Ehlers has $408,000 on hand

The Federal Elections Commission has the numbers:

Raised this quarter: $44,245.00
Raised this cycle: $112,620.00
Spent this quarter: $28,099.75
Spent this year: $84,652.47
On hand: $408,029.95

By the way, OpenSecrets has all the goods on where Ehlers is getting his money, including which companies and industries are bankrolling his campaigns.

House passes relief for college students; Ehlers opposes it

These days, getting a college education is essential for those who want to be successful throughout life. Moreover, a skilled and educated workforce is critical for the US to get back on the right track.

Key to this is making sure college is affordable. Last year Republicans in Congress voted to cut the Pell Grant and raise interest rates on student loans. Under Democratic leadership, Congress is working to remedy that. An important piece of this effort, the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, has passed the House. Congressman Ehlers, however, opposed it.

Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education Committee and champion of students, had a few words for those who tried to kill the bill:

"...You don’t like the fact that while you were in power after years of flat lining the Pell Grant, we we’ve finally given them the biggest increase in decades for the poorest kids in this country. You don’t like that so you want to kill the bill. You don’t like the fact that were going to take 5 million middle class kids and extend to them a loan thats interest rate is cut in half? While their families are struggling to get them through college? They’re making sacrifices every year? You’re going to do this? You’re going to kill this bill? Are you proud? Are you proud of this amendment, that you are going to try to kill this bill? Say it louder."

Well Mr. Ehlers, are you proud?

GR Press: Ehlers gets an earful from protesters

It's nice to see people try to hold Ehlers accountable:

Members of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, a national group calling for an end to the war, and Institute for Global Education, a Grand Rapids-based group that preaches nonviolence, waved signs reading "Keep 'Em Safe, Bring 'Em Home" at passing traffic on Michigan Street NW. Some drivers honked and flashed peace signs.
"We're targeting the more-moderate representatives we believe will switch their opinions," said Matthew Arnold, deputy field director for AAEI in Michigan. The group also is targeting Reps. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph; Tim Walberg, R-Tipton; Mike Rogers, R-Howell; and Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia.

Anyone who know Walberg, Rogers, or McCotter well enough knows that they are not moderate. But at any rate, how does Ehlers respond to the protest?

"I've learned not to let protesters sway my views on the issue," the Grand Rapids Republican said. "But, what they are trying to address is real and should be addressed."

...

"I'm no supporter of war, but that's over the hill now," he said. "The question is what can we do from here ... and we're going to need a presence there at this time." (emphasis added)