I was on a call with @i am herdman and @big_country90 this morning discussing where in Chicago we were going to meet for breakfast, and we got talking about Marshall academics and enrollment.
Big Country mentioned a really good discussion point: When Bradley Smith was leading Intuit, the company took extreme advantage over the poorest Americans while also showing horrendous ethics by manipulating an agreement with the U.S. government. Intuit did this for the sole sake of earning more revenue (with direct deposits into Bradley's personal account). You can read about that issue here:
www.propublica.org
Big Country felt like Bradley's initial strategies for success at Marshall is his way of making amends for the illegal and morally repugnant practices he led at Intuit: even though he took extreme advantage over the poorest of Americans, he seems to be making amends by giving many Appalachian youths the chance of college by watering down entrance requirements.
@i am herdman then mentioned that Intuit, just this year, got hammered by the FTC for "deceptive advertising" during Bradley's reign leading the company. Intuit immediately appealed by arguing an unconstitutional aspect of the proceedings. All 50 state attorney generals formed a coalition urging the government to reject the appeal. It's important to note that even though Intuit, during Bradley's time leading the company, spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying the government (including high donations to Biden) and hiring away top IRS employees, the company still had to pay nearly $150 million in punishment for other deceptive business practices related to the same issues. You can read about those lawsuits here:
apnews.com
Of course, Bradley personally made hundreds of millions of dollars as a direct result of the company's growth from these unethical and illegal tactics, then took his coffers of cash and ran home before the litigation started, leaving the mess to be cleaned up by more loyal and far less compensated employees. Does anybody think his compensation will be clawed back from these huge fines and lawsuits? Of course not.
In the meantime, Bradley has moved onto Marshall University under the guise of wanting to turn around the college allegedly out of altruism. However, what he is now doing is (as I have posted about before) concerning for the long-term success and viability of the college. He is utilizing tactics to give a quick boost in enrollment and revenue (both of which will directly benefit him) while ignoring the long-term harm it will do to the college. Herdman and Big Country made a good point that the quick success from Bradley's strategy will earn him some wins in front of west virginian taxpayers who are too short-sighted to see the damage it will eventually cause. But if/when Bradley then runs for office, he will secure those votes and can point to his "success" leading Marshall to all-time revenue and enrollment numbers. When the shit hits the fan, he will be long gone from Marshall, onto his next allegedly altruistic pursuit, while leaving the mess to be cleaned up by others.
It's a good talking point about if Bradley's strategy of dumbing down admittance (and eventually retention) at Marshall constantly taking pictures of his name on buildings is best for Marshall's long-term success.
@MichiganHerd , since you're a fan of a school with great academics, that just won a national championship in football, and that has had major cheating/ethical issues from multiple leaders at its institution, what are your thoughts on Herdman's and BC's views? Are they misguided or are their concerns legitimate for a poor, downtrodden, overlooked school like Marshall?
Big Country mentioned a really good discussion point: When Bradley Smith was leading Intuit, the company took extreme advantage over the poorest Americans while also showing horrendous ethics by manipulating an agreement with the U.S. government. Intuit did this for the sole sake of earning more revenue (with direct deposits into Bradley's personal account). You can read about that issue here:
![www.propublica.org](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.assets-c3.propublica.org%2Fimages%2Farticles%2F20191015-intuit-irs-1200x630.jpg%3Fcrop%3Dfocalpoint%26fit%3Dcrop%26fp-x%3D0.5%26fp-y%3D0.5%26h%3D630%26imgixProfile%3DpropublicaAssets%26q%3D90%26w%3D1200%26s%3Da930473a2a271db6cb60ded48373d320&hash=b0cbe31ec4f6266676feddf9567317ad&return_error=1)
Inside TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free
Using lobbying, the revolving door and “dark pattern” customer tricks, Intuit fended off the government’s attempts to make tax filing free and easy, and created its multi-billion-dollar franchise.
![www.propublica.org](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.propublica.org%2Fstatic%2Fprod%2Fv4%2Fimages%2Ffavicon-16x16.png&hash=b7dcb2194f371efc5506f7f38ab5fc25&return_error=1)
Big Country felt like Bradley's initial strategies for success at Marshall is his way of making amends for the illegal and morally repugnant practices he led at Intuit: even though he took extreme advantage over the poorest of Americans, he seems to be making amends by giving many Appalachian youths the chance of college by watering down entrance requirements.
@i am herdman then mentioned that Intuit, just this year, got hammered by the FTC for "deceptive advertising" during Bradley's reign leading the company. Intuit immediately appealed by arguing an unconstitutional aspect of the proceedings. All 50 state attorney generals formed a coalition urging the government to reject the appeal. It's important to note that even though Intuit, during Bradley's time leading the company, spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying the government (including high donations to Biden) and hiring away top IRS employees, the company still had to pay nearly $150 million in punishment for other deceptive business practices related to the same issues. You can read about those lawsuits here:
![apnews.com](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fdims.apnews.com%2Fdims4%2Fdefault%2Fc135e8f%2F2147483647%2Fstrip%2Ftrue%2Fcrop%2F3000x1688%2B0%2B156%2Fresize%2F1440x810%21%2Fquality%2F90%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fstorage.googleapis.com%252Fafs-prod%252Fmedia%252F9c6cf4d393484ceb9dd1719b72d29a28%252F3000.jpeg&hash=d8540a40e16c2d942f94ed397721a3b4&return_error=1)
TurboTax customers to receive checks for $141M settlement
In a settlement agreement last year, TurboTax’s owner Intuit Inc. was ordered to pay $141 million to low-income consumers who were deceived into paying TurboTax to file their federal returns — despite being eligible for free, federally-supported tax services. Checks to the 4.4 million Americans...
![apnews.com](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fapnews.com%2Ffavicon-32x32.png&hash=1ec1a7df0d3a1c0d4752d1eaf39a513d&return_error=1)
Of course, Bradley personally made hundreds of millions of dollars as a direct result of the company's growth from these unethical and illegal tactics, then took his coffers of cash and ran home before the litigation started, leaving the mess to be cleaned up by more loyal and far less compensated employees. Does anybody think his compensation will be clawed back from these huge fines and lawsuits? Of course not.
In the meantime, Bradley has moved onto Marshall University under the guise of wanting to turn around the college allegedly out of altruism. However, what he is now doing is (as I have posted about before) concerning for the long-term success and viability of the college. He is utilizing tactics to give a quick boost in enrollment and revenue (both of which will directly benefit him) while ignoring the long-term harm it will do to the college. Herdman and Big Country made a good point that the quick success from Bradley's strategy will earn him some wins in front of west virginian taxpayers who are too short-sighted to see the damage it will eventually cause. But if/when Bradley then runs for office, he will secure those votes and can point to his "success" leading Marshall to all-time revenue and enrollment numbers. When the shit hits the fan, he will be long gone from Marshall, onto his next allegedly altruistic pursuit, while leaving the mess to be cleaned up by others.
It's a good talking point about if Bradley's strategy of dumbing down admittance (and eventually retention) at Marshall constantly taking pictures of his name on buildings is best for Marshall's long-term success.
@MichiganHerd , since you're a fan of a school with great academics, that just won a national championship in football, and that has had major cheating/ethical issues from multiple leaders at its institution, what are your thoughts on Herdman's and BC's views? Are they misguided or are their concerns legitimate for a poor, downtrodden, overlooked school like Marshall?
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