from CongressDaily
September 22, 2008
by Humberto Sanchez

The way the federal government values the troubled mortgage assets it will buy will ultimately determine exactly how much the $700 billion bailout bill developed by Congress will affect the budget deficit, experts said today. "When we spend [federal money] to purchase these mortgage-related securities, we end up with an asset that is worth something," said Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' federal fiscal director Jim Horney. "The real question is how much are those things worth, and that is one of the reasons that the Treasury is proposing this purchase because right now the market is not functioning very well in determining what those assets are worth." Horney added that those assets will be worth "more than zero and eventually we will sell the assets and recover some portion, maybe some significant portion, maybe even all of what we spend in purchasing them," which could ultimately leave the budget deficit unaffected.

Full Story "Experts: Impact Of Rescue Plan On Deficit Too Early To Tell" »

Posted by Bill Otto at 08:46 PM | Permalink

from Inside Higher Ed
by Kevin Carey
September 23, 2008

In 1992, college diploma fresh in hand, I decided to take a year off before going to graduate school. (By “decided” I mean “forgot to take the GRE.") A friend suggested that, in terms of good places to squander 12 months of one’s youth, it was hard to beat Chapel Hill, N.C. So we found a cheap apartment near the UNC campus and got jobs waiting tables at a barbecue restaurant. (Want to out yourself as a damn Yankee? Use the word “barbecue” as a verb.) Slinging pulled pork sandwiches paid just enough to cover rent, gas, drinks, and music. For the latter, I spent a great deal of time in Schoolkids Records, one of those iconic stores where every aisle held the promise of a long-sought European bootleg and the girl behind the counter was unattainably cool.

Full Story "Colleges Should Stand Up to the Entertainment Industry" »

Posted by Bill Otto at 08:45 PM | Permalink

from Inside Higher Ed
by Edward F. Palm
September 18, 2008

But single men in barracks, most remarkable like you. (“Tommy,” Rudyard Kipling, 1892)

Picture it: Marine Corps boot camp, Parris Island, summer, circa 1965.

Five weeks into the program, two Marine recruits find themselves on mess duty, assigned to the pot shack, a small detached building out behind the mess hall proper. For the first time since arriving on the island, these two are out from under the watchful eyes of drill instructors and able to talk freely to one another. Up until then, a strict code of silence had been enforced, with recruits allowed to speak only to their drill instructors, and even then, only when spoken to.

Full Story "The Veterans Are Coming! The Veterans Are Coming!" »

Posted by Bill Otto at 08:42 PM | Permalink

September 17, 2008
by Sam Dillon
from The New York Times

Battered by a worsening economy, college students are seeking federal financial aid in record numbers this year, leading Bush administration officials to warn Congress that the most important federal aid program, Pell Grants, may need up to $6 billion in additional taxpayer funds next year.

Full Story "Pell Grants Said to Face a Shortfall of $6 Billion" »

Posted by Bill Otto at 08:39 PM | Permalink

October 3, 2008
the Chronicle of Higher Education

The federal student-aid system makes college possible for a lot of people. It is also needlessly complicated and confusing.

Full Story "Experts Propose Major Changes in Student-Aid Programs" »

Posted by Bill Otto at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)