It seems that these days, one hears more and more of Republicans putting up a fight against yet another plan proposed by Democrats. One would think that they could find something more constructive to do, rather than obstruct and hire overpaid lobbyists to keep themselves electable.
I am not particularly a fan of large government, and I fully appreciate that makes me in the minority as an avowed Democrat. In this case, President Obama is on target. Essentially, the plan proposes that the government take over subsidized loans currently made by banks, giving low income students greater access to financial aid.
Here is an excerpt from the article: "For lenders, the stakes are huge. Just last week, Sallie Mae reported that despite losing $213 million in 2008, it paid its chief executive more than $4.6 million in cash and stock and its vice chairman more than $13.2 million in cash and stock, including the use of a company plane. The company, which did not receive money under the $700 billion financial system bailout and is not subject to pay restrictions, also disbursed cash bonuses of up to $600,000 to other executives.
Sallie Mae said that executive compensation was lower in 2008 than 2007 and that the stock awards were worthless in the current market.
Critics of the subsidized loan system, called the Federal Family Education Loan Program, say private lenders have collected hefty fees for decades on loans that are risk-free because the government guarantees repayment up to 97 percent. With the government directly or indirectly financing virtually all federal student loans because of the financial crisis, the critics say there is no reason to continue a program that was intended to inject private capital into the education lending system."
First Fannie and Freddie Mac and now Sallie Mae - when are these people going to get it? It is just not ok to keep on giving out HUGE compensation packages when losing money. Competition, even if it is from the government - is the best way to combat this.
Students all over the country are scrambling to secure financial aid, with banks making tighter parameters for those wishing to lend monies. They have received their TARP funds and now don't want to part with any loan money which was part of the reason they received the funds in the first place. Some banks are even considering giving back their TARP funds because they do not wish to be accountable to the government for what they do/have done with them.
Sallie Mae is not going down without a fight - just last week, Albert Lord, their CEO held a town-hall type meeting, announcing the return of some 2,000 jobs that went overseas in 2007. How very convenient. They have additionally brought in two major lobbyists. Here is another excerpt from the article: "To press its case, the nation’s largest student lender, Sallie Mae, has hired two prominent lobbyists, Tony Podesta, whose brother, John, led the Obama transition, and Jamie S. Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration."
This is going to be an interesting and potentially volatile showdown. Stay tuned.
Here is the link to the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/us/politics/13student.html?hp
Showing posts with label lobbyists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lobbyists. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
America's uninsured have not shown collective power
That is the title of a story that posted today on AOL. I have been uninsured for about 18 months now, since having to choose between having a full time job with health insurance and being a homeless person. I chose a place to live. National health care of a sort is an issue that I care deeply about. While I am not a lobbyist, I know how the process works. I have lobbied about various causes on several occasions, immigration, women's issues, homeless issues, gay rights, payday lenders and the like.
It is unfortunate that those of us who are not insured do not have the time, means and wherewithal to lobby effectively - we are simply too busy living life, holding one, two or three part time jobs in order to make ends meet.
Here is an excerpt from the article: "The number of uninsured has grown to an estimated 50 million people because of the recession. Even so, advocates in the halls of Congress are rarely the uninsured themselves. The most visible are groups that represent people who have insurance, usually union members and older people. In the last election, only 10 percent of registered voters said they were uninsured.
The grass-roots group Health Care for America Now plans to bring as many as 15,000 people to Washington this year to lobby Congress for guaranteed coverage. Campaign director Richard Kirsch expects most to have health insurance.
"We would never want to organize the uninsured by themselves because Americans see the problem as affordability, and that is the key thing," he said.
Besides, added Kirsch, the uninsured are too busy scrambling to make ends meet. Many are self-employed; others are holding two or three part-time jobs. "They may not have a lot of time to be activists," he said.
If you want to get involved with this issue such as I am going to now after reading this article, here are links to the White House, agencies and groups that might be helpful:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/health_care/
Health Care for America Now: http://www.healthcareforamericanow.org/
Commonwealth Fund: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/
Institute of Medicine: http://tinyurl.com/dm8gnn
Here is the link to the story: http://money.aol.com/article/americas-uninsured-havent-shown/394319
We are clearly in need of health care reform in this country - those who have jobs that offer healthcare can stay insured and the over 50 million of us without insurance could "buy" into a cheap group plan. That way we would not have exhorbitant copays and we would not have to wait months to see a specialist. That is, of course, one person's opinion.
It is unfortunate that those of us who are not insured do not have the time, means and wherewithal to lobby effectively - we are simply too busy living life, holding one, two or three part time jobs in order to make ends meet.
Here is an excerpt from the article: "The number of uninsured has grown to an estimated 50 million people because of the recession. Even so, advocates in the halls of Congress are rarely the uninsured themselves. The most visible are groups that represent people who have insurance, usually union members and older people. In the last election, only 10 percent of registered voters said they were uninsured.
The grass-roots group Health Care for America Now plans to bring as many as 15,000 people to Washington this year to lobby Congress for guaranteed coverage. Campaign director Richard Kirsch expects most to have health insurance.
