Ethics in the Biden Administration

Justin Cates

As has become tradition, the Biden administration began its tenure in the White House with a multitude of executive orders. The actions have primarily addressed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and immigration. One order that has gone largely unnoticed to this point however deals with ethics.

This is not a new effort. In fact, President Trump signed a similar order in 2017 that placed a five-year ban on lobbying activities related to the agency in which administration appointees served. That order was of course undermined when he revoked it on the final day of his presidency, thus allowing those appointees to serve as lobbyists immediately. 

President Biden sought to restore limits on lobbying activities with his executive order which includes an ethics pledge and two-year restriction on those serving as registered lobbyists prior to and following being appointed to an administration position. 

This appears to be a good rule on the surface and goes further than the rule enacted by Mr. Trump. In some ways, it even expands on a similar order signed by President Obama in 2009. As such the new EO received considerable praise upon its signing. 

Norman Eisen, who served as Obama’s “ethics czar” and later as his ambassador to the Czech Republic wrote an Op-Ed for Politico in which he says in part:

“Biden’s ethics plan is the strongest, most ambitious swamp-draining plan ever. All of us will be watching to make sure it is scrupulously followed. If it is, cleaner government lies ahead—finally.”

Walter Schaub ran the Office of Government Ethics during the Obama administration and for a short time at the start of the Trump administration. 

“I’d say it’s a very good executive order,” he said in part. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s great.”

He urged for increased transparency in order to hold officials accountable. 

“People comply with rules if they know somebody’s going to come and check on whether they’ve complied,” Shaub said.

That brings us to this recent tweet from Shaub performing the role of watch dog. 

Interesting factoid about Tom Vilsack's confirmation as USDA Secretary yesterday: Biden's ethics executive order bars lobbyists. Vilsack *leads* a lobbying organization. The lobbyists work for him, but he didn't personally register as one. This loophole might be worth closing. pic.twitter.com/yulEv0K0GW

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 24, 2021

Former and now current Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack got around these ethics rules with a simple albeit obvious and effective loophole. He didn’t register as a lobbyist because he didn’t directly lobby anyone, he was just in charge of the lobby. 

A generous reading of the situation says that this violates the spirit of the rules. I would argue it’s a complete violation and the loophole should be closed immediately. It doesn’t seem terribly ethical for someone with close corporate ties to be able to skate into the lead role at the USDA. It seems further disappointing —though unsurprising— that his nomination gained unanimous consent by the Senate agriculture committee and finished with a resounding 92-7 confirmation vote in the Senate.

But on the bright side, at least he didn’t send out any mean tweets right? 

Justin is a guest contributor to AltRaged and a longtime sports writer. His work has appeared in numerous online publications including Sports Illustrated, Vox, Inside The ACC, and Sons of Saturday. He currently lives in a fortified compound in upstate New York with his wife and numerous animals.

The Killing of American Higher Education (Part 5)

Alan J. Yeck

The Dirty, Rotten, Crooked, Broken, Student Loan System and the Immoral Bankers, Brokers, Collectors, and Corrupt Politicians Who Make Billions Off of It While the Courts Garnish Wages and Destroys Lives

There Are Solutions

There are solutions beyond what is offered in the political rhetoric we hear from those running for office who do not understand how all the pieces of this crisis connect and those that do but either fight fixing it or only pretend to fix it to ensure continued campaign contributions for themselves. So, whether we are dealing with a criminal in on the fix or someone who just doesn’t care enough to understand how it all works, it doesn’t matter.

As a baby boomer myself, I’ve heard my friends say things like “I paid for my education… These kids today are just lazy… They expect everything to be given to them… My kids worked three jobs and paid for their own education… Tell those damn kids to get off my lawn!” I don’t think they are mean or ignorant but rather misinformed. They compare their personal experiences to those of today’s students,  and it’s like comparing apples to horse shit–comparisons do not work. Times have changed, and they’ve especially changed for higher education.

These student loan debtors are not lazy, or ungrateful or whiners or trying to cheat the system. They were preached to by us, all of us, on the importance of education and its necessity in being successful. We told them that blindly, not understanding the manipulation that was going on behind the scenes. Remember how I started this piece with the politicians of the early 1970s and their view of youth then as pinko, commie, long-haired hippies? If you automatically assume today’s generations (millennials and Gen Z) to be lazy and that they expect everything to be given to them, then congratulations! Apparently, it’s your turn to take on the role of the small-minded, bigoted, American citizen.

The most recent crop of Democratic presidential candidates proposed solutions to student debt that ranged from doing nothing to forgiving all debt. There’s a lot of room in between those two extremes, but thus far all proposed “fixes” have been partial and would only prolong the crisis, which concurrently prolongs corruption. Nothing is fixed, but the money keeps flowing to profiteers. Partial fixes suggested by recent political candidates include:

1. Lower to no interest rates
2. Changes in the bankruptcy code to allow private student loans to be discharged
3. Free community colleges, vocational schools, and training programs for all
4. Free Ccommunity colleges, vocational schools, and training programs on a sliding scale based on income
5. Free education at all state schools based on income
6. Free education at all state schools for everyone
7. Government- funded savings accounts at birth created for every child at birth to be used to pay for education once they turn 18
8. Federal grants to states who invest in public colleges
9. Expand Pell grants to $10,000 for low- income families
10. Free education in exchange for service in the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps
11. Expand the currently broken public service loan forgiveness program
12. Federal government to refinance the loans up to $27,000
13. National service program that allows young people to join the military or aid programs addressing climate, community or infrastructure and receive a scholarship in exchange
14. “Tweak” the current income-driven repayment system
15. Raising the zero- dollar repayment threshold on borrowers earning 250% of the poverty line
16. No interest accrual for three years
17. Half of interest exempted
18. Loans forgiven, tax-free, after 20 years of payments
19. Undefined portion of loans forgiven, if on federal assistance, for three out of five years
20. Zero funding for for-profit colleges
21. Expanded GI Bill benefits that veterans can use to pay for their education
22. Americans who commit to one year of public service would receive two years’ worth of college tuition -free. Those who commit to two years of service would have four -years paid for.
    1. Qualifying roles include, working as special education aides and teaching assistants, home health aides and nurses for nonprofit organizations and other jobs in the federal, state and local governments,
23. Allowing the savings accounts (and tax benefits) of 529 colleges for job training, credentialing, licensing
24. Free for those aged between 17 and to 24 who participate in public service.
25. 60 percent of in-state tuition is covered, but if the borrower works for three years in-state, they would get their full in-state tuition bill covered
26. Free for public school educators after they spend five years working in public schools
    1. Suspend all student loan payments while working for the entire time they work in public schools
    2. 20 percent of debit is forgiven for public school teachers each year they teach

27. Eliminate all student debt regardless of current income
28. Free college for anyone with an income under $25,000
29. Forgive up to $50,000 of student loan debt for borrowers earning under $100,000
30. Federal government buys all outstanding debt – borrowers repay 10 percent of income for ten10 years.
31. Expanding loan forgiveness for borrowers who work in underserved communities

Only one candidate has mentioned the outrageous, unjustified cost of higher education itself and stated that it must be reined in. The following—all of it—is what must happen to get our educational system back to truly being the best in the world -–-not just the most expensive and costly.

