Edwards ending college program

[MannyGoldstein]

Source: The News & Observer

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards is pulling the plug on a scholarship program he started at an Eastern North Carolina high school -- a program he once promised would be a model for the nation under an Edwards presidency.

Edwards' presidential hopes have evaporated. And he recently informed Greene County officials that he would end the pilot program at Greene Central High School.

"We sent a communication out to upcoming seniors and their parents," said Randy Bledsoe, principal of Greene Central High. "Some are saddened that the opportunity is not going to be there for their children. But we've had a lot of positive reaction over the years."

Edwards started the "College for Everyone" pilot program at Greene Central High in 2005, shortly after he was the Democratic vice presidential nominee. It was a privately funded effort designed to increase the number of students at a rural high school who attend college.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/higher_education/story/1160097.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. Wow...three years. Guess those kids no longer need it, huh?

Sounds like someone's not planning to run in 2012.

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. His choice, obviously.

But it doesn't make him look very good.

[clarence swinney]

3. john saddens me

he is very rich and can afford the program.

I realize it was his pilot program but feel he should keep it active.

sad sad

[Stuart G]

6. Now...why would he do this?

Only one possible reason...that I could think of..

..It isn't about losing the nomination.
..It isn't about wife's health
..It isn't about he hasn't got the money? (does he have it?
..It isn't about the program not working..(takes awhile for these programs to work)
..
..................There must be some truth to this awful rumor.... An honorable man wouldn't want this to ruin more than it has ruined.

..................You come up with some other reason...OK?

[The Croquist]

11. This has nothing to do with the rumors

or if it does it says allot about John Edwards. Even if the rumors are true nobody who would benefit from this program would be "tainted" from it. A scholarship is an opportunity to a better life. I don't care where the money came from.

Duke University is a great University today because of an endowment from James B. Duke (AKA Mr. Tobacco).

Saving one child at a time is better then not saving one at a time.

[JeanGrey]

28. I too believe it has to do with the "rumors". I think Edwards

is in a lot of trouble.

[Ian David]

18. It COULD very well have to do with his wife's health. n/t

[struggle4progress]

27. Such clever rightwing innuendo: no actual facts or precise denunciation, just a little poison spread

[salib]

7. It is sad. However, it was also inevitable.

I read the rest of the article and it is pretty clear that it was a pilot for a National program, not an on-going concern. It was never meant to go on only with private funding. It was a great idea and had he become President, or had Obama promised to make it a real national program, I expect he would keep it alive as an example until it can be rolled into the National effort.

I suspect he already donates and has established many other efforts which are designed to keep going.

[JDPriestly]

13. A lot of people have lost a lot of money recently.

The numbers we have on Edwards' wealth are pre recent developments in the economy. Whether he is still as wealthy as he was depends on what investments he made. If he held a lot of mortgage related stocks, he could have lost quite a bit. Also, he probably did not fund this by himself, and some who contributed may not be so ready to give at this point. In addition, he has talked about starting a different approach to fighting poverty. We really don't know. But remember a lot of people have lost a lot of money.

If the state of California threatens paying its employees minimum wage, you know there is a much larger economic problem than is being admitted in the press and by so-called leaders in this country.

[high density]

4. For such a PR minded guy...

I am surprised.

[bluestateguy]

5. Maybe the donations were drying up

nt

[Name removed]

8. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[melm00se]

9. as points of fact

the program cost $600K for 2 years (per the N&O article)

John Edwards' reported net worth is $29.5 million (source http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/17/candidates.wealth/index.html).

to keep this running would require ~1% of his total net worth per year (assuming the cost per year is the same, $300K)

while could probably support this going forward, it's his money and he can spend it how he chooses.

[shireen]

10. well, it was a pilot program

which means it was designed as an experiment to see how feasible it was. It was a success during that 3-year period. Therefore, it's established a workable model that can be emulated by other organizations.

Personally, I wish Edwards would have continued to do it. But I'd rather hear the reasons for stopping the program directly from him, and not from a newspaper article. We've seen how the media misrepresents Democrats negatively.

[EFerrari]

12. It doesn't sound sustainable for one person to do this.

If it's a good program, maybe the stakeholders will find a way to fund it. We'll likely hear more from John. :)

[LeftyMom]

14. Some of you guys really thought he gave a shit?

:rofl:

Sorry, but he never struck me as sincere or trustworthy. Like I said about him back during the primary- would you buy a used car from this man?

[Beaverhausen]

17. Yeah, because he isn't doing anything now about poverty. Oh wait...

http://www.halfinten.org/

:eyes:

[brentspeak]

19. He gave $2 million of his own money for the program

What exactly have you given to your fellow citizens?

[struggle4progress]

25. I've met him a number of times. He's sincere. And his education-related philanthropy predates

any run for office by years

[last1standing]

15. It's impressive how DUers can outdo freepers in attacking Democrats.

I haven't seen one post here lauding Edwards for spending nearly $2 million of his own money to fund this program for three years. I haven't seen one person stand up and mention his ongoing work to fight poverty.

All I see are hateful, ignorant, judgmental posts tearing down a good person when not one of the people posting them gives nearly the time or income that Edwards does for those less fortunate.

