and favors private education.
24
@S Fred
I think that she usually leads the field when NYT readers are asked -"who is Trump's worse cabinet appointee?"
They are all bad but somehow, she seems worse.
17
@S Fred
Maybe with Trump gone, the Republicans will start acting like they support Democracy and our citizens again. If Sanders is elected president, we will only have more divisions between our citizens given he is the other extreme end of Trump. And all that yelling and red face.
Trump’s bogus private “university” that bilked its students is probably the main reason for De Vos’s obscene regulation reversal. She’s the educational equivalent of our grifter-in-chief’s science denying, fossil fuel lobbyist EPA director.
21
@Perle Besserman
I believe she has a conflict of interest. She earns money from student loans?
4
For any other President this appointment alone would have been the end of their presidency, but how many times have we heard the phrase “any other President...”?
17
Betsy has family and cronies in both the charter school industry AND the predatory loan industry. Like the Trumps ALL her decisions are made on conflicts of, and self interests. Having tax payer money fund parochial schools is just gravy.
29
@charles almon ... "Having tax payer money fund parochial schools is just gravy." Nope. It's a violation of the Constitution.
19
Betsy DeVos is a billionaire because of an accident of birth. So much for the meritocracy argument.
Betsy Devos was installed as Education Secretary to do what the rest of the Trump Cabinet was chosen to do, destroy their departments and thereby prove that government is ineffective, Her qualifications were evident. She had already destroyed public education in Michigan. QED. Let's elevate her to the national stage.
Elimination of the Department of Education has been a declared goal of the Libertarian / Republican forces since the 1980 Libertarian presidential campaign with would be VP David Koch.
Her defense of fraudulent vulture for profit educational enterprises is seen as a plus. They are always thinking up new ways to stick their straws into the national treasury. Taxpayer guaranteed student loans...a legislative good intention waiting to be exploited.
35
@Edward Indeed, how insidious!
4
DeVos: Cronyism at it's WORST. And to say "WORST" with this administration is saying a lot...
24
It's all about the evangelicals and neo conservatives trying to change the current college and university education system and practices that they believe are too liberal, extreme left wing, communistic and anti-christian. The super wealthy conservatives i.e. DeVos, Kochs etc. can gain control of American college level education by privatizing the system.
They can influence and direct curriculum to meet their own conservative ideals. Very similar to what the Federalist Society
is doing to our top Law Schools across the country. Funny how the Times has never really had any commentary on or about the Federalist Society. The group needs to be exposed now more than ever like their powerful relationship with the Republican Party and also that closely related law firm Kirkland and Ellis. The firm is a doozy.
Once the, what I call neo Christain John Birchers establish more control of college and University education...well need I say more.
22
I’m pretty sure they’ve discussed the Federalist Society...isn’t that the one with the super-Catholic Leo ??? @ the helm.
Remember folks... when you vote Dem in November, you also vote to remove horrors such as DeVos.
43
Angela Morabito made sure to use the dummies' favorite phrase to prove her allegiance to the chief con artist and his favorite pet, DeVos. In a perfect world, the whole abominable administration would be sentenced to life in one of Arapio's outdoor prisons.
10
Betsy DeVos was (is?) a shareholder in a student loan debt collection company. The Obama administration implemented a "gainful employment" rule that blocked federal loans to for-profit diploma mills and many were closed. DeVos hired the president of one of these mills, and the "gainful employment" rule was rolled back. In January 2018, the Washington Post reported "A company that once had financial ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was one of two firms selected Thursday by the Education Department to help the agency collect overdue student loans. The deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars." Ms DeVos' only interest in education is how to use this system to profit from the uneducated.
31
The problem with Ms De Vos is that her tremendous monetary wealth makes her a poor judge of what's the right thing to do; you see, her social distance from the poor is just too large to even understand what's at issue. Being Secretary of Education is too large a job, not hers to assimilate as yet. If a student has been bilked, justice demands restitution...or else.
10
@manfred marcus Oh she is far more evil than that. You are much too kind.
12
@Cramor Here in Michigan we call her Cruella DeVos.
7
The rich making sure that the help stay down. Betsy is just too obvious, even for some Senate Republicans. 10. Looks like the Democrats are the only friend vets have.
13
You mean all those folks who got ROBBED by signing up for Trump University are going to have to swallow their pride as well as their debt? Nice going, Betsy!