• Change the bankruptcy code to allow student loans, both federal and private, to be dischargeable again without the added burden of having to prove undue hardship. Bankruptcy is the single greatest mechanism that would right the educational market. When it was removed, those that removed it and encouraged its removal began making huge amounts of money, and the corrupt system we have today was born.
  • The vast majority of student loan debtors will not use this option because it’s still a terrible process to go through, but those who have hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt caused by compounded interests may have no other option. Giving debtors $50,000 right off the bat gives the appearance of helping but only ensures continued corruption. The game continues and its dirty players continue to make tremendous amounts of money from the millions of borrowers whose student loan debt well exceeds $50,000.
• All student loans currently not in default, deferment or forbearance should be recalculated from the original cost at zero percent interest.
  • Student loans must be recalculated at the original costs without additional interest charges. All monies already paid should be deducted from this number.
  • Establish a new formula for any remaining monthly payments that recognizes the true costs of living in today’s America. Borrowers must be able to afford car payments or transportation costs, a mortgage or rent, insurance and maintenance payments, food, savings and emergency funds a normal percentage. Living a normal, stable life has to be the baseline, and the collection agencies should answer to it. The current formulas make it so it’s impossible to consistently make payments, which is what is counted on so students go into default and interest gets jacked up again.
• Establish a free public K-16 system, which would also include trade schools and apprentice programs. The education of a country’s citizens should be prioritized the same as any other national security interests.
  • Promote the value of alternate methods of education.
• Traditional colleges and universities must be held accountable for their promises, costs, and fees.
  • Reinstate the gainful employment rule and expand it to all institutions regardless of nonprofit or for-profit status. This rule would require higher education institutions to prove their graduates can find gainful employment to maintain access to federal financial aid. It also requires that schools assess what their cost for debt loan would be to their earnings.
  • The total cost of a degree must be shown up front, including all fees.
• All student loan debt must be discharged for students who acquired that debt from schools that have since gone out of business or had their accreditation revoked.
• Cap the loan amount allowed to be borrowed and put toward a degree. Universities will have to meet the market prices rather than just passing on their wasteful financial practices to students.

Epilogue

President Johnson’s war on poverty included funding to help those without the financial resources to attend college. The theory being that the higher the education one pursues, regardless of degree or skill/trade, the more likely they will bet able to support themselves, their families, and our country. It was a very worthy dream, but the irony is that this very program, which was established to help our disenfranchised, has made them the largest holders of student loan debt.

The old sons-of-bitches politicians quietly removed the single tool that would force financial corrections in the higher education markets: bankruptcy. This decision was the single greatest cause of today’s crisis but also of the billions of dollars made by corrupt politicians and the student loan industry (which is why congress kept it in place.  They and their masters are making too much money to want to change it). It locked the metaphorical cell door on the congressionally made student loan debtor’s prison.

Congress expanded financial aid regardless of income/need and then created a quasi-governmental corporation (Sallie Mae) to handle the huge increase in student loans being made as a result. By doing so,  they established a buffer between themselves and the corruption,  allowing them to look you in the eye and lie, all the time with their pockets open . From there, dozens of corrupt collection/servicing companies began making billions of dollars off of student loans every year.

For-profit colleges began to crawl out of the woodwork and grew exponentially with all this new money to be made. Many of these schools, as well as traditional nonprofits, were less concerned with quality education than they were with making money for themselves and their shareholders. As long as the students could borrow more (and never be able to declare bankruptcy), they were going to charge more.

The student loan industry continued misinforming students of their options and used unfair formulas to determine what the monthly payments would be. By doing this, they ensured defaults, which meant more interest and larger amounts to be paid back (and students still can’t declare bankruptcy on loans in the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars because of compounded interest).

Universities and colleges, having no real oversight, mismanaged their institutions and then covered up those mistakes by inflating tuition costs and tacking on semi-hidden fees.

The financial industry, seeing the huge profits to be made, applied financial instruments similar to those used in the mortgage crisis to student loan debt. The more the student borrowed, the more they defaulted, they more money to be made from them.

This trillion-dollar industry, created by congress, now benefits congress. They are also the only ones that can change it unless the judges begin take notice of the current system’s insanity and fraud. It’s always about the money, folks, isn’t it? We hear the people we’ve elected speak of honor and ethics and morals. They tell us how they are helping us and how important we are, but the reality is that our importance ends the moment a winner is announced in an election.

Together we must cross all political and social lines and come together as Americans to hold politicians and schools accountable now and for the future of our country.

Author’s Note: My Story

I defaulted on my school loan during the mortgage crisis of 2009 (I had to choose between house payments or student loan payments). The loan servicer called me and said I had to pay them $83,000 within five days after agreeing to default. No other option was ever given to me, and I sure as hell didn’t have $83,000–ever!  Years later I was contacted by both FH Cann and Navient and presented with a bill of $139,000. I said no way was that what I owed. I was told I could either agree to that amount and sign the papers stating that it was correct, or they would come after me in court and garnish my wages. Fear. Shame. Embarrassment.

Garnishment involving my new employer. I signed. In other contexts, it would be called extortion, but not in the student loan industry. I signed. I’m on a forbearance at the moment, but my payment plan is $818.00 per month for the next 29 years (I’m 58 years old now). That means the total cost of my $31,000 loan will be over $280,000. I have nothing but social security for retirement, and I know they’ll come after that and legally take that too. I’ve made poor, regrettable financial choices in my life and would like to start over by declaring bankruptcy, like many have before me, including former President Trump (six business bankruptcies). But that would limit the profits the student loan system reaps and puts into its puppet politicians’ pockets, so we all continue to be fucked. Even if you’re not in this position, please know they are still fucking you over, too, because any system that allows only the ultra-rich to get richer leaves anyone else with crumbs, if anything at all. A corrupt system hurts us all, and the fact that it’s so blatantly exists, openly flaunted and its fraudulent practices celebrated dissolves the very fabric of our democracy. It cannot be left to destroy us any longer.

