Five Democratic senators wrote a letter to Betsy DeVos insisting that she pay the $5.3 million fine levied against a group she founded for campaign violations in Ohio.
“Democratic Senators Tom Udall (D-NM), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent a letter to Trump’s Education Secretary nominee, Betsy DeVos, to pay the $5.3 million in fines that have been levied against her super PAC for election violations.
“The Senators wrote in their letter:
The bipartisan Ohio Elections Commission unanimously found both the federal and Ohio All Children Matter PACs to have violated the state’s campaign finance laws and imposed fines of $5.2 million. An Ohio court subsequently upheld the fine and imposed additional late fees for failing to pay. Rather than pay the fines for violating the law, the All Children Matter PACs simply ceased operation and never paid the significant sum it owed to the state of Ohio.
The blatant disregard for the law that your PAC demonstrated is deeply troubling. However, when the organization’s violations of law were punished by the Ohio Elections Commission, the PAC’s refusal to take responsibility and pay the fines is unconscionable.
If confirmed as Secretary of Education, you would be responsible for administering our nation’s student loan programs and ensuring that borrowers repay their loans in a timely manner. However, the PAC that you chaired failed to pay fines that were imposed on it over eight years ago. This demonstrates a serious lack of judgment by the PAC’s board and a willingness to avoid paying legally obligated public debts.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Fines are fine for the little people … Rich folks are too rich to jail …
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From “progressive” Democratic politicians, another intentional winnowing of topic, to avoid exposing public school privatization.
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The enemy of my enemy may be my enemy₂
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There remains little doubt.
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Pay up devos and donate the money to public schools or take some classes in your local college to learn about living in America and the real people who built this country….not some slick amway scheme bull crap selling water softeners
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Reminds me of the Obama nominees who (finally) paid their taxes owed… 😉
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The world is not all partisan politics, Rudy.
And how do you justify Trump not paying taxes for 18 years????
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I think there us a difference between “forgetting” to pay taxes and use a legal (but maybe questionable) loophole.
It is used by others – not with the same numbers , but is IS a legal rule.
And before the troll statements start again, I’m not a trump defender. But I see the difference between just plain not paying taxes and using a legal part if the tax law.
If I had the same option, my accountant (were I to be able to afford one of those) would not do his job if he did not inform me of said option. It then becomes my choice.
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Rudy, please. If everyone followed Trump’s example, the country would not have the revenue to pay for any public services.
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You mean the soon-to-be-gone public services. It’s obvious that Trump plan is to turn them all over to for profit, opaque, secretive, autocratic corporations (a license to steal), and strip away any protection the U.S. Constitution offers us people/workers by stripping the federal government of any of its power to uphold the Constitution.
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I wonder if Rudy knows that Trump has been involved in 150 bankruptcy cases, not in his name, but in the name of companies and partnerships he’s been involved in.
I wonder if Rudy knows that Trump benefited from close to One Billion Dollars in government subsidiaries and tax breaks while he was building his empire.
“Mr. Trump has reaped at least $885 million in tax breaks, grants and other subsidies for luxury apartments, hotels and office buildings in New York, according to city tax, housing and finance records. The subsidies helped him lower his own costs and sell apartments at higher prices because of their reduced taxes.”
Investopedia offers a history of how Trump got rich. It’s a good read, and it’s obvious that without daddy’s help, Trump would be a bald-headed failure today with a big-beer belly. He’d be sitting in a chair with the stuffing coming out getting drunk as he watches/listens to his favorite far right hate media source and rants and blames the liberals for his failures. He’d probably have a job earning minimum wage selling shoes.
http://www.investopedia.com/updates/donald-trump-rich/
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Yes, Lloyd Rudy knows that. One of the many reasons Rudy did not vote for him. I don’t like him any more than you, and probably less.
He’s a user. A fraud. For the life of me I cannot understand why evangelicals voted for him in droves.
Since I heard the slogan “never Clinton” I have he’d sleepless nights, asking myself, “But at what cost to the Republican Party?”
The things you mentioned are facts. But the use if the tax loop is legal. That too, is a fact.
Use the long list of non-ethical things. But his use if that loophole is there for ALL tax payers in those circumstances.
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Rudy, you don’t know what you are talking about. You think anyone can take advantage of those tax loopholes? The loopholes were written for very rich real estate developers. You think that everyone is a wealthy real estate developer? Why don’t I have tax loopholes? Do you?
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READ what I wrote, for crying out loud!
“Use the long list of non-ethical things. But his use if that loophole is there for ALL tax payers in those circumstances.”
Let me see if writing it in bigger letters helps…
“…FOR ALL TAX PAYERS IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES…”
I’m not in those circumstances. But if I remember correct, Clinton did use the same rule with some if their losses.
AGAIN – not in the same measure. But the measure is not the discussion, right?
