Tag Archives: John Kline

Student Loan Forgiveness and The Ghost of John Kline, (Who?)

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Rep. John Kline

I know and you know that if a Democrat president signed a bill tomorrow giving every kid a pony, every hard-working goober a shiny new truck and every family a week’s pass to DisneyWorld, Republicans would leap up and howl about how unfair all that is to … kids who wanted a dog, guys who just bought a new truck and families who agree with Ron DeSantis that DisneyWorld is a woke cesspool of transgender grooming.

As the parent of a (fully employed) kid who stands to get roughly $8900 wiped off his monthly bills, I am pleased with Joe Biden’s long brewing decision to wipe out chunks of federal loans. It is certainly a lot of money — up to $500 billion by some estimates — and I don’t see what if anything it does to suppress the rampaging rate of tuition increases. But hey, removing $8900 in bills from mostly middle-class family ledgers counts as a good day to my way of thinking. Those people will almost certainly turn around and (inflation hysteria alert!) spend it on something other than a check to the government.

But while we’re listening to the usual hytperbolic ranting from the usual suspects — Marjorie Taylor Greene, (a bail out for Ivy League brats!), Ohio Senate candidate J.D.Vance, (so unfair to D+ kids who couldn’t get accepted to Hillbilly Ellegy Community Bible College!) and Mitch McConnell (a reckless giveaway to the takers!) let’s pause and consider Minnesota’s own John Kline.

You say you’ve already forgotten old John? The guy who parked himself in Congress representing southern Minnesota’s Second District for 14 years? The guy whose most noteworthy accomplishments were hoovering up prodigious amounts of campaign contributions from for-profit colleges? In turn for proposing more and more legislation that let those, um, conservative benefactors, burrow ever deeper into taxpayer-supported federal guaranteed loan programs? Where they mined fat profits off their hefty tuition costs? While quite often delivering dubious-to-worthless degrees to students then saddled with serious decades-long debt?

That guy.

Here’s a quote from a (U of M) Minnesota Daily editorial back in Kline’s day: “Kline and two others introduced the bill, titled ‘Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act’, July 10. [Think about that name for a second as you read on.] It would prohibit the Obama administration from restricting federal student aid from schools whose students graduate with lots of debt and have low repayment rates. The for-profit college industry became the subject of much criticism after a 2012 investigation by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee revealed excessive tuition prices, abhorrent recruiting practices, poor student outcomes and wasteful use of taxpayer dollars. The investigation reported taxpayers had spent $32 billion on companies that run for-profit colleges, but the majority of students who enrolled later dropped out. Federal data also shows that a majority of for-profit colleges receive more than 70 percent of their revenue from U.S. government programs.”

Point being — and I realize I don’t have to point this out to you, dear informed reader — but the howling of today’s MAGA-nauts about the “unfairness” of Joe Biden’s “giveway” is 99.9% pure hypocrisy and bad faith. They led the fight to game the federal student loan program, which certainly did not drive tuition costs anywhere but up while saddling thousands of kids from “hard-working, middle-class families” with a mountain of debt and a generally value-less degree.

And THAT is before we mention ol’ Mitch’s signature accomplishment in the Trump years, namely the $2.3 trillion worth of tax cuts Republicans gave away to, you know, “benefactors”, “productive Americans” and people who don’t blink at $30 cocktails at the 19th hole of their private club. [If you’re scoring at home that’s four times the size of Biden’s student loan forgiveness] Maybe you bought a new Porsche with your winnings off that sweet deal, but my taxes jumped up about $900 the next year.

So, as usual, let’s ignore the raging of cynical fools.

Bottom line here is that I suspect Republicans will go hunting for a judge who will slap an injunction on Biden’s executive decision. And, whether it stands or not, loan forgiveness will do next to nothing to stall out the 130% increase in tuitions since 1990.

Oh, and one more thing, entirely unrelated I’m sure, did you see where the University of Alabama just signed football coach Nick Saban to a contract extension worth $94 million over eight years?

And have you forgotten that the highest-paid public employee in the vast majority of states is a … basketball or football coach?

Paulsen and Kline Finally Support A Jobs Bill

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Erik_Paulsen_John_KlineIn the past, I’ve been critical of Minnesota Republican  Congressmen John Kline and Erik Paulsen for not doing enough to address America’s chronic unemployment problem.  But I have to hand it to them, because yesterday they passed legislation ending the government shutdown that will immediately put 800,000 Americans back to work, and stabilize the economic position of many others.  That’s fantastic news.

Unfortunately, Paulsen and Kline haven’t always been so strong supporting job creation for Americans.  They both refused to support President Obama’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that, according to the independent, non-partisan organization FactCheck.org, created a whole lot of jobs:

“…the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report in August that said the stimulus bill has “[l]owered the unemployment rate by between 0.7 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points” and “[i]ncreased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million.”

Simply put, more people would be unemployed if not for the stimulus bill. The exact number of jobs created and saved is difficult to estimate, but nonpartisan economists say there’s no doubt that the number is positive.”

Paulsen and Kline have also refused to support pending legislation proposed by President Obama, the American Jobs Act, that, according to private sector experts, would stimulate millions of more jobs:

Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi: “The fiscal boost from the jobs package next year would be larger than in the first year of the 2009 economic stimulus, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. Zandi, who was briefed on the plan before the president’s speech, forecast passage of the entire jobs package would add 2 percentage points to economic growth next year and bring down the unemployment rate by 1 percentage point compared with current policy, under which a temporary payroll tax cut and an extended unemployment benefits both expire Dec. 31.”