11
My guess is that trump will talk big about debt relief and not veto the legislation. Then when he is re-elected -deus avertat - he will water it down or kill it somehow. Right now he’ll say anything to be re-elected.
10
Trump needs to support this legislation. Durbin's comments get to the heart of the matter. They are sensible and funds should get relief to the people who have been scammed by corrupt for-profit schools. Betsy DeVoss is incompetent and so much in favor of for-profit schools that she doesn't see the error in her ways. She is the worst Sec of Education our country has had.
12
Well, perhaps she thinks Trump will start up another fraudulent university sometime in the near future, and will need his students get loans to attend.
3
If Trump vetoes this I see another Trump University springing up at some point.
7
Crooks protecting themselves. Including Trump.
14
I do not think Betsy DeVos doesn’t know, or doesn’t understand how poor people...
Maybe she just likes to shovel around numbers and feel important.
Numbers we are...
3
This woman exhibits the same moral compass as her brother, Erik Prince. Who raised these two awful people?
32
@Tom She married into the DeVos family owners of the pyramid scheme company Amway which has bilked thousands and made billions for the DeVos grifters.
10
Use Trump's litigation tactics, sue DeVos. I guess in this climate we can't impeach her. and there is no hope of Trump ever reining her in. sue the Voss.
22
A better idea is to stop federal guaranteed student loans to for-profit colleges. Why should they get some much protection from bankruptcy? Much of what they teach can/should be offered by community colleges.
24
So to take Mr. Alexander's point of view versus suing the car dealer and not the bank. If we did this, wouldn't it be incumbent on the DOJ to then file lawsuits for the benefit of the American people who are sold a bill of goods from these for profit institutions? Isn't also incumbent on the Federal Loan guarantor to then validate that these institutions are eligible for our tax dollars? I think Mr. Alexander has some people in Washington DC to speak to concerning his objection to voting down this rule.
10
Yes, Sen. Alexander, if your college is a lemon, you should also be able to sue the bank. Why should banks not be held accountable when they failed to perform due diligence not just on the student's credit, but also on the credibility of the institution they were attending? Don't banks look at the car being purchased when they agree to extend a car loan? Of course they do. Should a bank give a loan as freely to a student attending Trump University as one attending Harvard? Of course not.
What I also find odd is why members of the Senate could only see their way to vote for this measure to protect service men and women. We have an all volunteer service in this country. Some choose to enlist and receive all the benefits that come from service, such as full retirement if they serve 20 years, the G.I. Bill, V.A., health coverage, etc. On the other hand, a student who chooses to become a social worker, a nurse, an engineer, an author, an actor, or anything else has no assurance of any such benefits at all. Yet they are minimized and the grant of relief to them is somehow distasteful. If the government is going to be in the business of guaranteeing student loans, it should also be willing to accept the risks.
13
Trump will veto this. I have absolutely no doubt about that. I believe there is something going on here that does not meet the eye, and I believe that after Trump is out of office we will find out what it is.
13
@Jim my guess as well. Probably something like an association of rogue car dealers. The "Lemon Sisters" featuring Betsy the lead voice.
4
Well, who would've thought: bipartisan common sense.
It's a good starting point, sorely needed now that the country requires bipartisan solutions to the coronavirus epidemic.
12
How bad an idea was this one that Betsy DeVos proposed? In an era where bipartisan agreement is virtually non existent, it was defeated overwhelmenly by bipartisan agreement. That's how bad an idea it was.
19
Republicans believe that large corporations and individuals are on a level playing field, caveat emptor and let the market decide.
In the end, only one side gets ripped off.
14
Why does the U.S. even allow these schools to exist? This conversation has been going on for decades. Don't license these schools and folks won't be bilked.
76
@DB American higher education badly needs reform. Frankly, it's out of control. It may be difficult to deal with the current student debt issue, but it's relatively simple to stop the problem going forward. I would suggest the following reforms. 1) Make For-Profit Schools ineligible for federal student loans. A lot of for-profits have the business plan of encouraging people to borrow money to pay high tuition so that they can get college degrees, only to find out that they're worthless. This one-step gets rid of half the problem. 2) Students who need loans should take the first 2 years at community college. Community colleges are much cheaper. 3) If a student decides not to go to community college then make University freshmen ineligible for federal student loans. Lots of students find out after their first year that they're not college material. After 30 credits, students with an acceptable GPA (2.0 or higher) can borrow. 4) Limit how much students can borrow based on major. No more Gender Studies majors borrowing $100k when they have an earning potential of $18k. (5) More public trade schools. Colleges cost more than their degrees are worth. If one has to mortgage 20 years of his future to pay for 4 years of education, one has to seriously question whether the endeavor is worth the cost. Especially, when there are alternative jobs that may not be so "prestigious" but pay more and cost less to obtain, such as becoming an electrician, plumber, carpenter, web coder, etc.
