With a GOP presidential field lacking a clear frontrunner, I'm going to suggest a radical and what might be considered a far-fetched idea: The Republican Party Establishment is currently being rocked by an unforeseen independent-minded force.
In a game of financial chicken between the state of California and the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon blinked first. Or, perhaps that was just Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos winking at Governor Jerry Brown.
Solyndra executives, CEO Brian Harrison and CFO Bill Stover, were pummeled in a Congressional hearing last Friday, mostly by Republicans who wanted to know what happened to the $528 million in federal loan money and why the loans were made subordinate to a $75 million private loan. Democrats were also unhappy.
Protesters demonstrating against the excesses of crony capitalism and its corrupting influence on our nation’s politics have occupied a park in Manhattan’s financial district for over a week. Their numbers are growing and the movement appears to be spreading.
The default rate for college loans has risen sharply in California and the rest of the country, from 7% in 2008 to 8.8% in 2009. For-profit colleges have both the highest and fastest-growing rates of default.
