Perhaps sensitive about a looming doubling of student loan interest rates, and reports of their indifference to the plight, House Republicans sent a letter to the President with a new proposal for how to structure an extension of the existing rates.

In 1961, President Eisenhower delivered his now famous farewell address, in which he warned the American people of the dangerous rise of a powerful “military industrial complex” in this country.

Last year, for the 50th anniversary of this prophetic speech, many of the leading thinkers and activists on U.S. militarism and war-making came together for a conference to take stock of how this complex has evolved and what can be done to reign it in. For those who weren’t able to attend, author and activist David Swanson has just published The Military Industrial Complex at 50, an edited collection of the insightful and inspiring remarks that were delivered at this timely event, in addition to several other complimentary essays.

Leading Democrats and the White House have taken note of the threat of a doubling of the student loan interest rate by June 30 (from 3.4% to 6.8%), and are working on steps to prevent it. However, they have to contend with a stingy House GOP that isn’t interested in finding the $6 billion or so annually that would stop the interest rate increase. This occurs as US borrowing rates to fund worthwhile investments are near zero.

In a rare moment of disagreement among major federal agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has found in its preliminary research of student debt that the problem is even greater than they at first surmised. A speech before the Consumer Bankers Association by Rohit Chopra, the student loan ombudsman for the agency, termed the student [...]

Romney’s rise coincides with his turn to a very negative, even cruel side of his personality, now reflected in his public policy statements. Romney hoped to float above the GOP primary, winning on the strength of outside negative ads, superior fundraising and better organization. It didn’t totally work out. So he had to alter his economic policy, to tilt it further to the right, to embrace more conservative ideas, and become the most conservative candidate on immigration policy and now education policy.

The Justice Department complaint has been public since last August, and Snowe has been dinged for it locally in Maine. The fact that Snowe and her husband may have personally benefited from the ripoff of low-income college students hasn’t really entered the conversation. But often the cover story isn’t the real story. Maybe this is one of those times.

Well, Republicans in Michigan and Arizona go to the polls today (and in the Michigan a few independents and democrats will vote too, mostly for santorums and giggles).

I predict…finally…the process of settling for Ol’ one percent of the one percent to finally emerge. And the crowd will go mild.

Lots of people were angered by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s announcement that he would use money gained from the foreclosure fraud settlement to plug his budget hole. I suspected that a lot of states with a budget gap would go this route. And that apparently includes Missouri, a state with a Democratic Governor and a Democratic Attorney General.

In the UC-Davis pepper spraying case, two unidentified police officers have been placed on administrative leave, and chancellor Linda Katehi announced some vague investigation into the incident. The President of the University of California, Mark Yudof, has now released a statement expressing shock and dismay at the events in Davis.

The balance sheet recession – collapsing wealth, underwater homes, student loans – is creating a major part of the crappy economy. Everyone’s waiting for things to get better, and by extension ensuring that nothing will. In this instance, only repairing balance sheets – such as through debt forgiveness – can get the economy on a better path. And then the kids move out of their parent’s house and housing construction starts jumping and we get some relief.