1
Unfortunately, the government probably doesn’t have the legal authority to block them from “existing.”
The solution is to simply stop providing them with federal loans. That would likely put many of them out of business.
2
DeVos has also made it much harder for teachers and public servants to qualify for loan forgiveness that was promised again and again by many schools who had programs in the $40,000 to $150,000 range (teaching, nursing, etc.) (like USC and University of San Francisco) so students would sign up. That is also fraud and she is the one committing it.
20
Why wouldn't the federal government go after the schools that commit fraud to recover the money? That would put the money back in the students hands and relieve the tax payer by recovering the money from the fraudulent schools.
12
The De Vos rule "restores due process, the rule of law, and student choice". My reading says it does the opposite.
After more than 100 years of social progress, granted with setbacks here and there, the full-on, everyone-on-deck assault on democracy is being waged against evey segment of society but one - the one to which Betsy De Vos and Trump belong. Congrats on your own debt , Right Wing America.
16
DeVos in charge of the Education Dept. is like that oil executive that was put in charge of the E.P.A.
The Trump cabinet is a Bizarro World of opposites, foxes in hen houses, placed strategically to fleece Americans of every cent possible.
Trump is well acquainted with the Russian Oligarchy, and he is doing his best to replicate the system in America.
21
The end is nigh. I had to look at today's date and make sure it's not 01 April. This administration cares only about helping out the elites and their businesses. God forbid it does anything for the little people. Good for the Senate. And shame on those 42.
15
This was a shallow attempt on Betsy DeVos' part to play the "undo every Obama act possible" game in order to tow the Trump line. She has no qualifications or commitment to education. The bipartisan (barely) vote is a positive move as we begin to clean the government of everything Trump. Let's hope the fraud of student loan scams is exposed next and Congress does the right thing. Waiting for November like a kid for Christmas!
15
There appears to be no end to the degree this administration will go to in an effort to cause Americans pain, financial or otherwise.
What a loathsome lot they are.
17
This woman, with the support of our nation's president and his political party, has done everything she can to protect and encourage for-profit "colleges" that defraud students and bilk the taxpayers by guzzling student loan money. She then does everything in her power to prevent those defrauded students from accessing student loan forgiveness they are legally entitled to.
Hard to picture a more venal and amoral official. She is the antithesis of a public servant.
102
Why is no one trying to stop federally guaranteed loans from going to these sham collegers in the first place? If these schools were frauds - and they were - why is no one going to jail for taking billions in federal money? Oh, right, because their lobbyists had the good sense to buy off both parties.
Everyday on the subway I see the ads for these obvious scam schools, more or less paid for by tax dollars. It is easy to talk about loan forgiveness, but I think it must go hand-in-hand with a serious crackdown on the fraudsters that run these institutions. The failure to do so is an excellent example of bipartisan corruption.
10
Why hold someone accountable for defrauding people, when extorting a foreign government with $391,000,000 in military aid is "perfectly legal"? If only these fraudsters were Republicans in positions of great authority and trust. Then anything they did would be considered legal. Needless to say, Betsy DeVos is to education, what Donald Trump is to the truth. I pray for the day they both crawl under the rocks from which they emerged.
14
Can't have those for-profit schools losing money, can we now, Ms. Michigan Charter School Failure?
10
Good. Something positive and helpful to everyday people in a sea of bad news.
1
DeVos's family and friends make investments and money of this debt. Donnie Trump helped build a fake university.
12
Is it too late for students of trump “University” to receive loan forgiveness after being swindled out of hundreds of thousands of dollars?
3
It wasn’t an actual accredited degree-granting college or “university.”
I believe it was basically “learn my secrets to become a wealthy real estate investor” private course/program largely geared towards adults
I don’t believe that one can obtain federal student loans for those sorts of educational enterprises
Those that attended likely paid out of pocket or took out some other form of loan at a much higher interest rate than federal student loans
It seems to confirm all of Trump's cabinet members are lobbyists for the industries they head or greedy billionaires like the Trumps and Kushners cashing in on the presidency as fast as they can fearing their Trump University style govt scam is over.
