For-profit colleges fight back against gov’t attempt to make them deliver education

Every now and then, I see an "issue ad" for an issue I've never heard of. Those "union boss card check" ads that turned up almost a year (it seems) before the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) became news are a prime example. But there are others.

Lately I've noticed a two-pronged assault against "government" limiting "education choices" — in which the actor-advocate pretends to be a lower-middle class person (and is well cast to look it) who is working in the health care field and wouldn't have had a chance in the world to earn a living, she says sincerely, without the education she received. From some unspecified somewhere.

"Somewhere" in these ads is a for-profit college.

Turns out there's a brewing controversy in the for-profit college world. Surprise — many, perhaps most, for-profit colleges exist to vacuum as much money as they can, often from the government, and deliver the least education possible.

How do we know they don't deliver? Grad rates. From the HuffPost (my emphasis throughout):

For-profit colleges graduated an average of 22 percent of their students in 2008, according to a new report from Education Trust.

That average palls [sic] in comparison to bachelor's-seeking graduation rates at public and private non-profit colleges and universities for the same year, which averaged 55 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

The report, titled "Supbrime Opportunity" (PDF) [properly spelled, of course] also reveals that for-profit colleges increased their enrollment by 236 percent from 1998 to 2009.

The median debt of for-profit college graduates -- $31,190 -- far outpaces that of private non-profit college graduates, which stands at $17,040, and is more than triple the median debt for those from public colleges, which is $7,960.

So, low grad rates, high debt-to-student ratios, high debt-to-default ratios, and government subsidies. Mission accomplished, as we business types like to say.

The graduation rate for the "University" of Phoenix is 5%, to give a well-advertised example. (But hey, they have this great pretend football stadium, thanks to corporate naming rights.)

To its credit, the Obama Dept. of Education is pushing back. Pat Garofalo, who knows about this stuff (h/t Dictynna):

Late last month, an organization called the Coalition for Educational Success (CES) announced its intention to formulate a new code of conduct to govern for-profit higher education institutions. CES said that, in conjunction with former Govs. Ed Rendell (D-Penn.) and Thomas Kean (R-N.J.), it plans to develop standards that “will improve and ensure transparency, disclosure, training, [and] provide strong new protections for students” attending “career colleges.”

Sounds great. But what is CES and why is it proposing a higher education code of conduct right now? To understand that, one has to dive into a hotly-contested federal policy battle: the attempt by the U.S. Department of Education to implement new rules governing the for-profit college industry, which the coalition represents.

Since late last year, for-profit colleges—schools like the University of Phoenix and Devry University—have been ferociously lobbying against a new Education Department regulation (known as “gainful employment”) that would cut higher education programs off from federal dollars if too many of their students can’t find good jobs and default on their students loans. ... “While a majority of career colleges play a vital role in training our workforce to be globally competitive, some bad actors are saddling students with debt they cannot afford in exchange for degrees and certificates they cannot use,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said last September.

Note the multi-pronged attack — Dem. Rendell and Repub. Kean lending their sellable names to an industry "self-regulation" maneuver (you can see those ads too, from time to time). Plus a strong push-back against the Dept. of Education. Plus attack ads criticizing government intrusion into education "choice."

You can bet there will be action in Congress as well; after all, why have money if you can't buy stuff with it?

If you remember just one thing, remember this (Garofalo again):

Many for-profit colleges make up to 90 percent of their revenue from the government through various avenues of aid used by their students, including federal student loans, as I reported earlier this year. They have profit margins as high as 30 percent and their CEOs make millions annually—almost all of which comes courtesy of American taxpayers.

All you need to know? They're thieves.

For the latest, read the article; it's excellent and rich in detail. This isn't over, and while it's under the radar, it shouldn't be — there's billions at stake, and lives.

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Health insurance industry enjoying record profits

Isn't it nice to see things working out for the healthy insurance industry? They're always there for everyone. Well, everyone in the board room who needs to buy a new yacht thanks to cushy bonuses. How fair is it that everyone else keeps doing with less or even without yet the big money never ends for this industry? NY Times:

The nation’s major health insurers are barreling into a third year of record profits, enriched in recent months by a lingering recessionary mind-set among Americans who are postponing or forgoing medical care.

The UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest commercial insurers, told analysts that so far this year, insured hospital stays actually decreased in some instances. In reporting its earnings last week, Cigna, another insurer, talked about the “low level” of medical use.

Yet the companies continue to press for higher premiums, even though their reserve coffers are flush with profits and shareholders have been rewarded with new dividends. Many defend proposed double-digit increases in the rates they charge, citing a need for protection against any sudden uptick in demand once people have more money to spend on their health, as well as the rising price of care.

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Krugman: Failure to raise the debt limit could send "a terrible signal" — that "we’re a banana republic"

Paul Krugman considers various aspects of the decision not to raise the federal debt ceiling here.

He talks about various temporary work-arounds and also the obvious: that Treasury bills "are the universal safe asset, the ultimate collateral". Monkeying with that would therefore have predictable negative effects. All good comments, all mainstream stuff.

But then he considers another negative consequence that's rarely discussed, the effect on our reliability in the eyes of other nations — on how well, in other words, we can be trusted by others to govern ourselves well. Hmm.