Congrats DU. You make the other haters pale in comparison. :mad:

[PurgedVoter]

16. QFT Last One Standing

It is so easy for us to hear that there may be one speck on our white knight and abandon him. I am still supporting Obama strongly, though I could have forgiven infidelity much more easily than FISA.

If Edwards has failed where men with charm and opportunity often find their weakness, it makes me sad. Despite the worst he is still a better man than I. Our ethical senses are often shut down by instincts and passions that were structured by an unbroken chain of successful passage of genetics from the primordial slime of our beginnings to our current day muck.

In these times, when a hero is shown to have clay feet, I remember this poem.

Ichabod

So fallen! so lost! the light withdrawn
Which once he wore!
The glory from his gray hairs gone
Forevermore!

Revile him not, the Tempter hath
A snare for all;
And pitying tears, not scorn and wrath,
Befit his fall!

Oh, dumb be passion's stormy rage,
When he who might
Have lighted up and led his age,
Falls back in night.

Scorn! would the angels laugh, to mark
A bright soul driven,
Fiend-goaded, down the endless dark,
From hope and heaven!

Let not the land once proud of him
Insult him now,
Nor brand with deeper shame his dim,
Dishonored brow.

But let its humbled sons, instead,
From sea to lake,
A long lament, as for the dead,
In sadness make.

Of all we loved and honored, naught
Save power remains;
A fallen angel's pride of thought,
Still strong in chains.

All else is gone; from those great eyes
The soul has fled:
When faith is lost, when honor dies,
The man is dead!

Then, pay the reverence of old days
To his dead fame;
Walk backward, with averted gaze,
And hide the shame!

John Greenleaf Whittier

This was written by the abolitionist, Whittier, after his hero, Daniel Webster voted to extend slavery to the new territories. After Webster passed away, and the Civil War that Webster was trying to avoid came to pass anyway, Whittier wrote another in regret, a bit of an apology for Ichabod.

It is a sadness when a man, even in rough circumstance turns aside his intended fidelity to a woman he loves. This is a common enough ailment, one that the right will of course, ignore entirely for someone like McCain who followed it to the most self serving and disgusting limit. We do not know if these circumstances are what they seem. We are judging with evidence that would only be acceptable by conservatives as applied to liberals. What makes us ignore the sins of the wicked, while hounding the possible infidelities of the great?

One of our strengths as liberals, is the ability to examine things in light, and turn on our leaders who show they are not leading with ethics. This is something that conservatives cannot seem to do. Part of our weakness is that we are ready to accept the two dimensional perception of a man after he has shown a single flaw. This may or may not be Edward's Chappaquiddick but I for one hope to be seeing Edward's leadership, sacrifices and courage for as long as I have been watching Kennedy's.

[JeanGrey]

29. You know, I'm just sick of making excuses for men and their

"infidelities". It sucks, plain and simple and they shouldn't get a pass.

[maryallen]

30. Absolutely no evidence to support your supposition,

Give it a rest, huh?

[last1standing]

34. It's a good thing that women never cheat on their husbands, huh?

:eyes:

[saracat]

31. Though we may disagree on much ,on this we agree. John has given more of his money and time than

most pols. Almost none have done as much as he has for poverty and concerning the issue of college. He deserves a bif "Thank you" not a diss for not giving more. Others have done nothing. Thank you, Sen, Edwards.He put his money where his mouth was and made good his promises. And he continues to do so, no matter how he is abused by those who should support him for his efforts.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[independentpiney]

21. do you like granite cookies? n/t

[struggle4progress]

24. National Enquirer fan, eh? Get all the news you need waiting in the Express Lane?

[XemaSab]

22. He's such a phony

A brazillion square foot house, and he can't even keep a scholarship program going?

[last1standing]

23. Another member of the DU hit squad, I see. Always ready to take out a Democrat.

:eyes:

[XemaSab]

32. Only freepers never hold their own accountable

:eyes:

[last1standing]

33. And only a judgmental DUer attacks a good Democrat without getting all the facts.

That article leaves massive gaping holes as to why this was done and if it was planned this way, but that doesn't stop you and the other members of the DU Hit Squad from taking pot shots, does it? You want to hate Edwards despite all of his good works so you use this excuse.

It will only hurt all Democrats and those who give to others when other act so judgmental but don't let that stop you. I know you must get a wonderful high sitting on that perch all day.

[struggle4progress]

26. Here are some things we could be talking about, if we weren't all bullshitting about this instead

Higher ed bill aimed at cutting costs goes to Bush
31 July, 2008
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Congress on Thursday sent to President Bush the first major overhaul in a decade of the federal higher education act, giving strong, bipartisan backing to a bill aimed at making college more accessible and affordable for hundreds of thousands of low-income, minority, military and disabled students ... http://www.newsone.ca/ottawarecorder/stories1/index.php?action=fullnews&id=22295



US Congress Approves Strict Disclosure Rules For Student Loans
Dow Jones
July 31, 2008: 09:00 PM EST

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- At a time when the U.S. Congress is seemingly otherwise deadlocked in a partisan logjam, lawmakers voted in both houses Thursday to approve a major piece of legislation creating strict disclosure rules for private lenders active in the student-loan market ... http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807312100DOWJONESDJONLINE001200_FORTUNE5.htm

Oh, wait, that's just Federal policy stuff affecting millions of people ...