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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Waste, fraud and abuse turns up in the nicest places

Waste, fraud and abuse turns up in the nicest places

by Kay|  August 9, 20114:32 pm| 90 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Education

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More of this might help balance the budget:

The Department of Justice and four states on Monday filed a multibillion-dollar fraud suit against the Education Management Corporation, the nation’s second-largest for-profit college company, charging that it was not eligible for the $11 billion in state and federal financial aid it had received from July 2003 through June 2011.

While the civil lawsuit is one of many raising similar charges against the expanding for-profit college industry, the case is the first in which the government intervened to back whistle-blowers’ claims that a company consistently violated federal law by paying recruiters based on how many students it enrolled. The suit said that each year, Education Management falsely certified that it was complying with the law, making it eligible to receive student financial aid.

“The depth and breadth of the fraud laid out in the complaint are astonishing,” said Harry Litman, a lawyer in Pittsburgh and former federal prosecutor who is one of those representing the two whistle-blowers whose 2007 complaints spurred the suit. “It spans the entire company — from the ground level in over 100 separate institutions up to the most senior management — and accounts for nearly all the revenues the company has realized since 2003.”

Education Management, which is based in Pittsburgh and is 41 percent owned by Goldman Sachs, enrolls about 150,000 students in 105 schools operating under four names: Art Institute, Argosy University, Brown Mackie College and South University.

In 2003, Education Management’s chief executive was Jock McKernan, a former governor of Maine who now serves as chairman of the board. Mr. McKernan is married to Senator Olympia J. Snowe, a Maine Republican whose 2010 financial disclosure form lists Education Management stock and options worth $2 million to $10 million.

By the way, what happened to the GOP House pledge to seek out waste, fraud and abuse in government? Did they mean going after individual food stamp recipients? This approach seems much more efficient. $11 billion dollars is a lot of food stamps.

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Reader Interactions

90Comments

  1. 1.

    BGinCHI

    August 9, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Really glad to see this. Let’s see if any GOP pols applaud this.

    I’d put the over/under at 0.

  2. 2.

    ed drone

    August 9, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    I think a slap on the wrist is in order here.

    … with a katana!

    A few more of these and the deficit starts going down!

    Ed

  3. 3.

    RalfW

    August 9, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    Will this help the Tea People to decide to primairy Ms. Snowe?

  4. 4.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    August 9, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    By the way, what happened to the GOP House pledge to seek out waste, fraud and abuse in government?

    They didn’t mean their own, of course.

  5. 5.

    secondlaws

    August 9, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    Holy **** ! Eleven billion smackeroos? That’s not just a lot of food stamps. It would more than fully fund my 10,000 student university’s operation for ONE HUNDRED years!

  6. 6.

    kay

    August 9, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    Right. They’re staking out Medicaid offices in strip malls in Ohio, and this was going on right under their noses.

    Drats! The Goldman waste fraud and abuse trail went cold while they were interrogating that one social worker in Cleveland.

  7. 7.

    mclaren

    August 9, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    By the way, what happened to the GOP House pledge to seek out waste, fraud and abuse in government?

    Silly rabbit. There’s no waste, fraud and abuse in the 1.2 trillion dollars per year America pisses away on its worthless incompetent military.

    Stories like “Pentagon’s lightning gun sold for scrap on eBay” are just made-up fantasy. As many people on this wise and insightful forum have pointed out, I’m craaaaaaaaaaaazeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee when I cite documented facts like this. Mentally ill. In need of help. Hallucinating. Sick in the head.

  8. 8.

    BGinCHI

    August 9, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    @secondlaws: Mine too. Meet me in the parking lot.

  9. 9.

    Peggy

    August 9, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    Not only is the US taxpayer on the hook for these bad school loans, the students who graduate without any hope of a job because these “vocational” schools ripped them off are now in debt past their eyeballs.

  10. 10.

    The Raven

    August 9, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    Just remember, the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, thinks for-profit schools are really kewl, there are only a few bad apples among them.

    Is there any corrupt business that this administration has not cozied up to?

  11. 11.

    Redshift

    August 9, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    I have this fantasy that someone on the White House political staff has sent a private message to the WaPo editorial board that they have a nice corporate cash cow supporting them; shame if something were to happen to it.