11
Betsy DeVos is Betsy DeVoid; devoid of compassion, devoid of fairness, devoid of humane treatment, devoid of scruples, devoid of shame, and devoid of common sense. Leaving students to the fate of dishonest institutions that cannot provide a decent education means it further sets back people who could otherwise be productive members of society contributing their talents for the common good.
11
Why should we expect trump, who ran a fraudulent so called university not to support this crazy education dept rule?
8
Trump will veto because his Trump U bilked so many students in it's day.
7
Does Betsy own a stake in the schools?
4
Time for Betsy DeVos to step down and take her corrupt brother back to their yachts.
It was great to see the Trump voters come out and vote for Joe Biden in Grand Rapids, Mi. Yesterday.
7
Betsy DeVos is the last person who should have her job. She knows virtually nothing about education and seems antagonist to those she is meant to serve. Just one more of Trump's "great" picks.
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@Sally
Any Bernie supporters who think there is no difference between Biden and Trump had better think again.q
15
@Sally
I agree Sally.
Just how DID she land that job in the first place?
5
DeVos, the Amway cult heiress, is a complete disaster. The only thing she's qualified to do is stand on a stage at one of their "Go Diamond" rallies and tell all the Amway "distributers" how wonderful it is to be rich. She has no business being in the Cabinet.
6
if memory serves me right, didn't Ms. DeVos own interest in one or more of theses private collages?
4
Speaking of abuses of students by fraudulent edutainment-for-profit companies, as reported in the Times (on 11/18/16):
"Donald J. Trump ... agreed on Friday to pay $25 million to settle a series of lawsuits stemming from his defunct for-profit education venture, Trump University, finally putting to rest fraud allegations by former students, which have dogged him for years and hampered his presidential campaign." (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/politics/trump-university.html)
With the hindsight of history, a terrible shame that that these "allegations by former students" didn't do more to "hamper his presidential campaign"?
Is it any wonder that Trump now tries to play it coy (claiming to be “'neutral' on repealing the rule" while the likes of DeVos tries to do the dirty work of pay-back on students? (And the world knows how vengeful Trump is too!)
It's a sad sign of Trump-reality when the likes of the profiteering DeVos and her equally harmful brother (Eric Prince of Blackwater infamy) can operate with such impunity against the public good of so many people.
Seldom in history have so many done so much to cause so such harm to so many...
13
DeVos is simply a tool for the autocratic WH that favors crooked businesses (like the fraud "president's" "university") over the rights and welfare of students, especially G.I. Bill students.
She does not care for advancing and improving the sliding state of education in this country, instead focusing on the previous administration, as in this case.
She is NOT earning her salary for the people of this country, but, rather, attempts to benefit the wealthy and businesses.
5
You’ve really got to love these miscreant, cheap and heartless Republican Cabinet members.
7
Why wd DeVos ever even think to do this? It's such a punitive, cruel act and makes me believe she must also be cruel and punitive.
She is a Bible thumber so here is a verse for her from Proverbs 23:7,
"As a man (or woman) thinketh in his heart, so he is."
5
Another unqualified and grossly incompetent trump appointee following his vindictive intent to undo Obama’s successful presidency. Anyhoo, quite sure trump’s time in office will be historically viewed as an epic failure.
5
What evil drives Betsy DeVos? What is her incentive to hurt students? It seems to border on the pathological.
13
It pleases me to no end to see Betsy get her nastiness handed back to her.
7
Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education Fraud.
6
Why doesn't Betsy do the Christian thing and bail out the studets with her pot of gold?
4
“Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.”
― Margaret Atwood, Surfacing
Betsey Dee...proving money can’t buy everything. For sure intelligence. Accrediting schools that don’t exist comes to mind.
3
Trump snake oil salesmen. She is a fraud.
5
So when will Trump announce that Betsy Devos is a remnant from the Obama administration who somehow crawled back out of the sewer when he drained the "swamp"?
2
And what about DeVos’ ties to the for profit college scam industry? Isn’t she he proverbial ugly coyote placed in charge of the student hen house? Should the NYT retain the undercover services of Erik Prince to investigate?
2
Where are you Elizabeth Warren???????
