The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this morning filed a civil lawsuit against for-profit college company ITT Educational Services, seeking restitution to students allegedly harmed by ITT’s private loan programs, a civil fine, and an injunction against the company.  The CFPB filed its complaint in federal court in Indianapolis, near ITT’s headquarters. UPDATE [1:15 pm]:
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New York Times economic columnist Eduardo Porter has a piece this morning seeking to raise doubts about the Obama Administration’s proposed “gainful employment” rule. The rule would, eventually, take away eligibility for federal student aid from career training programs that consistently leave their students with overwhelming debt. While Porter does quote some proponents of the
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Since 2011, a group of governors have sought to expand coast oil and gas drilling through an organization called the Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition. On Monday, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) became the first Democrat to join the effort, which includes Republican governors from North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Gov.
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Two congressional committees with oversight of the National Security Agency (NSA) — the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Intelligence Committee — are managed by former lobbyists for major NSA contractors. Alex Manning, a senior lobbyist for IBM who specialized in cyber intelligence influence for the company, became a Staff Director for the Homeland
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Former Representative Bob Barr (R-GA), a central figure in the Clinton impeachment inquiry, is seeking to return to Congress. But left unsaid in his official campaign biography for the open 11th district in Georgia is a private-sector career filled with work for the lobbying industry and for causes that run counter to Barr’s political persona.
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Steve Gunderson, the former congressman (R-WI) who heads APSCU, the lobbying group for America’s for-profit colleges, seems to be getting desperate. The industry he represents is seeking once again to block the Obama Administration from issuing a “gainful employment” rule that would, eventually, cut off federal student aid to career training schools that consistently leave
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For Chevron, the second largest oil company in the country with $26.2 billion in annual profits, it helps to have friends in high places. With little fanfare, one of Chevron’s top lobbyists, Stephen Sayle, has become a senior staff member of the House Committee on Science, the standing congressional committee charged with “maintaining our scientific
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A front-page New York Times article on Thursday reported on a lawsuit brought by former employees of the for-profit Harris School of Business alleging fraud at the school. The suit, filed under the federal whistleblower law, asserts that Harris regularly misleads students about the value of its programs, and signs up even students who have little
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