    Normally, I would consider such tactics with respect to the press out of bounds, but since the Post pretty much openly threatened to use the editorial page against the administration if the regulation of for-profit colleges went through (which it did), turnabout is fair play.

  12. 12.

    kay

    August 9, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    @Peggy:

    It’s really a bad scene. The debt can’t be discharged in bankruptcy, and they’ll never, ever be able to pay it back.

    It’s going to blow up, big.

  13. 13.

    bemused

    August 9, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    I look forward eagerly to learn from the rightwing why this is big government again stifling the free market, job creators and stirring up class warfare.

  14. 14.

    Martin

    August 9, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    SNAP (Food Stamps) budget is $77B per year, so yeah, $11B is a lot of food stamps.

  15. 15.

    jl

    August 9, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    The teabaggers have more dire threats to worry about than for profit school fraud:

    ‘ Tea-party activists called McCain “out of touch” when the senator said he didn’t know about United Nations “Agenda 21.”One man described the initiative as a “takeover of the United States of America by taking over our farms.”

    “First, our firearms, then our farms,” another man added. ‘

    Couldn’t Happen to a Nicer Guy
    Josh Marshall | August 9, 2011
    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/08/couldnt_happen_to_a_nicer_guy.php?ref=fpblg

  16. 16.

    PaulW

    August 9, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    Oh crap. I put in for a librarian opening with Brown Mackie College…

  17. 17.

    PaulW

    August 9, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    @The Raven:

    Just remember, the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, thinks for-profit schools are really kewl, there are only a few bad apples among them.
    Is there any corrupt business that this administration has not cozied up to?

    Um, maybe the self-published authors business. I think I can talk Obama into promoting my ebooks… ;-)

  18. 18.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    One of the Sisters with her hand in the cookie jar! This will definitely play in Maine going into 2012.

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    August 9, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    @RalfW:

    Will this help the Tea People to decide to primairy Ms. Snowe?

    Now that she’s proven she can grift with the best of them? This is a lot more likely to win them over to her side than turn them off.

  20. 20.

    Lolis

    August 9, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    Corporations can’t commit fraud, waste, or abuse. It is literally impossible.

    /wingnut

  21. 21.

    Kyle

    August 9, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    By the way, what happened to the GOP House pledge to seek out waste, fraud and abuse in government?

    They’ll get to it right after the rigorous investigation into the $8 billion in cash missing in Iraq. Which will happen sometime after OJ finds the real killer.

    Teatard: Waste! Fraud! Evil big government!
    (Reads further) “…for-profit college company”…
    (cough) Never mind.

  22. 22.

    sven

    August 9, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    The wikipedia entry for EMC suggests a clear revolving door between the company and financial aid regulators.

    EMC and other for profit ‘colleges’ also cooperate in an front group advocacy group called “The Coalition for Educational Success”. Guess which worm they have retained as their chief lobbyist. Hint: he was prominent in the 2008 campaign cycle.

    Pat yourself on the back if you said Lanny Davis.

  23. 23.

    Roger Moore

    August 9, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    By the way, what happened to the GOP House pledge to seek out waste, fraud and abuse in government?

    I think it’s waiting in line behind their promise to focus on jobs, jobs, jobs. Once they’re done getting us back to full employment, they’ll start worrying about waste, fraud, and abuse. Unless, of course, the waste, fraud, and abuse can somehow be tied to the Kenyan in Chief, in which case it will be priority #1.

  24. 24.

    Suffern ACE

    August 9, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    @jl: I do not want to look up Agenda 21, because I don’t want to go to web sites ranting about it. So what’s the gist of it this time? Mugabe going to come over here with Venezuelan “peacekeepers” to drive the whites off their lands?

  25. 25.

    Peggy

    August 9, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    NYT on the worthless education offered by these vocational schools. The article highlights two companies, Career Education Corporation and Apollo Group.
    More potential targets.

  26. 26.

    Catsy

    August 9, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    $11 billion dollars is a lot of food stamps.

    It’s more than that. Under the False Claims Act, the government will be entitled to treble damages if they prevail.

  27. 27.

