Business writer for the New York Times
Business writer for the New York Times
PROFILE
Jonathan Glater
Guest
FROM Jonathan Glater
To the Point
The Growing Scandal in Student Loans Education Secretary Margaret Spelling heads to Capitol Hill tomorrow to answer questions about student loans . With tuitions rising toward $50,000 a year at top institutions, student lending is an $85 billion industry. Investing in education is a lot like buying a car, with discounts and interest rates as important as faculty qualifications or student performance. Private lenders compete with the federal government, and friendly college administrators have taken gifts, trips and stock options. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is just one investigator into reports of unethical and possibly illegal practices that include kickbacks to college loan officers who've recommended private lenders to parents and students. Yesterday, Theresa Shaw, Spelling's top student-loan overseer announced her resignation. How can students and parents tell if they're getting their money's worth? Is the Department of Education doing its job? Why is it so expensive to go to school?
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To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.