I’ve lived a life of shame, anxiety and depression for many years as student loan companies would call my home, my work, my family members. They had robot calls leaving messages about my debt on my boss’s phone. I’ve written to my congressmen, senators, governor, attorney general… And only one thing has changed: M=me. I will not allow these motherfuckers to hold me down anymore. This is my story, but I know there are millions–millions more!– just like mine. The shame is not on us but on them. Fight! Fight! Fight!

This is the fifth and final installment of a five-part series by Alan Yeck reflecting on the student loan system, its challenges, and the far-reaching effects it can have. For a full list of works cited, please view the last installment in the series.

We have the power to change the business of education back to a right for all. Contact your representatives and ask them to listen to these facts and national narratives.

Read Part 1 here

Read Part 2 here

Read Part 3 here

Read Part 4 here

---

Full Series: Works Cited

American Council President’s Study 2017. Myth: College Sports Are a Cash Cow. (2017). Retrieved from American Council on Education: http://bit.ly/2WQ9zTU

Arnold, C. (2019, November 25). Consumer Protection Agency Is Failing Student Loan Borrowers, Lawsuit Says. Retrieved from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2019/11/25/782460891/consumer-agency-failed-to-protect-student-loan-borrowers-lawsuit-says

Arvedlund, E., & Fernandez, B. (2019, July 1). Your student loan servicers – Naviet, Nelnet, and FedLoan – pay big bucks to CEOs and lobbyists. Retrieved from The Philidelphia Inquirer: https://www.inquirer.com/business/student-loans-navient-fedloan-great-lakes-nelnet-mohela-slsa-scott-buchanan-doe-20190805.html

Arvedlund, E., & Fernandez, B. (2019, July 1). Your student loan servicers-Navient, Nelnet, and Fedloan-pay big bucks to CEOs and lobbyists. Retrieved from The Philadelphia Inquirer: https://www.inquirer.com/business/student-loans-navient-fedloan-great-lakes-nelnet-mohela-slsa-scott-buchanan-doe-20190805.html

Bad Student Debt Stubbornly High as Collection Efforts Surge. (2012, September 8). Retrieved from New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/business/once-a-student-now-dogged-by-collection-agencies.html

Banerji, A., & Manney, S. (2017, May 02). College Presidents Are Being Paid Like Fortune 500 CEOs. Retrieved from Roosevelt Institute: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/college-presidents-are-being-paid-like-fortune-500-ceos/

Bauman, D., Davis, T., & O’Leary, B. (2019, July 14). Executive Compensation at Public and Private Colleges. Retrieved from Chronicle of Higher Education: https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/executive-compensation#id=table_public_2018

Beck, C., Pou, J., & Kesslen, B. (2019, October 17). Sallie Mae execs tan at Maui restreat while student debt crisis tops $1.6 trillion. Retrieved from NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sallie-mae-execs-tan-maui-retreat-while-student-debt-crisis-n1063826

Berman, J. (2018, November 30). Ex-student loan offical who rsigned from CFPB in proteest launches new watchdog group. Retrieved from MarketWatch: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ex-student-loan-official-who-resigned-from-cfpb-in-protest-launches-new-watchdog-group-2018-11-28

Berry, K. (2019, May 20). CF{B’s assistant director for enforcement resigns. Retrieved from American Banker: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/cfpbs-assistant-enforcement-chief-resigns-sources

Brown, A. (2018, November 27). The Cost Of College In The U.S. Has Skyrocketed. Have You Ever Wondered Why? Retrieved from The Moguldom Nation: http://bit.ly/2WRYBxt

Burd, S. (2015, January 7). Former Sallie Mae CEO at Center of Federal Corruption Probe. Retrieved from New America: https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/former-sallie-mae-ceo-center-federal-corruption-probe/

Camera, L. (2019, October 23). DeVos Sued Amid New Evidence About Whether Her Agency Aided For-Profit Operator. Retrieved from US News: https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2019-10-23/devos-sued-amid-new-evidence-about-whether-her-agency-aided-for-profit-operator

Campbell, C. (2018, January 24). Getting Private Collection Agencies Out of Federal Student Loans. Retrieved from American Progress: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/news/2018/01/24/445284/getting-private-collection-agencies-federal-student-loans/

Campbell, C. (2019, September 10). The Long Path to a New Student Loan Repayment System. Retrieved from American Progress: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/news/2019/09/10/474254/long-path-new-student-loan-repayment-system/

Campbell, E. J. (2019, October 26). Wall Street Has Been Gambling With Student Loan Debt for Decades. Retrieved from Common Dreams: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/10/26/wall-street-has-been-gambling-student-loan-debt-decades-0

Carrillo, R. (2016, April 14). How Wall Street Profits From Student Debt. Retrieved from Rollling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/how-wall-street-profits-from-student-debt-225700/

Cassidy, J. (2019, May 10). Donald Trump’s Business Failures Were Very REal. Retrieved from The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/donald-trumps-business-failures-were-very-real

Clark, K. (2015, November 4). College Board Says Tuition Rose Faster Than Inflation Again This Year. Retrieved from Money Magazine: https://money.com/college-board-tuition-cost-rose-inflation-2015/

Conley, J. (2019, October 18). Sallie Mae’s Hawaii Retreat While Millions Struggle to Repay Loans Bolsters Argument to ‘Cancel All Student Debt,’ Sanders Says. Retrieved from Common Dreams: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/18/sallie-maes-hawaii-retreat-while-millions-struggle-repay-loans-bolsters-argument

Despotopulos, E. J. (2018, May 12). The Securitization of Student Loans: How Investors Are Making Money Off Your Loans. Retrieved from Northeastern University Law Review Forum: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/how-wall-street-profits-from-student-debt-225700/

Douglas-Gabriel. (2019, February 28). Billions of dollars in defaulted student loans are going uncollected, lawsuit says. Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/02/28/billions-dollars-defaulted-student-loans-are-going-uncollected-lawsuit-says/

Douglas-Gabriel, D. (2017, January 18). Student loan servicer Navient hit with three government lawsuits in one day. Retrieved from Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/01/18/student-loan-servicer-navient-hit-with-three-government-lawsuits-in-one-day/

Field, K. (2009, September 28). Student Lenders, Fighting to Survive, Spend Millions to Lobby Congress. Retrieved from Chronicle of Higher Education: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Student-Loan-Companies-Spend/48609

Fossey, R. (2018). Smith v. U.S. Department of Education: A severely stressed student-loan debtor gets bankruptcy relief and the judge questions hard interpretation of “undue hardship”. Retrieved from Get Out of Debt: https://getoutofdebt.org/112715/smith-v-u-s-department-education-severely-stressed-student-loan-debtor-gets-bankruptcy-relief-judge-questions-harsh-interpretation-undue-hardship

