Helena IR: Rehberg in the thick of budget fray
On October 9, 2012 the Helena Independent Record reported:
As he oversees U.S. House Republicans’ draft of the federal government’s 2012 health and education budgets, Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg finds himself hip-deep in the Washington, D.C., political fray, defending a $153 billion plan that’s drawing fire from all sides. The proposal — unveiled last week — would torpedo virtually all funding for the Obama Administration’s health reform law, including additional money for community health clinics across Montana; ax federal money for two dozen family planning clinics in the state; reduce funds for Pell grants that help low-income students pay college tuition; and scale back money for home-heating assistance. Those and other cutbacks have prompted Democrats to say the “Rehberg budget” unduly targets women, families, students and workers.
POLITICO: From Perry, an homage to Democratic group's Romney hit
On September 27, 2011 POLITICO reported:
"On Friday, the Democratic opposition research group American Bridge released a video headed, "Mitt's Flips: Race to the Top," which juxtaposed their tracker's footage of Romney with debate footage on the education program Race to the Top, and ended with his debate line, "words matter." Yesterday, Perry's campaign put out a video called "Romney's Race to the Flop," which contrasted debate footage with ... American Bridge tracking footage, with the logo blacked out. The kicker: "Words matter.""
TPM: Did Romney Flip Flop On ‘Race To The Top’?
"Democratic tracker American Bridge is accusing Mitt Romney of flip flopping on the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” program, posting video of him lavishing praise on the program and then denying any association with it on Thursday."
Washington Monthly: Race to the flip-flop
"Romney told a Florida audience on Wednesday that he supports many of the provisions in President Obama’s “Race to the Top” education reform policy. Last night, just a day later, Romney denied supporting “any particular program” in the president’s policy. The clip, from American Bridge, highlights the contradicting positions plainly — what Romney was for on Wednesday he was against on Thursday. [...] The point, though, is the ugly habit Romney has of taking one position on an issue and then soon after taking the exact opposite position. In this case, the 180-degree turn on education policy took literally just one day. And then Romney has the chutzpah to boast, “I stand by my positions”?Seriously? I can vaguely understand how Romney became a leading presidential candidate. How anyone trusts his word, however, remains a mystery to me."
VIDEO: Mitt's Flips: Race To The Top
During the Fox News/Google Republican primary debate, Mitt Romney adamantly denied Rick Perry's charge that he supported the Obama administrator's "Race to the Top." Unfortunately for Mr. Romney, we have him on video praising the program the very DAY BEFORE the debate. American Bridge included the turnaround in our second "Mitt's Flips" video, a new series we started highlighting Romney's bad habit of abandoning his so-called convictions when it suits him politically. Take a look:
Bloomberg: Education Management Violated Student-Aid Rules, U.S. Says
On August 8, 2011, Bloomberg reported:
Education Management Corp. (EDMC), the second-largest U.S. for-profit college chain, used improper recruitment practices to secure more than $11 billion in U.S. student aid, prosecutors said in a civil lawsuit.
Company Headed By Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-ME) Husband Targeted By Dept. Of Justice
Sen. Snowe’s husband, former Maine Governor John “Jock” McKernan, has been a corporate officer in Education Management Corporation since 1999. Today, the Justice Department filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against EDMC over their payment scheme. This is in addition to an earlier report from the GAO, which detailed abusive practices at for-profit colleges. For years, the for-profit college industry has lured in unprepared students, most of whom do not graduate despite accumulating enormous debts. Companies like EDMC achieve this largely by incentivizing their employees to accept any student no matter what, the allegation at the heart of today’s filing. When Congress tried to crack down on the practice, EDMC lobbied them hard—spending over a million dollars on lobbying in the last two years, and sending McKernan himself to meet with White House officials.
McKernan is central to the alleged illegal payment scheme, and Sen. Snowe has directly benefited from her husband’s employment through their joint income.
Detailed research document after the jump.
POLITICO: The Justice Department joins suit against firm chaired by Olympia Snowe's husband
On May 6, 2011, POLITICO reported: The Department of Justice has joined a whistleblower lawsuit against an education company chaired…
George Allen On Education
Allen Said He Would “Take Back” His Vote For No Child Left Behind. “Allen is invigorating his campaign with fresh issues and themes, a new course that includes the surprising admission that his vote for the No Child Left Behind program to enhance the federal role in public education is ‘the one I would take back.’” [Human Events, 3/8/11]
Josh Mandel On Education
Mandel Voted Against Over $660 Million In K-12 Education Funding. In 2010, Josh Mandel was one of only 18 legislators in both the House and the Senate (out of 129 legislators) to vote against House Bill 462, the capital re-appropriations bill. The bill included $668,512,112 for primary and secondary education. [H.B. 462, 3/16/10]