    Suffern ACE

    August 9, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    @Roger Moore: Silly, they can’t do jobs until they’ve tracked down every instance of waste, fraud and abuse…of a certain kind. Once we have gone through the quick process of amending the constitution, we can get on to jobs.

  28. 28.

    Jay B.

    August 9, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    This is great. Of course, I think there are trillions in fraud to be found, oh, I don’t know, in other places Goldman Sachs are vampire squidding, but this is an unmitigated good.

  29. 29.

    evap

    August 9, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    Yikes, a friend of mine teaches at one of the Art Institutes.

  30. 30.

    arguingwithsignposts

    August 9, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    @evap: I know some people who teach at Art Institutes too. People shouldn’t blame the drones for the actions of the upper echelons.

    Also, this will likely be settled out of court, I assume. They’ll write a big check with a “no admission of guilt” stipulation. Easy Peasy, unfortunately.

  31. 31.

    jl

    August 9, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    @25 Suffern ACE

    You can read about the sinister secret plot bland common sense sustainability initiative, with plenty of room for maneuver, at this brave truth telling underground resistance website at the UN.

    UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
    Division for Sustainable Development


    http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/

    The fell plot was approved under GHW Bush, the communist America Destroyer, who has inspired many an action movie super villain.

  32. 32.

    Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937

    August 9, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    Who would name their kid Jock? or is that some type of a nickname?

  33. 33.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    August 9, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    Did you see the stat that said for-profits have 10% of college students but represent half of all student loan defaults.

  34. 34.

    Napoleon

    August 9, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    @Catsy:

    I thought that only applied to private citizens bringing an action under it.

  35. 35.

    hamletta

    August 9, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    @The Raven:

    Just remember, the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, thinks for-profit schools are really kewl, there are only a few bad apples among them.
    __
    Is there any corrupt business that this administration has not cozied up to?

    So…they cozy up to businesses by siccing the DOJ on them?

    Fucking logic, how does it work?

  36. 36.

    Mojotron

    August 9, 2011 at 5:14 pm

    Draw a venn diagram with all the businesses that Goldmann Sachs and Lanny Davis are currently involved in and where they overlap send in the DoJ.

  37. 37.

    Captain Haddock

    August 9, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    Those young bucks and their t-bones strike again.

    Damn you, young bucks. Damn you!

  38. 38.

    Maude

    August 9, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    @Mojotron:
    That would make it easier to find the rotters.

  39. 39.

    MD Rackham

    August 9, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    I feel bad for graduates of these schools. I have to interview them for jobs on a regular basis and it’s just sad how badly prepared they are for the real job market, yet they are sitting on $100K in student loans.

    If the graduate fits my criteria I’ll hire them, but it’s *despite* their “degree” because I know how much work it will be to convince them that knowing every keyboard shortcut for After Effects does not an artist make, and that they need to study *art* not technology.

    Sadly, I’ll bet the eventual settlement doesn’t exceed $5 million and only requires that they promise to “quit it” when it comes to the illegal activities.

  40. 40.

    Nutella

    August 9, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    @Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937:

    Jock is the Scottish version of Jack. His full name is John Rettie McKernan, Jr. which sounds very Scottish.

  41. 41.

    Marc McKenzie

    August 9, 2011 at 5:24 pm

    “By the way, what happened to the GOP House pledge to seek out waste, fraud and abuse in government?”

    Hah, very funny. The GOP pledge going after waste is as relevant as a kleptomaniac’s claim that he can keep his hands to himself in a jewelry store.

  42. 42.

    BalJu Commenter #2401

    August 9, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    When oh when will the light shine on Kaplan?

  43. 43.

    piratedan

    August 9, 2011 at 5:28 pm

    and in other fraud news…..

    http://azstarnet.com/article_8d9a4d32-c23b-11e0-9283-001cc4c03286.html

    Looks like the Feds are starting to slowly tighten the noose around Sheriff Joe…..

  44. 44.

    A Mom Anon

    August 9, 2011 at 5:29 pm

    I briefly looked into sending my kiddo to the Art Institute for the music/audio engineering program. It’s nearly 90 grand for 4 yrs and there’s not a ton of aid nor any scholarships available for a kid with pretty lousy HS grades. I about fell out of my chair. Needless to say we’re exploring other options via Vocational Rehab(he’s autistic and qualifies for some state based programs). Shortly after I contacted them the phone calls and emails started trying to talk me into taking on massive loans. I finally had to tell them we were dealing with a job loss to get them to leave me alone. I’m glad someone’s at least starting to look into this crap. It’s wrong on so many levels and it pisses me off.

