Cross posted at Future Majority and Daily Kos.

Another update on Nelson-Burr (aka the corporate lender welfare amendment).  Word is that the vote is going to be around noon today and it is going to be tight.  Yesterday, Rick Enzi, ranking Republican on the Senate Education committee declared that he would vote against the amendment, potentially bringing a number of Republicans over with him.  A number of Senators s are on the fence - particularly Tester on the Democratic side and Smith on the Republican side - but many of the Senators listed below don't really know anything about the amendment or how it would impact students.  

Give them a call before noon today.  Tell them why they should vote yes on the bill and no on the Nelson-Burr amendment.  The Capitol Switchboard can be reached at (202) 224-3121.

Update:

Here's the list of swing votes who might side with Nelson and the corporate lenders over debt-ridden students:

Alexander (R - TN) Bayh (D - IN) Carper (D - DE) Coleman (R - MN) Collins (R - ME) Hatch (R - UT) Landrieu (D - LA) McCaskill (D - MO) Murkowski (R - AK) Nelson, Ben (D - NE) Nelson, Bill (D - FL) Roberts (R - KS) Tester (D - MT) Webb (D - VA)

Call their offices and urge them to vote YES on S. 1762, and NO on the Nelson-Burr Amendment. The Capitol Switchboard can be reached at (202) 224-3121.

Last week, most student organizations rejoiced as the Democrats shepherded the Cost of College Reduction Act through the House of Representatives.  The Bill represented the largest increase in student aid since the G.I. Bill.  It accomplished this in part by cutting excess government subsidies to corporate lenders, who were fattening their wallets on the backs of debt-ridden students.  Republicans tried unsuccessfully to kill the bill in the House.  The Gavel had an excellent post about that fight and the bill's passage.

The Senate version of the bill - The Higher Education Access Act of 2007 - is set to provide $17 billion in student aid to college students and recent graduates, among other provisions to further protect students.  But Ben Nelson (D-NE), whose home state is also home to Nelnet, one of the biggest corporate lenders, is trying to weaken the Senate version of the bill and return $3 billion of that to the lending industry so they can continue to line their pockets on with corporate welfare.

What I'm hearing is that the cloture votes on Iraq and the DOD reauthorization are going to fail, and the Higher Education Access Act of 2007 will be brought to the floor instead, with voting to be scheduled for today or tomorrow.  Right now, Republicans supposedly have 3-6 Democrats willing to side with lenders on the Amendment, so they are likely to see it pass.  

Here's what you can do:

I thought I would get back today to detailing another of the many policy proposals John Edwards has outlined to bring about fairness, and equality, yes One America and one we can all be proud of. I chose this one because of course it was completely ignored by the "media", which to me is becoming a word synonamous with incompetence.

Not only was it completely ignored by the media, but it details the work of the non-profit Center for Promise and Opportunity Foundation. Of course they couldn't report on this promising policy proposal that could give hope to millions of young Americans, it would have completely nullified this week's smearing of John Edwards in advance. Well, at least the media is consistent, ignore, then smear with lies.