Friendman, Z. (2019, November 26). Lawsuit: Betsy DeVos Failed Student Loan Borrowers. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/11/26/student-loans-lawsuit-devos/#79ee204412da

From RMBS to SLABS: Is History Repeating Itself? (2019, April 3). Retrieved from The National Law Review: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/rmbs-to-slabs-history-repeating-itself

Gilmore, E. (2019, November 14). Department of Education, DeVos, PHEAA Face Class Action Over Alleged Student Loan Mismanagement. Retrieved from ClassAction.org: https://www.classaction.org/blog/department-of-education-devos-pheaa-face-class-action-over-alleged-student-loan-mismanagement

Gladieux, L. E. (1995, October). Financing Postsecondary Education: The Federal Role. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/FinPostSecEd/gladieux.html

Green, D. (2019, April 18). Why Has the Cost of College Outpaced Inflation? Retrieved from Education Week: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/2019/04/why_has_the_cost_of_college_ou.html

Green, E. L., & Cowley, S. (2019, November 28). Broken Promises and Debt Pile Up as Loan Forgiveness Goes Astray. Retrieved from New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/us/politics/student-loan-forgiveness.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Helderman, R. S., & Lee, M. Y. (2016, September 5). Inside Bill Clinton’s nearly $18 million job as ‘honorary chancellor’ of a for-profit college. Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-bill-clintons-nearly-18-million-job-as-honorary-chancellor-of-a-for-profit-college/2016/09/05/8496db42-655b-11e6-be4e-23fc4d4d12b4_story.html

Hoggard, R. (2016, March 8). The Mismanagement of Public Universities: An Era Of Poor Politics. Retrieved from HBCU Buzz: https://hbcubuzz.com/2016/03/the-mismanagement-of-public-universities-an-era-of-poor-politics/

Jaschik, S. (2018, January 18). Are Prospective Students About to Disappear? Retrieved from Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/01/08/new-book-argues-most-colleges-are-about-face-significant-decline

Kingkade, T. (2017, December 06). College Textbook Prices Increasing Faster Than Tuition And Inflation. Retrieved from Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/college-textbook-prices-increase_n_2409153

Kraninger First Year As CFPB Director A Disastere For Consumers Fact Checked. (2019, December). Retrieved from Alliled Progress: http://alliedprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/REPORT-Kraninger-First-Year-As-CFPB-Director-A-Disaster-For-Consumers-Fact-Checked.pdf

Kreighbaum, A. (2019, August 19). Contentious Choise for Student Borrower Advocate. Retrieved from Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/08/19/trump-administration-names-industry-exec-student-loans-ombudsman

Kreighbaum, A. (2019, October 10). Misplaced Student Loan Blame. Retrieved from Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/10/10/report-federal-policy-not-servicers-blame-many-student-loan-failures

Kreighbaum, A. (2019, July 19). States Put Stamp on Student Loan Oversight. Retrieved from Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/07/19/states-pass-flurry-bills-targeting-loan-servicers

Kristof, C. (2018, January 26). What’s Behind the Soaring Costs of College Textbooks. Retrieved from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-behind-the-soaring-cost-of-college-textbooks/

Lechnir, N. (2019, April 5). The Scholarship System. The Real Reason Why College Costs Are So High and What You Can Do About It. Retrieved from The Scholarship System: https://thescholarshipsystem.com/blog-for-students-families/the-real-reasons-why-college-tuition-is-so-high-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/

Leonhardt, M. (2019, September 11). Student borrowers ‘prayed upon’ by loan servicers, but lawmakers want to change that. Retrieved from CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/loan-servicers-preying-upon-students-lawmakers-look-to-change-that.html

Marie Brunner, Appellant, v. New York State Higher Education Services Corp., Appellee, 831 F.2d 395 (2d Cir. 1987). (1987). Retrieved from Justia Law: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/831/395/398433/

Marino, J. (2015, June 11). The only bank that stuck it out in a crucial part of the student loan game. Retrieved from Business Insidere: https://www.businessinsider.com/banks-are-jumping-into-the-slabs-business-2015-6

Martin, A. (2012, September 8). Debt Collectors Cashingig In on Student Loans. Retrieved from New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/business/once-a-student-now-dogged-by-collection-agencies.html

McLean, B. (2007, April 16). The surprising profits of student loans. Retrieved from Fortune Magazine: https://archive.fortune.com/2007/04/16/news/companies/pluggedin_mclean_sallie.fortune/index.htm

Mitchell, J. (2019, October 24). Trump Education Official to Resign and Call for Mass Student-Loan Forgiveness. Retrieved from Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-education-official-to-resign-and-call-for-mass-student-loan-forgiveness-11571909400

Pallard, R. (2019, May 16). Are Lavish Facilities Responsible for Tuition Inflation? Retrieved from SavingForCollege.com: https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/are-lavish-facilities-responsible-for-tuition-inflation

Pottow, J. A. (2007). The Nondischargeability of Student Loans in Personal Bankruptcy Proceedings: The Search for a Theory. Retrieved from University of Michigan Law School: https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1709&context=articles

Pringle, B. (2017, December 13). Skyrocking university president salaries paid for by student debt. Retrieved from The Washington Examiner: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/skyrocketing-university-president-salaries-paid-for-by-student-debt

Sackstein, S. (2019, April 18). Why Has the Cost of College Outpaced Inflation? Retrieved from Ed Week: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/2019/04/why_has_the_cost_of_college_ou.html

Schoen, J. (2016, December 8). Why college costs are so high and rising. Retrieved from CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/16/why-college-costs-are-so-high-and-rising.html

Sharpe, R. (2016, November 3). Those Hidden College Fees. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/education/edlife/those-hidden-college-fees.html

Stebbins, S. (2019, October 26). How much do govenors make per year? Here’s the breakdown by state. Retrieved from USA Today: https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/40340391

Steele, J. B., & Williams, L. (2016, June 2018). Who got rich off the student debt crisis? Retrieved from Reveal News: https://www.revealnews.org/article/who-got-rich-off-the-student-debt-crisis/

Stratford, M. (2019, August 15). How the student loan industry lobbied Devos to fight state regulations. Retrieved from Politico: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/15/student-loan-devos-lobbying-1464926

Student Loan Debt Statistics for 2019. (2019, September 23). Retrieved from The Motley Fool: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/student-loan-debt-statistics

Student Loans Discharged under Totality-of-Circumstances Test. (2018, May 29). Retrieved from National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center: https://www.ncbrc.org/blog/2018/05/29/student-loans-discharged-under-totality-of-circumstances-test/

Swaminathan, A. (2019, November 25). Student loan reform group sues Education Secretary Betsey DeVos and CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger. Retrieved from Yahoo: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loan-lawsuit-education-secretary-devos-cfpb-160011498.html?guccounter=1

Sweet, K. (2019, February 14). Report finds problems with student loan servicing, oversight. Retrieved from AP News: https://apnews.com/cc655fdea293469d86231e4bcb10a5ee

Tanzi, A. (2019, May 12). U.S. Stepping Up Enforcement of Delinquent Student Loans. Retrieved from Bloomberg News: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-12/u-s-stepping-up-enforcement-on-delinquent-student-loans

The Astonishing Increase In The Price Of Textbooks Since 2004, Visualized. (2019, March 9). Retrieved from Digg: https://digg.com/2019/textbook-recreational-book-price-change-data-viz

Turner, C. (2018, August 27). Student Loan Watchdog Quits, Says Trump Administration ‘Turned Its Back’ On Borrowers. Retrieved from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/27/642199524/student-loan-watchdog-quits-blames-trump-administration

A History of Liars: The American Politician (Volume One)

This is the last in a three-part series.