1
Finally a sign that Democrats and Republicans in Congress can align behind “We, the people...” when it’s clear we were screwed. Let’s hope this is the start of a trend.
4
Amazing that a multi-millionaire would block students who were scammed by for profit schools from fully recovering their loses.
Everyone knows the so called 'level playing field' of the market place is an illusion. Money wields great power and always has. The so called dual bargainers is myth.
But the purpose of this for profit schools is profit and more profit, at any and all costs.
Trump will probably support the rule, not because he didn't scam students at Trump U. but because he's running for re-election and knows how this will look.
48
You mean “multi-Billionaire”
3
@Drspock Why is this amazing? If your point is that for a reasonable and empathetic, as well as responsible human, this would be unusual behavior, I agree. But this is Betsy DeVos and by now none of this type of behavior should be in the least surprising. trumpista all the way.
3
@Drspock
Have you noticed that many of the 10 Republicans who voted to reject are those in states that risk losing to Democrats in November 2020. Running scared I guess...
6
I have yet to read anything regarding Secretary DeVos that failed to make me feel physically ill. The banality of evil? How about looking like a resident of Whoville who just happens to have categorical contempt for anyone not born into billion-dollar privilege. I await her departure as anxiously as Trump's.
213
I've realized for a long time that we have a Secretary of Education whose main goal seems to be the destruction of the public education system in this country, and the restriction of educational opportunities to wealthy white people. Of course, the promotion of lying and fraud is a basic tenet of this administration, and Ms. DeVos does an admirable job of carrying this out when she seeks to limit the culpability of false "educational" institutions (such as, say, Trump University). Does anyone else have a problem with this? Do we really want most people in this country to be uneducated and ignorant?
107
@Kristen Rigney
Republicans do. That’s how they maintain power. Sad.
12
*We* don’t, but *they* do. Without critical thinking skills, it only takes a few dog whistles to get people to vote how you want.
3
@Kristen Rigney
"I love the uneducated." — Donald Trump.
Betsy, I implore you, "Be Best." Rule for the students not the corporate swindlers. Or are you going to go with, "I don't care. Do you?"
39
@J. Colby
LOL!
3
@J. Colby
She is one of the swindlers.
Her family owns a string of for profit private schools.
Trump put the fox in, to guard the hen house.
6
@J. Colby
Betsy cares alright. Very much in fact. It just doesn't happen to be for the betterment of the student.
4
If there was any more of reason to get rid of Trump and this administration, it is to rid of the this woman and her evil profiting practices.
78
@R4L
@JGC
Dolores Umbrage ...
2
Trump, who operated one of these bogus schools, needs to recuse himself and let the law pass.
91
The Senate did something sensible and bipartisan? Now I believe we are in the end times.
40
@John Wallis: There is an election coming up and people defrauded by these schools are likely to vote. It is no surprise tht some republicans are coming out in favor of this bill.
5
I get a little disgusted when I hear some of these people talk about debt forgiveness as "handouts" and "free money".
The people receiving the forgiveness started out broke and end up still broke. They don't get a large check. They aren't being placed ahead of those of us who still have to pay back loans. On top of that they were lied to and preyed upon. It's such a slimy practice but of course none other than our Commander in Chief did the same thing.
101
She and her criminal brother both belong in prison for crimes against humanity .
222
Amen!
11
What I never understand is how I seem to regularly read about these "bipartisan" majorities rebuking some controversial policy, a controversial action, or some stupid remark made by the president. The GOP signed up for this when they kept handing him "victories," if you want to call them that.
24
This article says the Obama era rule "eliminated" $535 million in debt. The debt wasn't eliminated, it was merely transferred to the American taxpayer.
1
@J. Waddell
Might we call it socializing the debt?
@J. Waddell Not so. How do you justify that conclusion?
2
@J. Waddell
The government should go after the schools for reimbursement.
4
Community colleges and historically black colleges have issues similar to for profit schools in terms of high debt and low starting salaries. Whatever standard we provide should apply equally to ALL schools (for profit and tax exempt) receiving the benefit of student loans. There are also many degree programs at highly regarded universities where students graduate with unsupportable debt.
The real solution is that schools should be responsible for the repayment of student loans if the student defaults. Then they would be more concerned about the amount of debt assumed as well as post education employment prospects.