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Rudy,
How many people are in Trump’s circumstances? How many lose $1 billion in a year and then skip taxes for 18 years? Were you referring to a class of one person?
Stop making excuses for this fraud, this con man, this tax cheat.
No, the Clintons did not use the same tax scheme. They always paid their taxes.
Let it go, Rudy, and stop defending Trump. Or do it elsewhere. Please. No more. It is SO boring.
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Once again, let me repeat what I wrote:
“Use the long list of non-ethical things…”
I am not defending trump. I am suggesting, strongly, forget the tax thing. It is legal. But he has a long list of other business dealings that are REAL, that shows his lack of regard for others. His going back on his word as a business man. (I am used to politicians doing that too, so that is not just trump).
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Rudy,
You defend Trump in almost every comment. You start by saying “I did not vote for Trump,” then follow by defending Trump. You don’t fool anyone.
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So Trump is more of the same but worse since he has no record of ever doing anything for anyone in need. All he’s going to do is drain the swamp and then fill it again with his own brackish, sulfur smelling, mosquito, leech and viper infested water, and then plunder the country and maybe the world.
There’s a lot of truth to the old saying “better the devil you know”.
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Remember when it was illegal to drink in this country with the passing of the 18th Amendment in 1920, and then it was legal again when the Amendment was repealed in 1933.
What’s legal today, can be illegal tomorrow, etc. It all depends on who holds the power and what their agendas are. Soon, On January 20, 2017, the U.S. will be in the hands of another extremist group with Donald Trump as the wild-card puppet in charge who might end up biting the hands of his masters, and everyone else, who knows?
We are now living in a time where some fraud and white collar crimes have been made legal or are seldom punished and the punishment is nothing compared to the gains by the criminals. It’s a safe bet more white-collar crimes are going to be legalized. Just because it’s legal, doesn’t make it right.
Bernie Madoff made a big mistake when he robbed from the super rich. If he had just robbed the working class, like Jordon Belfort did who only spent 22 months in prison, Madoff would probably be a free man today, and probably still wealthy from his hidden offshore accounts.
For instance, the Anti-Saloon League reminds me of the Anti-Abortion movement. Since there is no anti-gun movement, just a gun-safety movement, there is no real threat to the 2nd Amendment except for suspected terrorists and convicted felons, but no problem, just like alcohol and drugs, if they can’t buy a firearm legally, they’ll just turn to the black market.
I wonder when the War on Drugs started by Richard Nixon is going to end. Before Nixon’s War on Drugs, the U.S. prison population was fairly stable for decades and then it exploded and went into orbit and started a journey toward Mars and beyond. With Trump in charge, the private-prison industry is betting for beyond.
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Maybe that fine will be the undoing of the DeVos nomination. Spread it far and wide. Call your senators and let them know about this specific problem. It’ll take you five minutes to call both. Start here: http://civilrights.org/action_center/resources/calling-congress.html
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Just called both senators to let them know of this abomination.
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6 minutes from post to post with both senators called
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Petitioner, Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is self-serving. This year he asked the U.S. Dept. of Ed. to release $71 mil. to Ohio for expansion of charter schools, a project, for which, the Walton’s are more than willing to pay. Brown’s scruples extend to, “Will this political position keep me in Washington because I like the perks.”- IMO.
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Although I’m not ready to throw out the baby with the bath water when it comes to Sherrod, I have been incredibly disappointed in his stance on education. His office’s response to my letter to oppose John King’s nomination was astounding in its utter cluelessness.
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“Cluelessness” You are in denial. How could Brown speak out about DeVos’ fine, without knowing the underlying issue? It would be a feat of ignorance akin to Christie’s denial of knowledge about the traffic cones. Brown’s self-declared opponent, in the next election is Mandel. With 66% of governors, Republican, including Ohio’s, a Republican, Ohio and U.S. House and Senate and, a Republican President, is their a choice, other than buying an Ohio Republican politician?
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Not one of the listed, five senators, voted against Obama’s privatizing secretary of education. I presume that, not one of the five, told the Dept. of Ed. to stop deceiving Americans by calling charter schools “public”. (Charters are no more public than Boeing.) I presume that, not one of the senators, questioned more than $300,000,000, of taxpayer money, spent on the Walton/Gates’ privatization agenda, despite, constituents’ objections to privatization.
The weaker of the two parties when conjoined, withers. Republican House, Republican Senate, Republican President and 66% of governors, Republican.
This move is tokenism, like Donna Brazile’s short-lived DFPE, which never registered at Act Blue, in contrast to DFER.
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During one of his final weeks on the job, President Barack Obama’s secretary of education called for education leaders to unite around support for charter schools.
“If we believe that public schools will always be the bedrock of American democracy and opportunity—as I do—we should welcome good public charter schools as laboratories for innovation that can benefit all of education,” Secretary of Education John King said at an event Wednesday hosted by the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
“Now is the moment to set aside policy differences that divide us,” he added.