Alan J. Yeck

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

This is the mother of all corruption. First, understand that ‘Citizens United’ is not an organization that actually wants citizens to unite, or is looking out for your best interest. The name was chosen as a decoy. It’s intent was corporate ownership of our government and that is what this decision has allowed.

In a 5-4 split decision, the Supreme Court invalidated a provision in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that prohibited unions and corporations from giving money to election campaigns. Justice Kennedy, speaking for the majority, said that the corporations and unions had their First Amendment right of free speech violated. The government argued that the ban, for over 100 years, had helped to fight corruption but Kennedy said that “…the anticorruption interest is not sufficient to displace the speech here in question.” Their faulty assumption was that corporate spending would be transparent and incorruptible – both terrible assumptions that have been proven completely wrong. 

The Justices that dissented called the decision “profoundly misguided…the ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation.” Justice Stevens also wrote that this ruling would greatly increase the influence and power corporations have in determining the winners in elections. Since his retirement, Stevens has advocated for a constitutional amendment to overrule the Court’s decision. The Citizens United ruling opened the flood gates for corporations, extremely wealthy individual donors, and special interest groups to buy politicians, political parties, and remove the people of the United States from the legislative process. 

Super PACs

Remember PACs can contribute directly to a candidate’s campaign but there are restrictions on how much they can raise, and contribute ($5,000 per year, per election) but a new beast was created in 2010. A federal appeals court, citing Citizens United, ruled in the case of Speechnow.org v. FEC, that as long as they don’t give directly to candidate’s campaigns, outside groups had no limit on the money they could raise or spend in influencing election results — promoting a candidate and/or smearing another.

These new Nazi U-Boats used against American democracy are called Super PACs. The icing on the corruption cake is that while Super PACs have to disclose where their money came from, the questionable non-profits that donated that money to the Super PACs do not (this is called dark money). This means that China and/or Wells Fargo can give billions to these shady non-profits to ensure their candidates get elected, and there’s no way to trace the money to them. Once elected, the politician will vote how they’re told to vote by their corporate masters. This is our system. Are you disgusted?

According to OpenSecrets.org, as of January 10, 2021, 2,276 groups organized as super PACs have reported total receipts of $3,164,953,623 and total independent expenditures of $2,141,181,831 in the 2019-2020 cycle. Almost 80% of all that money came from the top 100 donors. The average citizen donates somewhere in the $50 range thinking it’s helping their candidate. 

How do we undo this web of lies and money? 

It is highly unlikely that the Supreme Court will reverse their decision. Egos in black robes grow old with no consideration or reflection to the average citizens on their decisions. We have to take control and it won’t be an easy task. 

1) Publicly funded elections. This allows the average person (non-millionaire) to run against the millionaires because they are given the same amount to spend. 

2) Empower a new, legitimate, Federal Elections Commission with public oversight. Give teeth to the body that is supposed to oversee elections and allow the people to monitor what they are doing with full disclosure throughout. 

3) Strengthen disclosures. Every penny should be accounted for and transparent to the citizens as to where it came from.

4) Amend the Constitution to end corporate, union and dark money systems that have arisen since the Citizens United case.

Call to action

All of these steps will require our attention to who is running for office and active participation in asking their support for the above changes. If they promise to do these things in exchange for our vote, then vote for them. If they do not commit to these (why do you think that would be? Hmmmmm?) don’t vote for them. Stop pulling that party lever, whatever party you may support, in a system that is completely broken and corrupt.  

It’s time to take back our democracy – for all of us. 

This is the final article in a three-part series by Alan J. Yeck reflecting on the state of the American political system, its challenges and the far-reaching effects it can have.

Read Part 1 Here

Read Part 2 Here

We have the power to change American politics back to a system that serves the people, not the politicians. Contact your representatives and ask them to listen to these facts and national narratives.

A History of Liars: The American Politician (Volume One)

Alan J. Yeck

This is the second part of a three-part series.

Campaign Finance Corruption

Corruption in government, be it a monarchy (kings and queens), a dictatorship (North Korea) or a democracy, has always been, has always existed. Corruption in the United States government has always been, has always existed. The difference today is that information is more easily available in a much quicker time frame. Don’t confuse this with misinformation or disinformation, which is actively used by politicians and political parties to deflect from their own corruption. While there are scandals, which are corrupt, what we’re going to focus on is specific to campaign financing or who is paying for our elected officials to vote one way or the other. Hint – it’s not you or me.  

Background on campaign finance reform in the U.S.

Before we had our own country to corrupt, in 1757, George Washington ran for a seat in the House of Burgesses for the Virginia Colony – kind of like today’s equivalent of a state legislator. He threw a big party for potential voters with lots of alcohol and great food. Washington was elected to the seat and then almost immediately the House of Burgesses passed an act prohibiting candidates from giving any sort of “reward” like food, drink or cash in exchange for a vote.

Now let’s jump to the 1904 presidential election. Incumbent Republican President Theodore Roosevelt was running against Democratic nominee, Alton B. Parker. To make sure he won the election, he raised over $2 million in campaign contributions from corporations (that would be the equivalent of $59 million today – a record amount at that time). Teddy won but not without a scandal from his corporate fundraising. In response to the scandal Roosevelt called for legislation to ban corporate contributions to future candidates. Ha! Roosevelt signed into law the Tillman Act in 1907 which banned corporate donations but the Act had no teeth, no enforcement provisions were included so politicians just crawled on their bellies around it. 

A few years later in 1910 the House passed the Federal Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) that required candidates to disclose both campaign spending and the sources of all contributions. The Senate passed an amendment in 1911 requiring the same and also placed limitations on spending for all congressional candidates. Sounds great, right? ‘Sound’ as in an empty gong though.