  45. 45.

    Three-nineteen

    August 9, 2011 at 5:29 pm

    @Suffern ACE: Here are a couple of Mother Jones articles about Agenda 21.

  46. 46.

    Martin

    August 9, 2011 at 5:30 pm

    @Mojotron:

    Draw a venn diagram with all the businesses that Goldmann Sachs

    Given that GS is an investment bank, they’re going to be involved in most businesses. That’s sorta why they exist. You’ll find that the California Public Employees Retirement Fund owns a chunk of pretty damn near every corporation in America as well. Sometimes quite a large chunk.

  47. 47.

    burnspbesq

    August 9, 2011 at 5:33 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Except that Goldman doesn’t own it. A consortium of private equity partnerships, one or more of which was sponsored or is managed by Goldman, owns it. Fucking reporters need to learn how to read a 10-K.

  48. 48.

    A Mom Anon

    August 9, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    I’d LOVE to see the Feds start looking at the for profit standardized testing business too. What a freaking racket that shit is.

  49. 49.

    hamletta

    August 9, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    @A Mom Anon: If he really wants to go into audio engineering, check out Middle TN State. It has one of the best programs in the country, and it’s a state school.

    Be aware, though, that these programs are cranking out more graduates than the industry can absorb.

  50. 50.

    evap

    August 9, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: I’m not blaming the drones, I think my friend is a fine teacher. Just worried about her losing her job if their students can no longer get student loans.

  51. 51.

    bkny

    August 9, 2011 at 5:39 pm

    christ, it’s about time these thieving shitheads get investigated. i see an endless stream of ads on the subway advertising “NEW FUN CAREERS” in medical transcription, elevator mechanics…. i feel so sorry for the kids they are preying on.

  52. 52.

    El Cid

    August 9, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    I too was curious about a local Art Institute, even touring the place, even for a while checking into a possible minor part time job with one. Even before looking into the context, I felt alarm bells ringing in the far distance. First, it just didn’t make sense that what they were training people for were not lucrative positions, generally, and it was a private company, and yet they were *very* lavish surroundings. And the ones attending didn’t strike me as rich. And then, I got a clearer discussion of what the prices were.

    I was saddened to read around and see that the situation was worse than I thought. I’m sure a lot of people really benefited from the programs at AI; I’m more sure, though, that the studies showing low job placement rates at extraordinarily high debt burdens were more important.

    Of course, now I feel much better about the place since it’s owned by Goldman Sachs.

    Anyone mention how Goldman Sachs is actually going all 19th-early 20th century style and manipulating aluminum prices by hoarding?

    (Reuters) – In a rundown patch of Detroit, enclosed by a cyclone fence and barbed wire, stands an unremarkable warehouse that investment bank Goldman Sachs has transformed into a money-making machine.
    __
    The derelict neighborhood off Michigan Avenue is a sharp contrast to Goldman’s bustling skyscraper headquarters near Wall Street, but the two operations share one important element: management by the bank’s savvy financial professionals.
    __
    A string of warehouses in Detroit, most of them operated by Goldman, has stockpiled more than a million tonnes of the industrial metal aluminum, about a quarter of global reported inventories.
    __
    Simply storing all that metal generates tens of millions of dollars in rental revenues for Goldman every year.
    __
    There’s just one problem: much less aluminum is leaving the depots than arriving, creating a supply pinch for manufacturers of everything from soft drink cans to aircraft.
    __
    The resulting spike in prices has sparked a clash between companies forced to pay more for their aluminum and wait months for it to be delivered, Goldman, which is keen to keep its cash machines humming and the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world’s benchmark industrial metals market, which critics accuse of lax oversight.

    Pfah. Conspiracy theory by non-experts in commodities economics.

    Plus, wouldn’t this be an actual case of supply-side economics?

  53. 53.

    askew

    August 9, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    This would only impact the university not the students who took out the loans, right? My friend is almost done with his graduate degree from one of those schools. It has actually helped him land a better job already. I’d hate to see him or other students punished because of this school’s practices.

