When someone made a positive prediction in her presence, my grandmother would employ a favorite “go to” phrase: “from your mouth to God’s ears!” It was her way of saying she certainly hoped that whatever was being predicted would turn out to be true.
Grandma has been gone for quite some time, but that phrase was the first thing that popped into my head when I read this report from Politico.
As many as five Democratic-led House committees next year could take on DeVos over a range of issues such as her rollback of regulations aimed at predatory for-profit colleges, the stalled processing of student loan forgiveness and a rewrite of campus sexual assault policies.
“Betsy DeVos has brought a special mix of incompetence and malevolence to Washington — and that’s rocket fuel for every committee in a new Congress that will finally provide oversight,” said Seth Frotman, who resigned as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s top student loan official earlier in protest of Trump administration policies likely to be examined by Democrats.
In any other administration, DeVos’ “special mix of incompetence and malevolence” would have garnered far more media attention. Trumpworld, however, has such a monumental amount of both that she has had to share that attention with others in the abysmal cohort comprising our nation’s current administration.
Among the incoming committee chairs antagonistic to DeVos is Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). She’s in line to lead the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing education funding, and–like the other incoming chairs identified in the article–she’s coming to the job with her sights firmly set on DeVos.
The panel’s oversight work, DeLauro said, will focus on ways to “hold Secretary DeVos accountable for her agency’s failure to uphold federal protections for our students.”
DeLauro called DeVos’ record on student debt issues “appalling,” citing the administration’s moves to eliminate Obama-era rules meant to cut off funding to low-performing colleges and make it easier for defrauded borrowers to obtain loan forgiveness.
“I will make sure Secretary DeVos knows Americans want her to protect students and veterans, not the for-profit school industry,” she said.
Maxine Waters will head the Financial Services Committee; earlier this month she accused DeVos of a “full-on attack on civil rights protections for students—particularly students of color, students with disabilities, transgender students, and survivors of sexual assault.”
A number of watchdog groups have brought lawsuits that can serve as agendas for these committees:
Groups like American Oversight, National Student Legal Defense Network and Democracy Forward have all filed multiple lawsuits against the department — many focusing on its ties to the for-profit education industry.
“We are certainly hopeful that the Department of Education will cooperate with the incoming Democratic chairs’ oversight requests,” said Aaron Ament, president of the National Student Legal Defense Network, which published a list of oversight topics for Democrats to take on after the election. “However, given this administration’s track record when it comes to following the law, it would not be surprising if Congress has to use subpoenas to get any useful information.”
Trump’s cabinet–with a combined net worth estimated at $14 Billion–is filled with appointees chosen mainly for their deep antagonism to the missions of the agencies they head. (Total ignorance of the matters under the agencies’ jurisdiction is a plus.) But even in that pathetic assembly, DeVos stands out.
Hostility to public education? Check. Lack of even the slightest understanding of education policy debates? Check. Devotion to her fellow plutocrats who are making fortunes by ripping off students and taxpayers? Check. Total lack of respect, regard or concern for the students DOE supposedly serves? Check.
When Politico’s mouth gets to God’s ears, bring popcorn.
Amen!!!
I sure hope the oversight and maybe some criminal prosecutions can get this all back in line with the INTENT of our government to serve the PEOPLE and not just the corporations. I sure HOPE that is what is in our future.
Betsy also gives money to lots of crooks in Indiana…imagine that.
Thankfully, the American people got a peek behind the curtain at our incompetent Plutocracy. Some applaud their destructive natures because they’d, “… rather have filthy rich people instead of corrupt politicians.”
We need a new political spectrum in this country to define American’s beliefs. The current one is outdated and doesn’t address reality.
When I point out that the crop of billionaires in the White House all inherited their money versus “earning it,” there is only slight hesitation before advocating for silver spoons over corrupt politicians.
Generally, and specifically in Betsy’s case, these billionaires have been very involved in politics and using their money to manipulate changes in education and elsewhere. Betsy’s incompetence on the world’s stage doesn’t shine the light on all the destruction she’s already accomplished in states like Indiana.
I can’t think of better examples to advocate for a 100% estate tax. All these Plutocrats would go ballistic but what we have is silver-spooned incompetence — rich people who aren’t very bright using their money to get media attention and fame. Americans equate fame and wealth with intelligence.