This morning Economic Forecasting FirmMacroeconomic Advisers issued a report: “We estimate that the American Jobs Act (AJA), if enacted, would give a significant boost to GDP and employment over the near-term. The various tax cuts aimed at raising workers’ after-tax income and encouraging hiring and investing, combined with the spending increases aimed at maintaining state & local employment and funding infrastructure modernization, would: Boost the level of GDP by 1.3% by the end of 2012, and by 0.2% by the end of 2013. Raise nonfarm establishment employment by 1.3 million by the end of 2012 and 0.8 million by the end of 2013, relative to the baseline.”

…Citigroup Chairman Richard Parsons said, “The President’s proposed combination of personal and business tax relief, targeted spending to support infrastructure, and aid to states offers several direct and innovative ways of creating jobs and bolstering our economy. The President’s focus on assisting small business is spot on, since small business is the engine of job creation.”

Finally, Paulsen and Kline have refused to support legislation to end the “sequester” of billions of dollars federal funds.  CBO economists say lifting these spending cuts would immediately add millions more jobs for the American people.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Thursday estimated that keeping the spending cuts from sequestration in place through fiscal 2014 would cost up to 1.6 million jobs.

Canceling the cuts, on the other hand, would yield between 300,000 to 1.6 million new jobs, with the most likely outcome being the addition of 900,000, the CBO said.

“Those changes would increase the level of real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.7 percent and increase the level of employment by 0.9 million in the third quarter of calendar year 2014 (the end of fiscal year 2014) relative to the levels projected under current law,” the report states.

Again, these are the job creation bills that Kline and Paulsen have historically refused to support.

But I do want to give credit where credit is due.  The bipartisan legislation Paulsen and Kline supported yesterday will immediately put 800,000 more Americans back to work, and end a government shutdown that will have cost taxpayers, according to Standard and Poors, about $24 billion.  That’s $24 billion that isn’t circulating in the economy creating jobs.

Forget that Kline and Paulsen originally did nothing to speak out against their fellow House Republicans who were giddy in forcing these 800,000 Americans out of work.  At long last, Paulsen and Kline have supported a jobs bill.  Here’s hoping it’s the beginning of a trend.

– Loveland

Note:  This post also was featured in Minnpost’s Blog Cabin.

Rep. Kline To Be Deported By Immigration Reform-Supporting Minnesotans?

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A new Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey finds that Minnesota Congressman John Kline could be deported from Congress by Minnesotans if he and his Republican caucus continue to obstruct the immigration reform package recently passed by the U.S. Senate.

Almost 7 out of every 10 (69%) Minnesota voters living in Kline’s congressional district support the immigration reform proposal.  By more than a 2-to-1 margin, those Minnesotans say Klein’s blocking of this set of reforms would make them less likely to support him in his upcoming reelection bid (44% less likely to support Kline if he opposes immigration reform versus 19% more likely to support him).

PPP surveyed a representative sample of Americans in seven congressional districts, including districts in California, Colorado, Nevada, and New York.   Among those seven districts, the support for the package was strongest in the Minnesota 2nd congressional district that Kline currently represents.

– Loveland

Franken Opponent Wish List

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Minnesota Senator Al Franken doesn’t have a high profile challenger yet in the 2014 U.S. Senate race.  People don’t seem to be flocking to run against Franken at a time when a January 2013 Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey is finding that Senator Franken is leading former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman by 6 points, Congressman John Kline by 8 points, Congressman Erik Paulsen by 11 points and Congresswoman Michele Bachman by 14 points.

Despite these findings, 45% of Minnesota Republicans want to nominate Bachmann to oppose Franken. I would be in Blogger Heaven if a Franken-Bachmann race came to be, but I find it difficult to imagine that I, or Franken, could possibly be so lucky.

Given that the conventional candidates like Coleman looks to be taking a pass at the Senate race, maybe it’s time for the Minnesota GOP brain trust to get unconventional.  These are some of the match-ups that I personally day dream about: Continue reading →

For 30th Time, Bachman and the Gang Misread Obamacare Public Opinion

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When it comes to Obamacare, Minnesota Congressman Michele Bachman could not be more certain that she has public opinion behind her.  For instance, in her latest broadside, she signed a letter to all 50 Governors urging them to avoiding implementing Obamacare insurance exchanges to help Americans obtain affordable coverage, Bachman cited an oft repeated myth:

I urge all Governors to let Congress finish the job the American people sent us to do, to fully repeal Obamacare and replace it with common-sense free market solutions.

“…the job the American people sent us to do, to fully repeal Obamacare and replace it…” Whether they are spinning or they actually believe that, they are wrong.  This notion that a majority of the American people want the Affordable Care Act repealed or weakened is demonstrably false.

A June 2012 Kaiser Permanente poll is the last latest to show that a majority (53%) either wants to “keep the law as is” (25%) or “expand the law” (28%).

At the same time, only 38% of Americans support what the Republicans propose.  The Kaiser poll finds that 18% of Americans said Congress should “repeal the law and replace it with a Republican-sponsored alternative,” and 20% said Congress “repeal the law and not replace it.”

So, yes, a majority doesn’t support the law as is, because so many Americans, myself included, would have liked the law to have been stronger…if there had been congressional will to do so.  But it simply is not true that a majority of Americans want to do what the Republicans propose to do to the Affordable Care Act — real it or repeal and replace it.

And so today, for the 30th time, Michele Bachman, John Kline, Erik Paulsen, and Chip Cravaack will vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.  And for the 30th time, they will be dead wrong about the will of the American people.

– Loveland

 

Note:  This post was also featured as part of the “Best of the Blogs” feature in Politics in Minnesota’s Morning Report.