Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos listens to President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting in the White House, October 21, 2019.
Billionaire daughter-in-law to the Amway fortune Betsy DeVos probably contracts with the U.S. Mint to exclusively reissue $100,000 bank notes so she can light them on fire to light candles in her office. But she’ll have exactly one less, after a federal judge in San Francisco fined her exactly that amount, because the Education Department continues to collect on fraudulent loans issued to students of shady for-profit college network Corinthian Colleges.
Around 16,000 students have been affected by DeVos collecting on illegal loans, so that’s $6.25 each. Nevertheless, seeing any personal liability at all for an Education Department that not only failed to stop Corinthian from lying to students and saddling them with debt for worthless diplomas, but then kept trying to squeeze those students for unlawful payments, must offer at least a little solace. The Education Department resisted compensating Corinthian students at all, until they went on a debt strike. Under Arne Duncan, students ripped off by for-profit colleges were allowed to assert “defense to repayment” to get the loans canceled.
That process moved at turtle-like speed, with only one-fifth of Corinthian students made whole by the time DeVos took over. She instituted hurdles to prevent loan forgiveness, which Judge Sallie Kim ruled unlawful. This ruling is stayed pending appeal, but DeVos’s department kept trying to collect loan payments anyway, despite the dispute. Three thousand borrowers made these payments. The Education Department even garnished wages on 1,800 students, which it had no right to acquire.
Essentially nobody abused by Corinthian has had loans canceled during DeVos’s tenure. However, she has created momentum for mass loan forgiveness—inside her own department. A. Wayne Johnson, whom DeVos appointed as chief operating officer for the Office of Federal Student Aid, resigned this week, calling the system “fundamentally broken.” He’s now running for Senate (as a Republican) in Georgia, endorsing the cancellation of $50,000 in student-loan debt for every borrower, while adding a $50,000 tax credit for everyone who had already repaid their loans. This is a more robust student debt cancellation proposal than Elizabeth Warren’s (because it includes no means testing), from a Republican DeVos appointee who’s actually seen the student debt crisis up close. That’s how radicalizing it is. The way we finance higher education cannot sustain itself, and everyone to the left of Betsy Hundred Thousand DeVos ought to demand a reset.
LINKS TO MY STORIES
The Supreme Court might make a ruling that would allow Democrats to dump do-nothing CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger on Day One. (Read the story)
The Medicare for All “how will you pay for that” debate is extremely dishonest. (Read the story)
A new feature for the Prospect: the Ridiculous D.C. Invite of the Week. (Read the story)
ALSO AT THE PROSPECT
Rich Yeselson on progressive presidential candidates’ labor plans.
Alex Sammon on Amazon trying to buy the Seattle City Council.
Jon Walker on one way Democrats can “pay” for Medicare for All—by getting health care prices equivalent to the rest of the developed world.
Justin Slaughter on how Democrats can insulate new laws from a hostile Supreme Court.
Claire Wang, a Prospect intern, on youth activists in global protest movements, and the toll it takes on them.
APPEARANCES
Let me echo Harold Meyerson in lauding the amazing night we had this week for the Prospect’s 30th Anniversary Gala. It was a celebration of our past and our future, and a tribute to the rock of this organization, Robert Kuttner. Thanks to everyone who turned out, and here’s to another 30 years of journalism about ideas, politics, and power.
PROSPECT BOOK CLUB
One thing we rolled out at the gala is our new Prospect book club, which we have online in beta form right now. At the book club, you can find books from our editors and board members (including, er, myself), and links to purchase. As we develop this, we will have reviews of new work, discussions, and announcements of upcoming events and special offers. We want this to really be a hub for progressive book distribution, and we’re excited to bring it to you. Stay tuned!
SHARING THE WEALTH
Amazon evading the Consumer Product Safety Commission, shipping spoiled and expired food. (CNBC)
A beautifully designed investigation of Scientology buying up the city of Clearwater, FL. (Tampa Bay Times)
Now Joe Biden’s cool with a super PAC after running out of millionaires to max out. (CNN)
Richie Neal stands with Republicans to keep the drug-pricing bill weak. (The Intercept)
Adam Neumann got a $1.7 billion tip for blowing up WeWork. (WSJ)
The CBO changed an assumption and reduced $2 trillion in long-term debt. Maybe they’re not an accurate budget scorekeeper? (Slackwire)
Bernie wants to use executive action to legalize pot. (HuffPost) The Prospect explained how in our Day One Agenda series.
Aaron Glantz’s book uses an investigation I wrote to show how Kamala Harris’s record during the foreclosure crisis is not as rosy as she claims. (Politico)
Trump’s VA whistleblower office failing, punishing whistleblowers. (Washington Post)
Left, right, and center get together on a bill to make social media interoperable. (The Verge)
Equifax used “admin” as username and password to safeguard sensitive data. (Yahoo Finance)
The effect of news deserts: politically motivated disinformation sites that look like local news. (Lansing State Journal)