Boehner and student loans

more on Boehner and student loans from the DCCC (link)

* "As the chairman of the House education committee, Boehner sided with loan-industry officials and backed legislation they supported. Boehner took $250,000 from lenders during the 2004 election cycle and assured student loan officials "I have all of you in my two trusted hands." Companies that make student loans have provided jets for Boehner and Boehner has been criticized for his close ties to Sallie Mae, the Virginia-based student loan company."

* " According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Boehner "is regarded as an expert fund raiser." According to campaign finance records, Boehner's political action committee, the Freedom Project, gave $3,069,464 to candidates, PACs and Committees since 1996."

* " In 2004, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported, "When the Republican leaders of the education committee in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation in May to renew the Higher Education Act, advocates for the student-loan industry and for-profit colleges had cause to celebrate. They had received most of what they had asked for in the bill that governs federal student-aid programs. But those victories did not come cheaply. A Chronicle investigation reveals that over the last year and a half, officials with the loan industry and proprietary institutions have given, individually and through political-action committees, or PAC's, almost $1-million in campaign contributions to the 49 members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, according to Federal Election Commission records through the end of May. More than half of the money, about $540,000, has gone to the two Republican lawmakers in charge of drafting the higher-education legislation -- Reps. John A. Boehner of Ohio, who heads the full committee, and Howard P. (Buck) McKeon, who leads the panel's subcommittee on higher education. Mr. Boehner received about $136,000 from lenders, and $102,000 from for-profit schools; and Mr. McKeon got about $175,000 from the loan industry, and $126,000 from proprietary institutions.""

* " In 2006, Bloomberg reported, "The top donor to Boehner's leadership PAC in 2003-2004 was SLM Corp., the Reston, Virginia-based student-loan company better known as Sallie Mae. SLM contributed $65,170 to Boehner's Freedom Project, more than twice as much as the second-biggest donor, New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The money came as the House Education and Workforce Committee, which Boehner chairs, prepared to write new legislation governing student loans.""

* " In 2005, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported, "U.S. Rep. John A. Boehner, chairman of the House education committee, assured loan-industry officials at a recent meeting that he had their interests in mind. The student-loan industry's support for U.S. Rep. John A. Boehner seems to be paying off. In a speech delivered last week at an annual meeting of the Consumer Bankers Association, in Arlington, Va., Mr. Boehner, chairman of the education committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, reassured student-loan-industry officials that he has their backs covered as lawmakers try to reach agreement on legislation to reduce the federal budget deficit. The loan-industry officials are worried about proposed cuts in the subsidies that they receive from the government for making student loans. Several days before the meeting, the consumer-bankers group and several other loan-industry groups sent lawmakers a letter urging them to "strenuously oppose" the reductions. "Relax. Stay calm," Mr. Boehner urged the lenders last week. "At the end of the day, I believe you'll be at least satisfied, or even perhaps happy" with the final measure. He added, "Know that I have all of you in my two trusted hands.""

* "Boehner Took About $250,000 from Lenders in During 2004 Election Cycle. In 2005, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported, "In recent years, the [lending] industry has contributed generously to the campaign war chest of Mr. Boehner, an Ohio Republican. During the 2004 election cycle, lenders gave him about $250,000, both individually and through political-action committees, according to Federal Election Commission records.""