  54. 54.

    A Mom Anon

    August 9, 2011 at 5:42 pm

    @hamletta: Thank you hamletta,I’ll check that out. I’m more concerned that he has an education in something he loves(he’ll be more apt to work hard),and we’ll worry about the job part later. He hates HS,mostly because he’s bored to tears(except for Biology and Zoology),so any degree works IMO. He needs direction of some kind.

  55. 55.

    geg6

    August 9, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    Heh.

    The rumblings about this began months ago in the local financial aid community. About damn time. These proprietary schools are the biggest ripoff in all of education.

    Newsflash, folks. There is nothing you can learn in one of these schools that you can’t learn at your local community college for about 1/10th the price.

  56. 56.

    Redshift

    August 9, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    @sven: I don’t know whether to be amused that Davis has screwed up in yet another gig, or be impressed that he convinced them to hire him with his long record of failure.

  57. 57.

    kindness

    August 9, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    57 posts and no one has bagged on Obama yet….I think we have a new BJ record.

  58. 58.

    geg6

    August 9, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    @Peggy:

    Kaplan. Kaplan “University” is the one I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on.

  59. 59.

    Redshift

    August 9, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    @askew: It definitely wouldn’t impact the students; they didn’t do anything wrong, they’ve just been taken advantage of. Who knows, a possible settlement might even involve some loan forgiveness.

  60. 60.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    August 9, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    @askew: Nope. The DOJ has merely filed a case. They’ll probably settle in a year or so.

  61. 61.

    bemused

    August 9, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    @Three-nineteen:

    I should have known that Michele Lightbulbs Bachmann would be freaked out about Agenda 21.

  62. 62.

    Suffern ACE

    August 9, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    @kindness: See 11.

  63. 63.

    freelancer

    August 9, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    @kindness:

    Scroll through the archives. I’m sure there were hundreds of threads from 2001-2004 where commenters weren’t flipping out about Obama.

  64. 64.

    Chris

    August 9, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    @jl:

    ’ Tea-party activists called McCain “out of touch” when the senator said he didn’t know about United Nations “Agenda 21.”One man described the initiative as a “takeover of the United States of America by taking over our farms.”
    …
    “First, our firearms, then our farms,” another man added. ’

    The only thing more ridiculous than the teabagger belief that the UN is in a conspiracy to take over the world, is their belief that if there was such a conspiracy, it really would have nothing better to do than to worry about Arizona hillbillies’ hunting rifles. Or their farms, for that matter.

  65. 65.

    geg6

    August 9, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    @Redshift:

    Loan forgiveness might be possible, but only if the whole operations shuts down and students are left without the ability to finish their programs.

    Or if the DoJ allows it through a settlement agreement with the schools. Though I wouldn’t count on that.

  66. 66.

    Southern Beale

    August 9, 2011 at 5:52 pm

    Just heard some idiot on an NPR call-in show yesterday make the ludicrous claim that whenever the government does something it’s always inefficient, corrupt and leads to waste.

    SIGH

  67. 67.

    Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)

    August 9, 2011 at 5:55 pm

    “By the way, what happened to the GOP House pledge to seek out waste, fraud and abuse in government?”

    Good point. I’m sure they’ll be trying to cut the DOJ’s funds imminently. That should teach them for messing with commerce. That is what you meant, right?

  68. 68.

    El Cid

    August 9, 2011 at 5:55 pm

    @Chris:

    The only thing more ridiculous than the teabagger belief that the UN is in a conspiracy to take over the world, is their belief that if there was such a conspiracy, it really would have nothing better to do than to worry about Arizona hillbillies’ hunting rifles. Or their farms, for that matter.

    It’s ancient history to recall that one of the freakout issues of the more-or-less mainstreamed ultra-Bircherite paranoid survivalist militia shortwave right of the 1990s* was Hillary Clinton planning to have the UN invade and occupy the USA and institute a soshullist One World Gubmit.

    This was the main significance of the “black helicopters” meme — they were supposedly scouting around for targets of resistance which would oppose the UNHILLARY gubmit.

    * Now we can save a lot of space and accurately substitute Tea Party for those identifiers.

