October 30, 2014

New gainful employment rule is weak, but predatory for-profit colleges remain on the ropes

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The Obama Administration is releasing its “gainful employment” rule, aimed at curbing abuses by federally-funded career colleges, at 7 am Thursday.  I can’t fully evaluate the rule without seeing its details. But I have obtained a press release and fact sheet provided by the Administration to the media and also spoken to Administration and other
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August 28, 2014

Obama: We’ll Protect You Against Predatory Colleges. Students: Please Do

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Speaking at the American Legion convention in Charlotte Tuesday, President Obama pledged, “For veterans going back to school under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, we’ll keep standing up against dishonest recruiting and predatory practices that target and prey on you and your families.”  The President has made clear that he understands the scam perpetrated by many for-profit
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June 6, 2014

Obama Task Force on Chemical Dangers: Strong Enough?

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Last year, a devastating chemical plant explosion in the town of West, Texas,  killed 15 people and injured 160 more.  The tragedy seemed to reawaken in President Obama a determination to improve safety and security at America’s industrial chemical facilities, whose dangers, from catastrophic accident or terrorist attack, led him, as a Senator, to call
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June 5, 2014

Leader of Attack on Obama Global Warming Plan? Rudy Giuliani’s Firm

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After the attacks of September 11, 2001, New York’s Rudolph Giuliani became “America’s Mayor,” mobilizing his city and standing as a defiant foe of the forces of terrorism. Then, after the devastating force in the New York area of superstorm Sandy, Giuliani, campaigning in 2012 for Mitt Romney, again presented himself as a protector of
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May 27, 2014

Obama Must Stop Giving Taxpayer Billions to Colleges That Ruin Students’ Lives

Tonight at midnight ET is the deadline for people to comment on the Obama Administration’s gainful employment rule for career college programs.  Below is the text of my comment (pdf here), just submitted.  To: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Re: Program Integrity – Gainful Employment, Docket ID ED-2014-OPE-0039 Dear Secretary Duncan: I participate in the
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May 1, 2014

Study: Blacks, Latinos, Low-Income Live Closest to Dangerous Chemical Plants

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A new study released today finds that the Americans who live near hazardous chemical industrial facilities are disproportionately African American or Latino, are more likely to live in poverty, and have lower incomes and education levels than the national average.  These trends accelerate rapidly as one gets closer to the “fenceline” areas nearest dangerous chemical plants.
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March 28, 2014

Which For-Profit College Lobbyist Are You?

I’ve just published a new 100-page e-book, Stealing America’s Future: How For-Profit Colleges Scam Taxpayers and Ruin Students’ Lives. You can buy it for 99 cents on Amazon. I hope you’ll read it, because it is a critical moment for Americans to examine and speak out on the issue of for-profit colleges, the trade schools that bombard
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March 14, 2014

Regulating For-Profit Colleges: On To The Next Round

This morning, the Obama Administration released its new proposed “gainful employment” rule, aimed at ending taxpayer support for college programs that claim to train people for careers as medical assistants, air conditioner repair technicians, or software coders, but instead consistently leave their former  students with shaky job prospects and insurmountable debt. Most of the big
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