14
@J. Waddell
The problem for many HBCUs is that they are underfunded by their states. My granddaughter (white) was a student at SC State University for her freshman year, a school originally started after the civil war for freed slaves. While USC in Columbia has a big fancy stadium and all sorts of new dorms, my granddaughters dorm didn't even have hot water in some of the bathrooms and many classroom buildings didn't have working airconditioning! Her major, Spanish was suddenly cut from the curriculum on almost no notice. Needless to say she had to transfer out.
5
Lamar Alexander: “If your car is a lemon, you don’t sue the bank — you sue the dealer.”
Sen. Alexander is misinformed. If your car is a lemon, you can sue both the dealer and the bank. The "holder rule" (16 CFR 433.1) makes most auto lenders liable for any claim the buyer can make against dealer, up to the amount of the loan. The same should apply to student loans.
158
@Mirabhai
Alexander is a head case.
7
@Mirabhai It's a weak analogy in any case, since a new car will likely not have been deliberately sabotaged. The same can't be said for the scam artists at some commercial colleges.
5
I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, the one that belongs to Mr Trump and his eponymous “university”.
51
@Judith Nelson He paid $25 million, in November 2016, to avoid a certain fraud conviction (a felony!), for his fake "university". He has NO business getting involved, in any way, with this issue.
4
It's difficult to imagine another public servant as venal, corrupt and heartless as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos but try this out:
In July, 1944 a Navy munitions depot at Port Chicago, California exploded, killing 320 sailors,and Congress resolved to award each sailor's family $5,000 (about $74,000 today). House member John Rankin of Mississippi opposed this measure because most of the victims were black. The bill passed, but thanks to Rankin the award was reduced to just $3,000.
What fine company you keep, Betsy DeVos.
136
@DoNotResuscitate 3,000 out of 5,000...was Rankin channeling the 3/5th's rule???
5
Supposedly DeVos and her brother, Prince, were raised in religious communities in Michigan. So why do they seem to prize making money over all other things? It goes against the core moral teachings of Christianity.
93
Having grown up in Michigan, I can testify first-hand to the vast hypocrisies of the religious communities of that state. This is where racism goes to hide.
80
@Casual Observer
Not anymore. Now making money is the core moral teaching of GOP Christians. God shows his favor by financially rewarding his faithful: Robertson, Falwell, Graham, DeVos, and televangelists like the ever smiling Osteens. These people are neo Calvinist Christians who claim entitlement to wealth and power, all tax free, and have very little to do with the compassion or mercy of Christ.
88
@Casual Observer They're self-righteous Calvinists, where business and acquisition "for God" by the heaven-predestined (of course, by their own anointing) are glorified as superior in society. By extension psychologically, they're gods.
34
The Federal Government should never allow for profit entities to receive student loan money without the obligation to return all money to the students if the students cannot achieve the education and professional qualifications for which the entities offered the students. That means, if the students don't learn, they get the money back, if the schools go out of business they get the money back. No social gain from educated people, no satisfaction of the contractual obligations.
Public educational institutions provide educations without any goal of making money. Public money should not be provided to enable businesses to make money even if they do not educate.
33
The federal government is an accomplice in this fraud against students by offering above market rate (6%+) student loans targeted at fake for profit educational institutions.
This is a give-away of tax payer money to fraudulent private businesses that ends up harming young students.
Tax payer money would be much more wisely spent on supporting our already excellent public colleges.
70
@Karl Ah, you're no fun. How's some scam artist going to get rich off of that? For-profit education is a rentier's dream akin to healthcare. Attach yourself to a government-guaranteed income stream and skim, skim, skim. And then complain about big government.
6
Where is the list of the ten Republican Senators who voted against the DeVos-Trump plan to cheat veterans? I want to see if Colorado’s Senator Gardner voted for schools like Trump University or for our veterans.
35
@J.G. From the Politico website: Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Rob Portman of Ohio, Martha McSally of Arizona, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Todd Young of Indiana and Murkowski.
21
@Doug
Good to publish the Politico list of the Republican Senators who voted to stop DeVos’ moving forward on this. All in tough races.
With that said, I DON’T CARE if Cory Gardner becomes a Democrat at this point. I want him OUT for all the damage he has done to Womens Rights and his support of Kavanaugh.
12
@Doug OMG! Every one of them needs to go! Time to start shifting the attention of ALL voters to these Senators’ records and see how many we can get rid of.
3
Yes, I realize that evil really really can be kind of banal, when I look at Betsy. And who knew the Senate had superhero potential?