  69. 69.

    askew

    August 9, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    @Redshift:

    @Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    That makes me feel much better. I’d hate for students to get punished.

    What people forget about these for-profit schools is that you get degrees much faster than you would at most community colleges and/or public/private universities. They also have a more flexible class schedule than the other choices. That’s why they get so many students to attend their schools.

  70. 70.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    August 9, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    I had to laugh when I saw Florida is one of the states joining this case. Gov. pRick Scott is probably pissed at the idea that EMC^2^ made off with more money than HCA.

  71. 71.

    arguingwithsignposts

    August 9, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    @evap: Sorry, the “don’t blame” part wasn’t aimed at you.

  72. 72.

    Roger Moore

    August 9, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    Just heard some idiot on an NPR call-in show yesterday make the ludicrous claim that whenever the government does something it’s always inefficient, corrupt and leads to waste.

    This is true but incomplete. Inefficiency, corruption, and waste are natural products of any large undertaking, whether it be by the government, business, or non-profit. It’s more noticeable when it’s the government because the government tends to A) take on bigger projects than anyone else, B) have higher expectations for probity than private enterprise, and C) be more open and accountable than private enterprise.

  73. 73.

    djork

    August 9, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    @hamletta:

    This. I went to MTSU for audio engineering for a brief while, until I saw the writing on the wall. (Audio software on home computers is killing the industry.) However, like Hamletta says, the market is saturated and it’s an almost dying industry, given that most people have more power than Abbey Road on their laptops. However, MTSU will at least give him the liberal arts / math / science foundation of a 4 year degree.

    And look into something called the Academic Common Market when researching MTSU’s tutition. If your home state is part of it, you could only pay in-state tution, provided no schools in your state offer a degree in audio engineering.

  74. 74.

    Chris

    August 9, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    @El Cid:

    It’s ancient history to recall that one of the freakout issues of the more-or-less mainstreamed ultra-Bircherite paranoid survivalist militia shortwave right of the 1990s* was Hillary Clinton planning to have the UN invade and occupy the USA and institute a soshullist One World Gubmit.

    And what’s fascinating about that is that it’s happening now. You’d think the fall of communism and the triumph of Reagan/Thatcher supply-side bullshit would’ve calmed them down a bit. But it seems like there’s more paranoid lunacy about soshullist One World Gubmints coming to get us today than there was when, you know, there was actually a Soviet Union.

    Maybe it’s simply their pathological need to have an enemy – when the enemy disappears, all that does is make them more paranoid and insecure (cause after all, there’s always someone out to get them, and they just have to find out who that is).

  75. 75.

    Joseph Nobles

    August 9, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    What are the odds Snowe gets appointed to the Joint Committee?

  76. 76.

    Derf

    August 9, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    DOW up +430 today. Where are all the breathless headlines? Or is it only news when it’s bad?

    Stay Gloomy Baboon Juicers.

  77. 77.

    Suffern ACE

    August 9, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    @Chris: To think, they learned all this for free, with a little help from the likes of Michelle Bachman and Exxon, whereas the people who actually are trying to get an education to help them get actual jobs get shafted and a huge debt burden.

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    August 9, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    @El Cid:

    This was the main significance of the “black helicopters” meme—they were supposedly scouting around for targets of resistance which would oppose the UNHILLARY gubmit.

    ISTR that the black helicopter paranoia started during the GHWB administration, what with the New World Order business, though it obviously intensified during the Clinton administration. I remember there was somebody who loved writing to my home town paper about black helicopters and UN takeover, until he eventually got hauled in by the DEA. I guess the helicopters he was seeing were looking for his pot farm.

  79. 79.

    Davis X. Machina

    August 9, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    @Suffern ACE: Any Agenda 21 story needs to cover the UN/manatee threat to the Republic. No, they’re not being armed with lasers…it’s much, much worse.

    Bonfire of the Manatees.

  80. 80.

    Suffern ACE

    August 9, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @Roger Moore: I think the founders actually understood that, which is why they didn’t even bother write “an absolutely permanent union” in the preamble.

    ETA: I meant perfect. Geez. I guess I read a bunch of stuff about conspiracies held by people in Arizona and my Id wants to move to break the whole union thing up as soon as possible.

  81. 81.

