Tales from the Trail

The gloves are coming off.

After a day spent mostly silent, looking on as senators in the Judiciary Committee made their formal opening statements and others lauded her accomplishments, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will be peppered with questions today about her qualifications for the life-time appointment.

Sotomayor likely will face tough questioning as the lawmakers seek to find out where she might take the country on issues such as abortion, guns and race. Though Republicans have conceded that Sotomayor will most likely win confirmation in the Democrat-dominated Senate, they likely will use the opportunity to focus on what they call her “activist” history.

Also on Capitol Hill, other lawmakers continue to work on legislation to revamp the healthcare industry after President Barack Obama “put everybody on notice” on Monday and and vowed to overhaul the system.

“Inaction is not an option,’ he said at the White House on Monday, amid talk by lawmakers that the healthcare plan could not be completed by August. “For those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don’t bet against us. We are going to make this thing happen.”

Today Obama travels to Michigan, where he will announce a $12 billion initiative to boost community colleges and increase the number of college graduates.

TEMPE, Arizona – President Barack Obama warned graduating students on Wednesday not to follow in the footsteps of swindler Bernard Madoff as they enter the workforce and look for jobs.
 
The U.S. president, delivering a commencement address at Arizona State University, told a crowd of tens of thousands that big money and fancy titles should not be a priority while the country faced recession and two wars.
 
“The leaders we revere, the businesses and institutions that last — they are not generally the result of a narrow pursuit of popularity or personal advancement, but of devotion to some bigger purpose,” Obama said.
 
“The trappings of success may be a by-product of this larger mission, but it can’t be the central thing. Just ask Bernie Madoff.”
 
Madoff, 71, pleaded guilty in March to operating a huge Ponzi scheme in which early investors are paid with money from new clients. He is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Kevin LaMarque (Obama speaks during Arizona State University commencement ceremony, May 13, 2009)

Poor bankers. Just as they’re catching flak for everything from the global financial crisis to high credit card interest rates, along comes the president and adds another grievance. Barack Obama, it seems, thinks using banks to dole out federal college loan funds is a waste of taxpayer money. So on Friday he discussed his scheme to boost the flow of federal dollars to those looking to get a higher education. To pay for it, he said, “we’re going to eliminate waste, reduce inefficiency and cut what we don’t need to pay for what we do.” Look out banks. Obama said there are two kinds of federal education loans — direct loans and Federal Family Education Loans. Under direct loans, tax dollars go directly to help students pay for tuition, “not to pad the profits of private lenders,” he said. But under the FFEL program, “taxpayers are paying banks a premium to act as middlemen — a premium that costs the American people billions of dollars each year,” he added.The loans are federally backed, so the banks don’t even have to take on significant risk. Cutting out the middleman, Obama said, could save the government tens of billions of dollars that it could use to help more students. But making that change won’t be easy, he said. ”The banks and the lenders who have reaped a windfall from these subsidies have mobilized an army of lobbyists to try to keep things the way they are.” ”They are gearing up for battle. So am I,” Obama said. “For those who care about America’s future, this is a battle we can’t afford to lose. For more Reuters political news, click here.Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (President Obama discusses federal education programs in front of a portrait of George Washington)