After Henry Ford lost a senate race to Truman Newberry in 1918, Ford charged that Newberry violated the spending limit laws of the Federal Corrupt Practices Act by raising over $100,000 for his campaign. Newberry was convicted in 1921 but his conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court (Newberry v. United States) who struck down spending limits. The Court ruled that the Federal Corrupt Practices Act was unconstitutional because the Constitution does not grant Congress the authority to regulate political parties or federal primary elections. This was the fertile soil of corruption that today’s mighty, corrupt political beanstalk grew from. 

Legislation continued through the mid-1900s trying to limit the political influence corporations could wield, as well as the growing unions and trade associations. In the 1940s, Congress passed the Smith-Connally and Taft-Hartley Acts banning labor unions from contributing directly to political campaigns. This is the true birth of our corrupted political system today – not the Act but the response to it.

Labor unions then created Political Action Committees or PACs and the effects have been complete destruction to our democracy. 1) because PACs were not unions, per se, PACs could contribute money to candidates and still be within campaign finance guidelines, and 2) PACs were not required to follow the political advertising and spending laws that the candidates had to follow. They could spend as much as they wanted to advertise and promote their candidates to their members and the public in general without ever giving a dime directly to the candidate’s campaign. 

In an attempt to truly reform campaign finance laws (or at least give the appearance of doing so), in 1971 Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA – not be confused with FECA-L matter which is another mainstay of Congress). This defined how much money candidates could spend on their campaigns. Again, toothless.  They created the Act but did not appoint a body to enforce it. Think of a law that establishes the speed limit at 65mph but law enforcement doesn’t have any authority to pull someone over doing 100mph. Another great job by our elected morons. Later, in 1974, after the Watergate scandal, they refined FECA to create today’s bi-partisan Federal Election Commission (FEC) which is supposed to enforce campaign finance laws but has become non-functioning in recent years.   

The following year, Sen. James Buckley (R-NY) sued the FEC (Buckley v. Valeo) arguing that limits on campaign spending violated free speech rights. In 1976 the Supreme Court agreed and the Act was amended which meant politicians had unlimited campaign spending. The Court also found that the provision restricting the amounts candidates could spend from their personal funds, unconstitutional. This has very much created a system where an honest citizen who wants to serve their community and country must raise tremendous amounts of money, or already be a millionaire. Currently over half of the members of Congress were millionaires. Do you think a millionaire or career politician, who is also a millionaire, represents you? 

This is the second article in a three-part series by Alan J. Yeck reflecting on the state of the American political system, its challenges and the far-reaching effects it can have.

We have the power to change American politics back to a system that serves the people, not the politicians. Contact your representatives and ask them to listen to these facts and national narratives.

A History of Liars: The American Politician (Volume One)

Alan J. Yeck

This is the first part of a three-part series.

---

Introduction

I do not support any hate groups or any people or groups that exclude others based on any socio-political demographic. Hate is not a strategy. Its only purpose is to divide, destroy, and create more hatred. Do not allow yourself to be used by either side to this end. While I’m a registered Democrat, I have never pulled the party lever.

I look at the issues, what those running for office are saying on how they will address the issues, and then I vote. I’ve voted red, blue, green and even the occasional Libertarian sprinkled in to show my protest of the status quo.  At least that’s how I used to do it before I realized just how rigged and corrupt our political system is. I am completely, 100% nonpartisan – they all suck. They have allowed our country to get here by their actions and inactions and it has nothing to do with the will of the American people. 

The attack on the Capitol of January 6, 2021 was a tragic day in our country and just as tragic is that it wasn’t really a surprise. Was it to you? I have never identified with that particular group of people that went from the rally to the Capitol but do not think their intent was to overthrow the government, as many officials like to toss out to the media. I mean in a country that has millions of firearms, and I think it would be reasonable to say that group would have certainly have been gun owners, they were unarmed. Remember the old saying – ‘you don’t bring a spear to a revolution,’ (thanks Water Buffalo Lodge guy). 

We are a country born from violence and war and haven’t done much to change that in 245 years. And again, to be clear, I’m not defending them or their occupation/riot at all but it wasn’t an attempt to go from their rooms at Comfort Suites to overthrow our government. I mean they get a free breakfast so why screw that up? 

I heard the Speaker of the House call it an “…attack on the temple of democracy…” and later an NPR reporter referred to it as an “…attack on the museum of democracy…” I believe the latter to be a more accurate description – a museum is a place full of old stuff that doesn’t work anymore in today’s world.

Spot on!

The Capitol building is a beautiful, historic landmark. A beautiful building. Building. It is not a temple of democracy, or a synagogue of freedom, or a mosque of liberty. It is office space that we, the citizens (who are supposed to be in control of our government), allow the officials we elected to use. With how our country has been run in the last several decades we might have a better return if the space was leased to Amazon as a shipping hub. I think the return on investment would be much better than what the House and Senate do for us.

I am not upset that the building was occupied in protest but it might have been better served had the millions of Americans who sleep without a home every night been the occupiers. Or the millions imprisoned because prisons are the chosen mental health system of the government. I am upset that those inside the building feel they are the gatekeepers of freedom when the truth is, they often hold our freedoms hostage pending corporate approval. They protect their own asses and make money doing so. 

Democracy comes from the people only. It doesn’t reside in a building in D.C. that has a long history of liars and thieves occupying it. We the people, define our freedoms, our liberties, our justice, our systems but have been in a deep slumber for too long now, believing those we vote for have our best interest in mind.  We flipped on the auto pilot and happily watched Tom Brady and Lebron James instead of Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi. We passed the homeless on our way to see The Avengers defend our way of life. The water the children drank was full of lead but gas was cheap.  Rome was burning but at least the lions were distracting.  

My approach has always been, and will always be peaceful protest and in revolutionary thought, through electing those who promise to dissemble this dirty, political warhorse, funded by corporations that has controlled our wonderful country for much too long. True democracy back to the people. 

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

-Abraham Lincoln

This is the first article in a three-part series by Alan J. Yeck reflecting on the state of the American political system, its challenges and the far-reaching effects it can have.

We have the power to change American politics back to a system that serves the people, not the politicians. Contact your representatives and ask them to listen to these facts and national narratives.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

By Alan J. Yeck

Just when I thought the political fruit cake couldn’t get any nuttier, I woke to the news that Hillary Clinton, in a discussion with Nancy Pelosi, shared her own conspiracy theory that President Trump called Vladimir Putin on the day of the riot at the Capital. I find myself going back and forth between being entertained by the moron platform (well used by both parties) to really pissed off that this is even in the news. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not? That’s why we wait for facts before holding public hearings. I don’t like Trump but I don’t like Biden either. I don’t like any of them and this is just another example of ‘why.’ Their intense, personal hatred of Trump comes first and foremost, well before issues that are affecting and destroying the American people on a daily basis. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord…and Hillary and Nancy. Don’t you wish they were that consumed with the fraudulent, student loan industry? Don’t you wish they spent their energy on campaign finance reform, or healthcare, or a distribution plan for the COVID vaccine? Don’t you wish all of them had their heads out of their asses and actually worked for the welfare of the American people? I do.