Mr. Krugman (my emphasis):

When you look at the US fiscal position in terms of what we’re capable of as a nation, it’s not a big problem. ... [M]odest tax increases and reasonable efforts to limit health care costs could bring our long-run finances into line. ... [But] What if it turns out that we’re a banana republic, with crazy extremists having so much blocking power that we can’t get our house in order?

And failing to raise the debt limit could be widely read as a signal that we are, in fact, a banana republic.

A "banana republic." You get language like that from the fringes; not so much from Nobel laureates at the New York Times.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, a real test of mettle on both sides. Krugman thinks that Obama should "not let himself be blackmailed" because "once he gives in the first time, the blackmail will never stop." Unfortunately, I think that ship has sailed, don't you?

But there's always a second time to get it right. Krugman concludes by offering advice, which suggests to me that he's not optimistic:

This is going to be very ugly. But I don’t think there’s any way to avoid taking it all the way to the edge, and possibly over it.

These are my thoughts as well. If the crazies want to sink the country, let them, and make them own the disaster. But that's just me; I always like playing to win.

(I wonder what odds the U.K. bookies are offering that Obama chooses this way out, now that the royal wedding bets are in the bank? Me, I'd bet with the house on this one.)

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Another worker dies at Fukushima plant

It will take some time for the autopsy report, but three workers have died since the accident. Reuters:

The cause of the worker's death was unknown. The man, in his 60s, was employed by one of Tokyo Electric's contractors and started working at the plant on Friday. He was exposed to 0.17 millisieverts of radiation on Saturday, Tokyo Electric said.

The Japanese government's maximum level of exposure for male workers at the plant is 250 millisieverts for the duration of the effort to bring it under control.

The worker fell ill 50 minutes after starting work at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday (5 p.m. EDT on Friday) and brought to the plant's medical room unconscious. He was later moved to a nearby hospital and confirmed dead, a Tokyo Electric spokesman said.

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IMF chief arrested in New York

The IMF head and leading Socialist candidate for president Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested following the report of an alleged sexual assault. Better known as DSK in France, he had been widely considered to be the candidate who would soundly defeat Sarkozy in the elections next year. At this point regardless of his guilt or innocence he appears unlikely to even run as he will be busy defending himself in court.

DSK had recently apologized for behavior towards a female subordinate, though this is clearly a much more serious charge.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken off the Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was turned over to police for questioning Saturday afternoon, said Paul J. Browne, New York Police Department spokesman.

Strauss-Kahn was arrested at 2:15 a.m. Sunday on charges of a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, and was awaiting arraignment, police said. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, did not immediately respond to phone or email messages seeking comment from The Associated Press.

The 32-year-old woman told authorities that she entered Strauss-Kahn's suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel not far from Manhattan's Times Square at about 1 p.m. Eastern time (1600 GMT) Saturday and he attacked her, Browne said. She said she had been told to clean the spacious $3000-a-night-suite suite, which she had been told was empty.

In the last presidential election, Sarkozy had been charged with owning a secret offshore bank account, which was later proven false. Some claimed that was a plot by political opponents to discredit Sarkozy and remove him from the politics.

As we see everywhere in the world, politicians have been known to be abusive of their power and they are convinced that they are above the normal rules for everyone else. At the same time, political campaigns are dirty and nothing is surprising during an election cycle. This is going to be an interesting case to follow because the alleged incident did not occur on his home turf where politics could get inserted into the investigation.

To put this into US terms, if President Clinton was still campaigning for office and deeply part of the political process (even more than he already is today), there would be a lot of mixed thoughts if a story like this broke. Would it be reality or would it be smear politics? On the right, if Newt Gingrich was accused of something like this, people would also be wondering. Both have histories with other women but rape is a major step from having an affair.

Unlike the coverup of rape within the Catholic Church around the world, any politician found guilty of rape should not be excused simply because of their high rank. We should expect to hear more about this soon, including video of the alleged hallway chase at the French hotel chain. Let's see what the police discover during their investigation. Stay tuned... Read the rest of this post...

Another report of another government attack on civilians in Syria

So what's the difference between Gaddafi and Assad? There's no reason why NATO and the UN are chasing one but not the other. Al Jazeera:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Witnesses said those killed on Saturday were among dozens of people attempting to leave Talkalakh and enter Lebanon, which borders the town, a day after a mass demonstration there against the rule of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

"The security forces, who had been encircling Talkalakh since the morning, fired machine guns. At least three people were killed and several were wounded," a witness told the AFP news agency.

A fourth died in hospital in Lebanon from gunshot wounds sustained while fleeing the Syrian town, medical sources said.

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I Saw You Coming Grocer

The actual recording for YouTube isn't great but the sketch is still very good. Read the rest of this post...

Tory adviser talks about "big opportunity" to profit with NHS reform

Of course. Isn't that the purpose of all privatization programs whether it's health care or transportation? To think otherwise is to kid yourself because it's a money grab for insider friends.

A senior adviser to David Cameron says the NHS could be improved by charging patients and will be transformed into a "state insurance provider, not a state deliverer" of care.

Mark Britnell, who was appointed to a "kitchen cabinet" advising the prime minister on reforming the NHS, told a conference of executives from the private sector that future reforms would show "no mercy" to the NHS and offer a "big opportunity" to the for-profit sector.

The revelations come on the eve of an important speech by the prime minister on the future of the NHS, during which he is expected to try to allay widespread fears that the reforms proposed in health secretary Andrew Lansley's health and social care bill would lead to privatisation.

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