On Twitter, even Iron Man was cheering for Nancy Pelosi as the speaker of the house and got tens of thousands of retweets. A comic book figure!!!
Yes, an introduction to civics would be appropo. 😉
Excellent article. Cutting off funding for lower performing colleges mean students attending have to shift campuses and lose course credits.
What regulations are being cut and who does it benefit?
Pastor pence personally chose Devos for her cabinet position. I am unable to think of even one good thing about that evil man.
Devos made it clear on her first day that she was there to serve the for-profit colleges and K-12 schools. She has not wavered from that position. Her educational profiteers surely must be complimenting her daily and providing her with lists of everything else that they want. She most likely assures them that she is there to serve their interests and will oblige their requests.
My biggets question is this……How do Pence and Devos consider themselves to be Christians? I am incapable of understanding their mindset.
Copied and pasted from a Facebook post this morning:
“Dear Indiana,
You are about to lose all of your teachers. The Speaker of the State House of Representatives as well as the Leader of the State Senate indicated that they would focus on raising the pay of teachers, that is nearly 20% lower than what they earned 10 years ago. Now Governor Holcomb says “they” need to study the issue and maybe in a year or two they will think about getting more money to the men and women that work with your children 180+ days per year.
The issue of a minor tax increase for the purpose of raising Indiana teacher’s salaries was on the November 6th ballot…and passed. Why was it on the ballot if it can be ignored for the reason Holcomb stated…was he unaware of this ongoing very public issue? Have “they” not been studying this issue for years as Indiana has dropped to the bottom of the list of states regarding their quality of education?
“Hostility to public education? Check. Lack of even the slightest understanding of education policy debates? Check. Devotion to her fellow plutocrats who are making fortunes by ripping off students and taxpayers? Check. Total lack of respect, regard or concern for the students DOE supposedly serves? Check.”
There are three top names at work on NOT working on improving this issue nationally; Trump, Pence and DeVos…and Pence’s Indiana holds the record for number of voucher students in private, primarily religious, schools. I’m sure those watchdog groups who have filed lawsuits are counting the days till January 3rd when the swearing-in ceremonies of new Democratic electees begins at all levels.
Maybe after that date, my memberships in Indiana Coalition for Public Education, the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State will make some progress in our courts.
Ooops! Last paragraph should have read My biggest question is this……
Not biggets
seems the chicago teachers union had to hold charter school teachers hands in a union fight to increase wages and school needs. thanks, we needed to see again, how the teachers union on any part of education will help,other for profits,for the cause its always fought for, students first,,,hey bettsy did ya understand that?
One of The Nation’s editors recently wrote that we gave a trillion and a half away to the already rich via the Trump/Ryan tax bill when that money could have been used to erase student debt. He is right. Think of (among other things) the economic consequences of having millions of students living in their parents’ basements, hamstrung by crushing debt, perhaps underemployed, delaying marriage, homebuilding, unable to reverse our shortage of new births and, perhaps, joining in the Opie and/or suicide epidemic in a moment of despair.
Compare that scene with the buyouts and capital gains opportunities the already rich are enjoying with the trillion and a half Trump and Ryan handed over to their friends and themselves along with a permanent tax cut for such friends and themselves, meaning that the rest of us and our progeny pay disproportionally for such handout to the rich which (since we couldn’t afford it) was added to our national debt in a classic case of misallocation of resources. Pitchfork time, anybody?
Goof-Mea Culpa – The editor quoted was not from The Nation but rather from The American Prospect. It’s early.
My mantra for the Trump administration: it will take generations to undo what Trump has undone to destroy America’s place as role model for the world. However, he must share the blame with Congress.
First, I saw a video yesterday featuring the retiring (can’t be soon enough) Orrin Hatch saying he didn’t care about Trump’s crimes being exposed daily. Yeah. That speaks volumes about Republicanism.
Next, from Todd’s offering today: Some applaud their destructive natures because they’d, “… rather have filthy rich people instead of corrupt politicians.” Again, this speaks to the nature of Republicanism. Filthy rich and corrupt politicians overlap strongly in any Venn diagram.
DeVos was born into corruption, married into corruption and lives corruption. Still more Republicanism. Her “relationship” with Pence is clear enough evidence that corruption and Republicans are the same thing. Her destruction of public education and the screwing of the poor is yet MORE defining lines of Republicanism.