The next WTF moment came with two commercials on the networks; one was about TV news personality, Katie Couric, being interviewed by the news, about Trump. The other promo was about the news, interviewing CBS News White House correspondent, Major Garrett, on Trump. This is what we do now – the news interviews the news and makes it news when it’s not news at all. Again, I’m not defending nor supporting any of the politicians including Trump, but is it a surprise, to anyone in the country, how the mainstream news networks loathe Trump? I’m not saying they don’t have good reason – I’m saying they are news networks and not gossip tabloids (or shouldn’t be gossip tabloids). If you also loathe Trump do you need more loathing ammo? If you support Trump, does this ease your fears as we transition to a new Biden administration? Maybe try reporting on how much money from Super PACs go to which politicians? How about where the thousands upon thousands of lobbyists spend their time, and money, in Washington? How about using the power of the press to bring real, lasting change to a country desperately needing it, by real reporting and not a vendetta agenda. Do you understand that as you also seek your pound of old, white, flabby, flesh that you only create more mistrust in what you report on?  The only difference between you and The National Enquirer is…nothing. Except I did see Elvis in an Asheville head shop so the Enquirer’s reporting on that was true. 

Please follow us at AltRaged and like our Facebook page (although they continue to censor our ads).

The Pandemic of American Politics

By Alan J. Yeck

It’s been a bit tough trying to write this week. So much information coming at us and so many emotions in the mix that it’s been hard to bring my thoughts to clarity. Then I saw a picture today and in it I found a few moments of focus. It was a picture of a short hose coming from a fire hydrant, attached to a larger PVC pipe with a dozen drinking taps on it. It’s a fresh water station on the streets of San Francisco for the homeless. There is not a better example of the biggest problem we face today in the United Sates but if you think I’m saying ‘homelessness’ is our biggest problem, you’re wrong. Our biggest problem, and it didn’t start with this administration but I promise you it will continue with the next, is how we address all of our problems- we treat the symptoms and not the causes. The problem isn’t providing drinking water to the homeless, it’s the homeless! Instead of addressing the causes of homelessness, e.g., mental health, affordable housing, life sustaining wages, education, etc., we hook up a hose to a device that is supposed to be used to put out structural fires and call it a day. The world leader in innovation does it again. The COVID-19 equivalent would be to never develop a vaccine and just treat the symptoms with Alka-Seltzer Cold and Flu. “Plop plop fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is.” That should do it.

Meanwhile, on any given night in our country, more than 500,000 people go homeless every night, 40 million of us are living in poverty, 21 million are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, 10 million women and men are physically abused by their partners, with 700,000 children abused and neglected yearly  (the actual number is much higher because so many go unreported). And what is our mainstream solution? Our judicial system which ensures the extremely profitable prison system has a never-ending supply of customers.  We have 2.3 million people in 110 federal prisons, 1,833 state prisons, 3,134 local jails, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 218 immigration detention facilities (immigration is another problem where only the symptoms have been addressed), 80 Indian Country jails, state psychiatric hospitals, and military prisons. Prison is the largest treatment for mental health in the U.S. What I mean is that where so many Americans need mental health treatment (the root causes of incarceration, homelessness, drug abuse…) instead of making sure they can receive that, we treat the symptoms and sent them to prison where they are beaten, raped, abused and come out more likely to commit greater crimes than before they went in. Prison is like the ITT Tech of criminal instruction. It’s not good but we’re paying for it anyway. 

Those are just an example of some of the many troubles we need to deal with, head on. How do we address them, by finding the root causes or only treating symptoms? These are national issues that affect all of us therefore it is the responsibility of our government and elected officials to implement policies to make the positive changes. But they don’t do they? Why? 1) Follow the money. Always, follow the money. 2) Keep the people asleep. A person in California was asked, “why do you think there are so many homeless people here?” Her response was, “because we have nice weather.” That’s right, homelessness exists there because the weather is nice. OMFG! 1 and 2 working together are hard to beat, but not impossible. 

How do you feel the government systems we’ve been using are working for us? All of them, blue and red, are accountable for what the United States is today. All of them. Until we remove corporate and lobbying influences (the money) and expand the two-party system, the corruption will only continue. And the worst part? Me, you, and your sister too have allowed it. It is time for us to wake up from our social coma. Demand from those whom you vote for that they support this and if they don’t, then know they are why all of the above continues. They are why the capital was attacked, they are why democracy is dying, and they all make money from it. Vote for the person that agrees to make these changes in our system and restore democracy to the people. If they don’t, don’t vote for them.  Yes, it is just that simple. 

Be well and keep up the peaceful fight. 

The Solutions to the Student Loan Crisis Don’t Require NASA

By Alan J. Yeck, Founder

At the end of the article he wrote last year, Daniel M. Johnson, What Will It Take to Solve the Student Loan Crisis? responded to the question about whether there is a solution to the student loan scam with “Maybe.” While his piece was focused on the cost of education, which is completely valid and must also be addressed, it is but one part of a solution. “But one thing has become increasingly clear: solutions to the high cost of higher education and the student loan crisis will not come from the higher education establishment.” I completely agree with Daniel on this point. Higher education administration has not focused on reducing costs in any meaningful way for decades. It does so when it’s forced to and it’s never about serving the students, which is why the expenses continue to rise and passed on to the students and their families. Containing costs at the institutions are one aspect of the student loan crisis but all roads lead to Washington D.C. We are in this mess because of legislation they passed, and continue to support, that generates money back to their own campaigns through Super PACs. Lasting solutions are there but it means our elected officials, House and Senate, will have to do the ethically, right thing. I want to believe that still exists in Congress but I am hard pressed to give an example. Blue and Red are equally dirty and corrupt. Joe DiMaggio has been gone for a long, long time.

Restore full bankruptcy rights to student loan borrowers

There was never a valid reason to criminalize student loans. When it was first enacted in the early 1970s, there was less than a 1% default rate, and it was out of concern for what Congress thought of as expensive degrees, specifically law and medical – that the lawyers and doctors wouldn’t pay back their loans. At that time the law was that student loans couldn’t be included in bankruptcy until 5 years after graduation. Over the next few decades, in combination with the increasing availability of federal loans and the explosion of the for-profit institutions, Congress continued to “tweak” the rules as the money flow also increased into their own pockets. Finally in 2005 only those who qualify under an ambiguous “undue hardship” which is determined by each and every individual court could student loans be included in bankruptcy (you have a better shot at winning the lottery than a judge with a backbone dismissing your student loan). Once that right was removed, the cost of education skyrocketed which in turn brought out the corporate shit-eating-dogs known as ‘loan servicers’ (Navient, et al).