    El Cid

    August 9, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @Chris: As with Christian fundamentalist evangelical movements, the closer they are to power and the better off the movements are, the louder and more paranoid their complaints become.

    I don’t see many people mention it clearly, but I think one of the things driving so many more right wingers over-the-top ultra-Bircherite nuts (i.e., more than the constant core) was that the right held absolute power here and lost it.

    They had it. They can pretend now like they thought Bush Jr. illegitimate blah blah blah.

    But the right had the Presidency, the two houses of Congress, the Supreme Court (hell, it gave them the Preznitzy), most state governments, and a press at the greatest degree of fealty to the right than they’d ever seen. And that’s not even counting Fox and the ultra-right radiosphere.

    They had it all. They could have been on their way to paradise. No IRS, the Bible back in schools, ending the Department of Education, opening up all national parks to hunting, logging, paved roads, and 4-wheeling, etc. I’m talking the paradise of the low level righties, not the internationalist corporate right.

    But somehow they lost it. Somehow it got tooken away.

    It couldn’t be the voters — everyone knows that Americans just hate Democrats and liberals and liberalism!

    Everyone knows that finally when the right has the chance to do everything promised by the right wing political establishment for decades, it’ll work, and everyone will love it.

    But no, someone did stuff wrong, and San Francisco Liberal NANCY PELOSI WHO WENT TO SYRIA and Teddy Kennedy won the Congress back, and then it was all stoled by a Kenyonesian Bill Ayers soshullist black man.

    Having power and losing it is even more enraging than knowing how close you are to power and not yet having it.

  82. 82.

    El Cid

    August 9, 2011 at 6:18 pm

    @Roger Moore: Yes — you’re right to distinguish. The black helicopter meme was about the One World Government as early as Bush I stamping out resistance to their Soshullist nightmare, and it got way more intense under Clinton and was very frequently seen as something especially under the command of Hillary.

  83. 83.

    Chris

    August 9, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    @El Cid:

    Having power and losing it is even more enraging than knowing how close you are to power and not yet having it.

    That’s probably a huge part of it, but I’d also say another big part was having the power and not having it be what they expected. Their ideology absolutely swore to them that it’d make everything okay, yet both times they’ve held power (Reagan/Bush and Bush II) it left the country in such a ruinous state that the voters went back to the Democrats. That wasn’t supposed to happen either. And yet it did. The discrepancy’s probably another big piece of what’s driving them mad.

  84. 84.

    lol

    August 9, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    Last year, the USDA found $6 billion (over ten years) by doing something the Bush administration never did – actually negotiating with crop insurance companies instead of just paying them what they want.

  85. 85.

    Lojasmo

    August 9, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    Now for some good news. My governor list ordered Minnesota to opt out of NCLB. Go Mark Dayton!

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    August 9, 2011 at 6:46 pm

    Art Institute, eh? I always wondered who backed them.

    Would love to see this go somewhere but with that list of backers I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t quietly go down some drain.

  87. 87.

    The Raven

    August 9, 2011 at 6:47 pm

    @hamletta: “So…they cozy up to businesses by siccing the DOJ on them?”

    It’s weird. Duncan (who is bad news in a lot of ways) had a lot of good things to say about for-profit education. He also said there were “a few bad actors,” and I suppose EMC is going to now be declared one of them. Problem is, between EMC and Apollo (another “bad actor”) there’s a huge fraction (I can’t quickly find how much) of the for-profit trade school business.

    Except for the sun, there are few stars near earth.

  88. 88.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    August 9, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    I don’t see many people mention it clearly, but I think one of the things driving so many more right wingers over-the-top ultra-Bircherite nuts (i.e., more than the constant core) was that the right held absolute power here and lost it.

    Well, a bunch of guys who promised to make everything perfect forever in exchange for Das Bases’ votes had the power. Nothing really changed for Das Base and it wasn’t ever going to.
    A more reality connected group would perhaps maybe discover that the life lived vicariously still sucks if you’re a poor schlub.

    Alas.

  89. 89.

    Misha

    August 9, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    @Johnny Gentle (famous crooner): Or they’ll move to cut wasteful “education spending”…

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 9, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    @hamletta: I do some work with MTSU (albeit not in any way connected to Audio/Engineering). Good solid school for many things.

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