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Senator Elizabeth Warren is at it again, taking on the Treasury Department, the Education Department -- the division that oversees student loans and Sallie Mae--the nation’s largest student loan company. Her questioning was quite simple and direct, "Where are the government's promised return benefits or as the expression goes, "Show me the money!":
...because of the enormous benefits the government has provided Sallie Mae,” Warren said, ticking through a list that includes hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts; $600 million in profits off selling loans to the Education Department in 2009 and 2010 under the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans program, known as ECASLA; and special taxpayer-backed credit facilities that enabled the company to borrow billions of dollars at “astonishingly low interest rates.”
All she's asking is where is the US return for giving this program such huge profits. The answer she's gotten so far from Sallie Mae is that there is very little profit. The reason is criminal neglect. So who's going to take the fall?
Then she (Senator Warren) turned the attention to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, asking him whether the agency would terminate its contracts or level a fine against Sallie Mae if it’s found to have violated the service members law.That seemed like a reasonable question the cabinet member. It is his department which sets and oversees policy.
Warren also asked Duncan to detail whether the agency has ever used its authority to fine companies up to $35,000 for individual violations, and whether the department has ever fined or penalized Sallie Mae, investigated the company or determined that it has violated federal contracts.
Someone get caught with their pants down:
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Evidently Secretary Duncan was too tongue-tied to respond. That of course didn't stop Senator Warren from pressing the case on our behalf:
(Senator Warren) demanded to know under what circumstances the Education Department would feel justified to terminate a contract with a law-breaking company, if Sallie Mae’s past actions have not warranted an end to its federal contracts. Warren sits on the Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The fact is Sally Mae, the largest provider of student loans has NEVER faced sanctions by either the Treasury or the Education Department .
It all boils down to why not? Senator Warren deserves to know. We all deserve to know.
What the hell is going on in our financial institutions? The Republicans want to save money? Why not look into the proper running of the current programs they're already supervising. One senator is for sure. Go E.W.
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Click image above for entire letter from Senator Warren to Sec. Jacob Lew, Treasury Department and Sec. Arne Duncan, Department of Education. See if this doesn't boil your oil.
The post Treasury & Education Secretaries Drop Their Balls On Sallie Mae appeared first on The Political Carnival.