"We would never want to organize the uninsured by themselves because Americans see the problem as affordability, and that is the key thing," he said.
Besides, added Kirsch, the uninsured are too busy scrambling to make ends meet. Many are self-employed; others are holding two or three part-time jobs. "They may not have a lot of time to be activists," he said.
If you want to get involved with this issue such as I am going to now after reading this article, here are links to the White House, agencies and groups that might be helpful:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/health_care/
Health Care for America Now: http://www.healthcareforamericanow.org/
Commonwealth Fund: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/
Institute of Medicine: http://tinyurl.com/dm8gnn
Here is the link to the story: http://money.aol.com/article/americas-uninsured-havent-shown/394319
We are clearly in need of health care reform in this country - those who have jobs that offer healthcare can stay insured and the over 50 million of us without insurance could "buy" into a cheap group plan. That way we would not have exhorbitant copays and we would not have to wait months to see a specialist. That is, of course, one person's opinion.
Friday, April 3, 2009
The influence game: Payday lenders thwart limits
This story posted on AOL via the AP last evening:
"WASHINGTON -The payday loan industry, threatened by Congress with extinction, has deployed well-connected lobbyists and hefty sums of campaign cash to key lawmakers to save itself.
The strategy has paid off.
Now a top Democrat who once tried to ban the practice is instead pushing to regulate it — a result, he says, of the industry's lobbying clout.
The lawmaker, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., says his bill does have crucial protections for borrowers and represents the best deal he can manage in the face of the industry's aggressive lobbying. Consumer groups are condemning the bill as a loophole-riddled gift to the industry. "
I abhor payday lenders. They are nothing more than government-sanctioned loan sharks. They preach about helping folks in tight binds - those without credit cards or the ability to get a regular moderate-interest loan from a financial institution - those who are the bottom of the socioeconomic rungs of the ladder - all these are whom they claim to be helping, while charging hundreds of percent in interest per annum. The lenders defend themselves by saying that their average customer borrows from one payday to another and simply repays the loan. If that were truly the case in every or even in most instances, I might not speak out so strongly against it.
It so happens that most of the borrowers simply cannot afford to pay the entire loan back, so they roll it over to the next payday, paying a fraction of what they owe - enough to keep the lender happy - and hence accrue the exhorbitant interest amounts.
I once spoke with a former Utah senator who was the proprietor of such establishments - in fact, we spoke on a few occasions about his nefarious choice of business. He indicated that he was indeed helping middle class people to get through a short-term financial crunch, and even told me a story about a man making $60k a year who had forgotten an anniversary and allegedly did not have other means to purchase a present for his wife - as if!
He did recognize, however, that the powers were converging over his payday loan businesses in order to make the interest rates more equitable. He shared that he was divesting his interests - smart move, but based on this story today, the industry will continue to thrive.
Here is the link to the story: http://money.aol.com/article/the-influence-game-payday-lenders-thwart/411913
Voters need to pay close attention to how their elected officials voted on this issue - 2010 is not that far away.
"WASHINGTON -The payday loan industry, threatened by Congress with extinction, has deployed well-connected lobbyists and hefty sums of campaign cash to key lawmakers to save itself.
The strategy has paid off.
Now a top Democrat who once tried to ban the practice is instead pushing to regulate it — a result, he says, of the industry's lobbying clout.
The lawmaker, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., says his bill does have crucial protections for borrowers and represents the best deal he can manage in the face of the industry's aggressive lobbying. Consumer groups are condemning the bill as a loophole-riddled gift to the industry. "
I abhor payday lenders. They are nothing more than government-sanctioned loan sharks. They preach about helping folks in tight binds - those without credit cards or the ability to get a regular moderate-interest loan from a financial institution - those who are the bottom of the socioeconomic rungs of the ladder - all these are whom they claim to be helping, while charging hundreds of percent in interest per annum. The lenders defend themselves by saying that their average customer borrows from one payday to another and simply repays the loan. If that were truly the case in every or even in most instances, I might not speak out so strongly against it.
It so happens that most of the borrowers simply cannot afford to pay the entire loan back, so they roll it over to the next payday, paying a fraction of what they owe - enough to keep the lender happy - and hence accrue the exhorbitant interest amounts.
I once spoke with a former Utah senator who was the proprietor of such establishments - in fact, we spoke on a few occasions about his nefarious choice of business. He indicated that he was indeed helping middle class people to get through a short-term financial crunch, and even told me a story about a man making $60k a year who had forgotten an anniversary and allegedly did not have other means to purchase a present for his wife - as if!
He did recognize, however, that the powers were converging over his payday loan businesses in order to make the interest rates more equitable. He shared that he was divesting his interests - smart move, but based on this story today, the industry will continue to thrive.
Here is the link to the story: http://money.aol.com/article/the-influence-game-payday-lenders-thwart/411913
Voters need to pay close attention to how their elected officials voted on this issue - 2010 is not that far away.
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