28
Betsy Devos and her brother Erik Prince do not have the public good motivating them. That's why our president uses them. Maybe now those who attend rallies might recognize that our health care agencies that have been crippled by this administration to the point that people will die from neglect might also begin to understand is crippling our nation's students.
42
The grifting is slowing. Vaccine on the way.
20
I would like to know what Betsy DeVos' and Erik Prince's parents taught their children.
How in the world did they both turn out to be so cruel, yet so religious while they are also immensely wealthy.
I just don't understand it.
139
@DickeyFuller Religion Dickey is the biggest fraud of all.
7
@DickeyFuller
I recommend reading up on Calvinism. DeVos is a graduate of Calvin College, btw.
6
@DickeyFuller ____Just ask Ivanka, Don Jr and Eric.
3
“If your car is a lemon, you don’t sue the bank — you sue the dealer,” Alexander said on Tuesday in a floor speech. “A college can be a lemon just like a car can be. But unlike a car, if your college is a lemon, you do sue the bank — which is really the taxpayer.”
Replace "taxpayer[s]" with "investors" to understand what's really going on here. DeVos has always been about protecting the wealthy who invest in these for- (and "non"-) profit ventures, both shareholders and private-equity stakeholders. She has these investments herself.
28
Ah rats!
How are businesses supposed to make money if they have to give it back to those who they were able to sell to buy their services?
2
@Casual Observer , by actually providing services.
5
It should also be on the lenders to determining first whether a school loan they are providing funds for is in fact a bonified school that offers a useful education.
I once made the mistake of giving my information to an online school and they hounded me for weeks trying to get me to sign up. They kept telling me that money was no problem, they could secure me a loan. It was so obvious they wanted me to sign for the loan so I could be on the hook for years.
This kind of practice needs to stop, to begin with.
71
If there is any indication how little she and this administration cares for students lives, it's rejecting debt relief for these students scammed by for profit schools. I applaud the senate for overturning the right thing.
157
Good to see this happen. However, why did it take pleas on the behalf of veterans to turn the tide on it? Aren't all American civilians who get ripped off enough to move these folks?
138
@Flahooley Consider it lucky that they didn't limit the relief to just white veterans.
35
Trump's enablers may wear flags on their lapels but they only care for vets when it comes to pandering for reelection. Just look at the shameful VA medical fiascoes.
102
DeVos is the poster child for the evils of wealth inequality in America. Daughter of a millionaire, married the son of a billionaire and has no clue what it means to work for a living. Nevertheless, despite having had every advantage, she spends her time trying to roll back public education and further the economic divide.
The saddest part about this article is that it is not in any way surprising. Trying to make it harder for poor students to get justice after being scammed by disreputable colleges is just in her DNA.
341
@expat_phil Exactly right. Because she's friends with owners of predatory colleges (Trump among them). That's her circle. Not the people who actually have to struggle and work to get by.
71
@expat_phil The DeVos money is from Amway. They may not have worked for their money, but they are experts at conning poor suckers into a pyramid scheme.
Amway is actually a pretty good metaphor for Trump world. String people along with a few false promises, and you can drain them of the few dollars that they have.
Eric Prince moved long ago to where the real money is : taxpayer money.
3
"The legislation will now to go President Trump, who will decide whether to uphold the rule with a veto or side with Congress over his own education secretary."
Hmm. Such a conundrum for old 45 - back his education secretary or back those who kept him from being impeached.
And then there's his own announcement last year that "he would forgive loan debt for permanently disabled veterans."
My money is on him backing the Senate because an education secretary can be replaced - numerous times not unlike the Chief of Staff position.
54
As a public school teacher of 30 years, I say with confidence that Betsy DeVos is incredibly unqualified to be Secretary of Education. She has lived her life among wealthy elites and understand nothing of the needs of public schools at all. She needs to be replaced ASAP -
302
@Hi There
She should NEVER have been appointed Education Secretary in the first place. She has been an embarrassing nightmare from jump street.
90
@Hi There Franken proved how totally unqualified she is when, with a few minutes' questioning, he demonstrated that she knows literally none of the terms familiar to education policy experts.
80
@Hi There your comment is completely correct but also a total understatement. You were being way too kind in your comments toward the frighteningly ill equipped DeVos.
18
There IS a "deep state," and Betsy DeVos and Erik Prince are at the center of it.
314
@David They sure do make a lot of money ruining and killing people.
21