Solving the student loan debt crisis isn’t like working on global warming, it really isn’t rocket science. A few hundred people that were elected to take care of the people can do it very quickly – a lasting solution can put in place in 2021 but they would have to stop taking the money. Well, hell…now that I think of it, I guess I’m going to stop and get a lottery ticket on the way home. You should too.

#altraged #studentloandebt #corruption #bankruptcy #buisness #innovation #elections2020 #highered #leadership 

https://hbr.org/2019/09/what-will-it-take-to-solve-the-student-loan-crisis

Death of Democracy

“What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?”

-William Shakespeare, Macbeth

By Alan J. Yeck

While it is easiest to blame Trump and his supporters for yesterday’s occupation by rioters of the Capitol, we need to understand that this was just the most recent symptom of a much greater issue that has been going on for many administrations regardless of the party in power. It’s just the most recent symptom of our dying democracy.

This didn’t just happen yesterday, or even begin in 2016. A “government of the people, by the people, for the people” has not been the reality of our American political system for a long, long time – if it ever was true. Do not read this as condoning any of our current politicians or political parties because all have blood on their hands. Not one is without guilt. Are you?

We have allowed ourselves to be fooled by one side or the other for as long as I can remember, and in researching the history of our government, for as long as it’s been in existence. We choose to believe what this person says or what that media outlet reports. We choose to believe that our side is absolutely right and the other absolutely wrong. We choose to ignore those around us suffering from poor policies and social ignorance. We choose not to see the ultra-wealthy and powerful taking all they want while we fight each other for the scraps.

We not only choose these things, we choose to embrace them. When our voices are not heard by those who we entrust with our lives and the future of our children, there can only be anger and resentment. But the direction has been misplaced, intentionally planned, so we stand against each other; to be occupied at the lowest level instead of focusing on the roots of our problems – corruption and ownership of our government by corporate entities who have become the masters to those we vote for. The system which safeguards our democracy is broken and our elected officials are bought and paid in full to keep it that way. Biden’s presidency will not change this.

The two-party system has been protected by the two parties to ensure the power remains with them (corporations) and not the people. Over the last few years, I’ve heard both sides making statements to attack each other based on what the ‘founding fathers’ of our country thought – what their vision was for our country today. In all instances I felt their references were at best, contrived and based on absolutely no understanding of the history of our nation or our current problems. With that said, I’d like to share two quotes from those involved in the original fight against tyranny:

“There is nothing I dread so much as the division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our constitution.”

-John Adams

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.”

-George Washington

Just to make clear, “despotism” is when the people are oppressed by the absolute power and authority exerted by government. It was a warning from 200 years ago and we still haven’t listened though Rome burns. If ignorance is truly bliss then we are one bunch of happy fuckers.

There is much more to our government’s corruption that I’ll continue to address later, but my last thought is about Ashli Babbitt, the Air force veteran who was shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police while climbing through a window. While I did not know her, I’m very sorry and sad for her family and all who loved her. I’m also sorry and sad for the officer that pulled the trigger that took her life. Both were committed to their beliefs and what they believed was their duty to do. What sickens me the most, however, is the reaction from the members of our congress – those that were in hiding – quick to speak to the cameras to tell how awful this was for our country. The truth? The truth is they are all responsible for Ms. Babbitt’s death.  All have her blood on their hands. Regardless of what you think of Trump or Pelosi or McConnel or Schumer, every member of congress and the senate has her blood on their hands.

“Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One, two; why, then ‘tis time to do’t.—Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him? The thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now?—What, will these hands ne’er be clean?—No more o’that, my lord, no more o’that: you mar all with this starting. Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!”

-William Shakespeare, Macbeth

“Here, take it. Take it, Georgie.”

–Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi addressing the American people.

The latest federal stimulus package, or how Congress gives more to the ultra-wealthy while trying to appear that they actually give a shit about the American people. 

By Alan J. Yeck

As I write this, the discussions are taking place in Washington as whether to give a $600 stimulus check or a $2,000 stimulus check. To me, as a citizen, at this point the dollar amount is the least of our concerns. We have a government that has spent the last nine months doing absolutely nothing other than campaign rhetoric and arguing with each other as many Americans continue to suffer. It doesn’t matter what political side you may fall on because there is no victory for the people.

The latest 5,593 page federal relief stimulus package was delivered to Congress just before they voted on it. This gave lawmakers a very, very short amount of time to read the equivalent of Stephen King’s “IT” five times over (which at least in his story evil is defeated), which means it is unlikely they read it at all. This $2.3 trillion package, of which only $900 billion is in response to the pandemic is shameful. SHAMEFUL. It  includes a whole treasure chest for those with the most treasure already. 

Senator Mitch McConnell leads Senate in checking with their boss on stimulus plan.

Some citizens are on the edge of ruin and $600, or $2,000 will do absolutely nothing to save them. Others do not need the money but they’re sending it anyway. This is their brilliant plan? Nine months to come up with this – ready, shoot, aim. The government has the capability to dig deeper into the data and target the aid to make the biggest impact. To identify our fellow citizens that need the most help is certainly possible, unless you’re our government today. Good job, Nancy. Good job, Mitch. Now let’s celebrate the holidays.

There has always been dysfunction with our political leaders but it was never a job requirement until the last few decades. My late uncle, John Malloy, told me about growing up in Chicago in the 1930s. Politicians were corrupt then – kickbacks for contracts, payoffs for votes…but the people had public parks, and swimming pools and  libraries… everyone knew the politicians were taking a little extra on the side but they took care of the people. Today, they take it all and the people are abandoned. That was 30 years ago when he told me that and it’s only gotten worse.

We have been conditioned to believe that ‘the lesser of two evils,’ and/or ‘better than nothing,’ are legitimate, acceptable positions. We have been told these lies for so long that we’ve started to believe them but the ‘lesser of two evils’ is still evil and less, and something that is ‘better than nothing’ is not actually better.

We, me and you, pay around $4 billion a year for congress operating expenses and this is what we get in return. Zero leadership, zero ethics, zero compassion, zero understanding. Nine months to put together a real plan using real data and this is the best they could do for us? Shame on them all. 

References

MacMillan, Douglas, Peter Whoriskey, and Jonathan O’Connell. 2020. America’s biggest companies are flourishing during the pandemic and putting thousands of people out of work. December 16. Accessed December 28, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/business/50-biggest-companies-coronavirus-layoffs/.