Republicans have made little secret of the fact that they intend to use some of their new-found muscle in Congress to push back on attempts by the Obama administration and Senate Democrats to better regulate for-profit colleges. When asked if he would be of any assistance in regulating for-profit education outfits, House Education Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) replied, “I don’t think so.”

For-profit colleges are already doing quite well at the expense of taxpayers, while graduating less than half their students; just 11 percent of higher education students attend these schools, yet they receive 26 percent of total federal student aid (while accounting for 43 percent of total student loan defaults). They have also been accused of using questionable recruiting tactics, as well as leaving students buried in debt and with bleak job prospects. Executives at the schools are paid significantly more than their non-profit and public sector counterparts.

By law, for-profit schools aren’t allowed to receive more than 90 percent of their revenue from the federal government. However, as Bloomberg News reported, two of the bigger for-profit schools — the University of Phoenix and Corinthian College — have said they may violate this level next year, so they are asking Congress for an exemption. And the GOP seems happy to oblige:

The companies are lobbying Congress to strike down the revenue cap, called the 90/10 rule, or extend an exemption that would help them comply for the next fiscal year. Changing the rule will be the industry’s most important battle in Congress, said Jarrel Price, an analyst with Height Analytics in Washington. [...]

Minnesota Republican Representative John Kline, chairman of the House education committee, said he is “not thrilled” with the 90/10 rule. Job placement and student loan repayment rates are better indicators of program quality, he said. Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming, the senior Republican on the Senate education committee, is also assessing the impact of the 90/10 rule, according to Craig Orfield, a spokesman.

In 1998, the 85/15 rule was turned into the 90/10 rule, and it didn’t result in for-profit colleges providing a better product to students. Of course, an exemption is warranted if there are extenuating circumstances, but to blow the cap off entirely would allow these schools to literally receive 100 percent of their revenue from the federal government, even as they lavish money on their executives and leave students with a questionable education. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) said, “Given the abuses that my committee has documented — alarmingly high dropout rates and crushing debt loads for students — the 90/10 rule clearly isn’t enough.”

As it is, the GOP has already pledged fealty to corporate interests in the education arena, by pledging to revisit the student loan reform enacted in 2009 (and therefore reviving billions wasteful federal subsidies that were going to private student loan companies). This is just one more instance where the interests of business seem to come before the interests of students.

As Kevin Donohue noted this week, several states are reacting to their budget disasters by raising taxes on their low-income residents, while simultaneously crafting giveaways and tax credits for corporations. Michigan, for instance, is cutting its earned income tax credit while implementing business tax breaks that will cost the state $3.3 billion dollars.

In Iowa, though, it’s not low-income taxpayers that are winding up on the wrong end of tax policy — it’s pre-schoolers. As Change.org’s Megan Cottrell reported, Iowa’s Republican legislature is fast-tracking a bill that would eliminate the state’s pre-school program, while spending the state’s budget surplus on $300 million on tax breaks, potentially including Gov.-elect Terry Branstad’s (R) desired 50 percent cut in the corporate income tax:

Dozens of people spoke in opposition Tuesday to a fast-moving Republican bill that would eliminate Iowa’s voluntary preschool program, cut family-planning services and direct an estimated $300 million in current-year budget surplus to tax breaks instead of balancing the coming budget…House Appropriations Chairman Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale, argued that it’s appropriate to use the estimated $318 million in surplus in this year’s budget for tax breaks. Gov.-elect Terry Branstad has said he wants to cut corporate income tax rates in half and reduce commercial property taxes by 40 percent.

“This is a bad bill that is focused on denying preschool to 20,000 Iowa kids,” said state Rep. Tyler Olson (D). And it shows an incredibly short-sighted economic vision, as early childhood education is one of the best investments that government can make.

Conservative projections show that the real fiscal rate of return on public early education investments is about 10 percent. The Center on Children and Families has found that investments in pre-school not only boost GDP, but pay for themselves in the long-term. And these numbers aren’t surprising: better-educated people are more productive, less likely to require public assistance, commit fewer crimes, and find better-paying jobs, and therefore make more money and pay more in taxes.

Here’s Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke saying that even within constrained state budgets, early education investments are more than worthwhile:

The payoffs of early childhood programs can be especially high. For instance, investment in preschool programs for disadvantaged children has been shown to increase high school graduation rates. Because high school graduates have higher earnings, pay more taxes, and are less likely to need to use public health programs, such investments can pay off even from the narrow perspective of state budgets; of course, the returns to the overall economy and to the individuals themselves are much greater.

As Albert Wat, state policy analyst at Pre-K Now, wrote, pre-school investment “is built upon a solid research base, which shows that quality pre-k makes the most of children’s crucial early brain development, meets their social and educational needs, and gives them a strong foundation for school and life.” But Iowa’s GOP seems to believe that its tax dollars would be better spent lavishing tax breaks onto businesses.