There isn’t ENOUGH cheerleading for charter schools in ed reform and the Obama Administration?
Charter schools are 90% of what they talk about. The other 10% is scolding public school kids and parents for not being cheerful and industrious enough regarding standardized testing.
I don’t think it’s possible for DC to cheerlead MORE for charter schools. The entire DC power structure and 3/4’s of governors pushing charter schools is not enough? We’re not clapping loud enough?
You know what would be unusual? Someone in ed reform talking about a public school. That would be new and different. Look for yourself. Scan any of the 5000 ed reform groups on the internet. Look for a single positive piece or mention of a public school. Most of the time you won’t find ONE and that includes the US Department of Education.
I’ll make a deal with the public employees at the US Department of Education. I’ll support their preferred sector- charters- if they start supporting the unfashionable public school sector.
http://dailysignal.com/2016/12/14/obamas-education-secretary-we-should-welcome-good-public-charter-schools/
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King’s statement about charters is a lie. Charter schools are contractors like Boeing.
Has King received a job offer from Bellwether, New Schools Venture Fund, Aspen Pahara, TFA (all received Gates funding) or, is he going to work on a scheme for the widow of Steve Job’s, or some tech industry or Wall Street pseudo education “philanthropy”?
Why doesn’t DeVos want him? The demographics of Trump’s cabinet suggests a reason.
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As far as “laboratories of innovation” go, charters have failed to deliver on that promise. Mostly instruction models antiquated instruction of “skill and drill” and punitive discipline more like the “dunce cap” than anything remotely innovative. There are many fine public schools doing great work with students. King and his ilk fail to visit or even acknowledge them. Why don’t King or Obama acknowledge all the waste, fraud cheating and lies from charters? By the way if public charters are terrific, why did the Obamas opt for a private school for their daughters?
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I disagree, they HAVE been “laboratories of innovation.” Innovations like sucking unaccountable billions, demonizing entire professions, putting people with little-to-no experience in charge of school systems, schools and classrooms. Other innovations, like using tests to promote ideological agendas, have demonstrated that empirical and pragmatic experience are never valid. The biggest innovation has been to suck all substance and meaning out of the word “innovation.”
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Just to give you an idea of how strong the echo chamber is in Ohio, two years ago when we had a series of community meetings on how to improve our public schools our superintendent told us that online charters were harming her schools. They harm her schools because the kids cycle in and out and every time they return they’re further behind, which sets the whole group back. This is a problem for her. It’s not her only problem, but it’s something she deals with. This has been going on for fifteen years and no one in ed reform has done one thing to address it. In fact, they’re STILL promoting the online schools- politicians and ads on radio and television. Jeb Bush and Betsy DeVos are basically salespeople for “online learning”.
This is a secret in Ohio. No one is permitted to criticize “choice”, even when it’s blatantly obvious that it’s a disaster and everyone “on the ground” knows it.
They have to bust up this echo chamber. They have these local people effectively silenced. We shouldn’t be looking over our shoulder when trying to deal with these “reforms” that were foisted on us with no local input or consideration.
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They don’t even recognize a charter’s poor performance. They keep throwing money at them. There should be a process for closing down poor performing charters, other than “the market has spoken.” If they are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. Look at the level of denial in Detroit!
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Remember that the same is happening with public schools! Teacher unions keep telling us that, “Raise teacher’s pay, and they will be better teachers…” And major increases were handed out in many states, but in the end, it did not solve the problems either.
If nothing else, charters have picked up that same refrain…
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Charters hire brand new teachers who leave after 2-3 years. Never get pensions or high salaries
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An example of the peasant mind and emotion, “I resent my neighbor’s pay and job security. I will work against him. The rich, in their enclaves, are far distant, where I am not forced to see and be jealous of them. They are probably better than me and my neighbors. We, the workers, will live on pittances, while improving productivity to benefit the richest 0.1%.”
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The upper management of her PAC and Betsy DeVos should all be sent to a maximum security prison for at least 5 or more years and be stripped of every penny they are worth.
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There are consequences for not paying bills but, they are limited to the middle class and poor. In all of the measures that matter, DeVos, like her brother, have negative worth.
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Good news- Sen. Brown’s demand, for the fine payment, will make DeVos angry and, she’ll take back the $71 mil. he requested and received, to expand privatization in Ohio…..wait, I forgot they’re on the same side.
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How about Trump paying the sub contractors who worked for him.
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Wonder what the total daily compound interest is on that sum?
It should be included.
Much like THETrumpster and his hiding his debts behind his multiple bankruptcies, DeVos will proclaim innocence since the entity (her pac) is defunct. Can’t squeeze blood from a rotten turnip now can you?
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