When are people going to get it through their heads that today’s Republican party has no other agenda than to destroy everything that doesn’t put more money into their donors’ pockets at their expense? Add to that, the corrupt, rich Republicans are using religion to justify everything they do.
Gee, one wonders if there just might be a connection between the recent mid-term election of U.S. House delegates with their sights squarely focused on DeVos’ Dept of Ed. and the recent spate of closings by for-profit secondary schools in Indiana, such as Harrison & Brightwood colleges. Coincidence? Hmm.
Nancy – “Pastor (Mikie) pence personally chose Betsy Devos for her cabinet position. I am unable to think of even one good thing about that evil man.”
OMG -I bravely assert that screwball “christians” are doing this to us. It takes courage to call them what they are and then deal with the self-righteous backlash.
The grown-ups will take charge in January. Predictions anyone?
There is so much to do to restore government from the ravages of Trump and his hoard of incompetent and malevolent wealth suckers that the biggest risk that the Democrat restoration crew face is taking on too much too soon out of desperation to stop the flow of weath away from the creators of it.
“OMG -I bravely assert that screwball “christians” are doing this to us. It takes courage to call them what they are and then deal with the self-righteous backlash.”
I actually do call out the crazy fake Christians all the time. I do it in my small community and take a lot of heat for it. I point out the facts and if people can’t accept or handle hearing the truth I just don’t care.
Heck, 25 years ago I pointed out to my fellow church finance committee members that our pastor was stealing from us. My fellow committee members, who knew me from the time that I was born, turned against me because they just couldn’t believe that a pastor would do something like that. I showed them the proof in the bank books. It didn’t matter. I was the bad person for pointing it out. At that moment I decided that I was done with the church that I grew up in and with the ignorant people who refused to believe that a pastor could or would steal from them. In the end they finally realized that they had been scammed by him, yet they never apologized to me for the way they treated me.
Those same kinds of ignorant people exist in churches everywhere. If you can stand behind a pulpit or at the very least just publicly claim to be a Christian (Pence), then you must be a good person and couldn’t possibly do anything bad or illegal. Sickening.
They are the truly frightening people who want to eliminate the separation of church and state.
“Pastor pence personally chose Devos for her cabinet position. I am unable to think of even one good thing about that evil man.”
Nancy; this astute observation led me back to Pence, using Mitch Daniels’s playbook on education, continued escalating the voucher program here till we became the leading state in the number of voucher students being educated in private/religious schools using public education tax dollars.
Mitch Daniels, as Governor of Indiana, appointed a number of the board members at Purdue University who; in turn, appointed Mitch Daniels President of Purdue University. Media rumor has it that Daniels has maintained local student tuition fees at the same amount for (I think) this is the 2nd year. How is he doing that? Is Pence, with DeVos as Secretary of Education, involved in this tuition situation in any way? Are those DeVose/Prince BILLIONS being fed into Daniels’ tuition maintenance level? Has the tuition level of out-of-state students been raised accordingly to make up the difference in the local tuition levels? This bunch of monied Republicans are as intertwined as a nest of snakes in the education world yet they continue raiding local public education tax dollars to support the voucher system as the public school teachers continue paying out of their own low salaries to pay for school materials for their students. And Governor Holcomb, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives and leader of the Indiana Senate must “…study the issue and maybe in a year or two they will think about getting more money to the men and women that work with your children …” And the beat goes on!
I just read on NPR that a judge in Texas let a man who was a fraternity president at Baylor get away with raping a woman while at this school. That judge has a history of being way too lenient on men who sexually assault women. He ought to be fired!!! Too often when a woman is intoxicated when raped, the case is dismissed. Most of the time men use alcohol as a means to ensure they can rape a woman. That’s what Bill Cosby did. Men who rape women( and I DON’T CARE WHAT THEIR EXCUSE IS.) need to have significant consequences to drive home the message that this is NOT to be tolerated.
Devos calls herself a woman and does not stand up for women students? Geesh. I will bet if she had a daughter who had been raped she’d behave differently.
I understand that we have “guilty till proven innocent” in this country. I respect that. Unfortunately, this principle often leads to re-victimization of women who have been sexually assaulted. The challenge for us is how do we hold to the above principle and not further victimize women and men who have been sexually assaulted?
Thank you Sheila for saying what I was thinking and more. With so much other Trump administraton corruption to cover, the news media forgets to cover policy matters. Thank you for keeping focus on the policies that affect regular folks.