Chicago Fires 1400 Teachers To Fund Extravagant Pensions

About 1,400 Chicago public school teachers and staff are expected to lose their jobs in order to finance a pension debt of $634 million, the city announced Wednesday.

The layoffs are part of an aggressive $200 million budget cut to help finance the pension payment, which is required of Chicago Public Schools by Illinois law. The rest of the pension payment is coming from heavy borrowing, as the district already has a massive $1.1 billion budget deficit.

In announcing the layoffs, Mayor Rahm Emanuel blamed the rest of the state for not picking up the slack, saying the rest of Illinois doesn’t pay its fair share for pensions.

“You negotiate with your teachers in Aurora… Then we get to pay for it,”Emanuel said at a press conference. He said the state should change its funding formula so “You… come to the table and start paying your share for what you negotiated.”

But lawmakers in Springfield failed to act, leaving “unconscionable” cuts as the only option, he said.

Chicago’s public schools have seen repeated mass layoffs in recent years thanks to a budget situation that is in perpetual crisis. In 2014, about 1,100 employees were laid off, and over 3,000 lost their jobs in 2013. (RELATED: Chicago Public Schools Whack 1000 Employees)

Still, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) released a statement saying it was totally “blindsided” by the mass firing, and accusing city officials of trying to “retaliate” against them for a recent breakdown in contract negotiations.

“These layoffs prove that the Board never intended to make the pension payment in good faith and that they are using this to justify more attacks on our classrooms,” said CTU president Karen Lewis. “Putting 1,400 people out of work is no way to balance a budget and resource our schools. This is going to hurt our students and the most vulnerable children in our district.”

Via: Daily Caller

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Is Iran luring Obama into a trap in Iraq?

Bloomberg View’s Eli Lake and Josh Rogin recently reported that U.S. troops are sharing a base with Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq, where Tehran’s notorious proxies are spying on U.S. operations and personnel at their leisure to prepare the ground for future crimes. This worrying revelation is the latest manifestation of a misconception about the Iranian regime’s nature and its intentions in Iraq -- an error that can prove to be fatal if not corrected.

In his interviews with different media outlets, U.S. President Barack Obama has made assertions about the Iranian regime being able to become a successful regional power and help stabilize the Middle East. Also, in his secret missives to the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Obama has promised that in the event of a final accord on Iran’s contested nuclear program, the U.S. is willing to cooperate with Iran in the fight against the Islamic State, an extremist group that is rampaging through the Middle East and has cut itself a caliphate out of territory straddling Iraq and Syria.

The assumption that Tehran can help in the fight to counter the advances of the IS stems from the shortsighted thinking that as a Shiite extremist powerhouse, the Iranian regime is the archenemy of the Sunni extremist Islamic State.

But a quick review of Iran’s actions in recent years proves that Tehran’s foreign policy in the region is not based on ideological tenets, but rather on setting up short-term -- and sometimes contradictory -- alliances to further its ultimate end: keeping the Middle East in a state of instability in order to remain the main power broker and hegemon of the region.

Via: American Thinker

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OBAMA ADMIN. STILL HAS NOT RECOVERED ILLEGAL AMNESTIES, IN VIOLATION OF JUDGE’S ORDERS

The Obama administration still has not fully recovered all the three-year work permits it issued in violation of a federal court injunction on executive amnesty, according to the Washington Times.

The three-year work permits are an aspect of the executive amnesty programs U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen halted in February, when he ruled in favor of 26 states challenging actions.

With his injunction the administration was supposed to stop implementation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The extension of DACA also included extending work permits from two to three years.

Despite the injunction the Obama administration issued 2,000 three-year work permits, on top of another 108,000 three-year work permits it issued before the expanded DACA’s scheduled start date and the February injunction. The Washington Times notes that while there are disagreements over how to deal with the 108,000 permits, the 2,000 all sides concur were illegal and must be rescinded.

According to the Times’ report, however U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has not been able to get all of them back promptly.

Via: Breitbart

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EPA Predicts: Workers Will Lose $170B in Wages By 2100 Without Global Action on Climate Change

(CNSNews.com) - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has projected that by 2100, without global greenhouse gas mitigation, labor hours in the U.S. are projected to decrease, costing an estimated $170 billion in lost wages, according to a new EPA report.  

The EPA report, released on June 22, 2015, is titled “Climate Change in the United States: Benefits of Global Action,” and was created to estimate the physical and monetary benefits of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, otherwise referred to in the report as GHG mitigation.

“Without global GHG mitigation, labor hours in the U.S. are projected to decrease due to increases in extreme temperatures,” states the report. “Over 1.8 billion labor hours are projected to be lost in 2100, costing an estimated $170 billion in lost wages.”

The EPA claims that labor hours are lost when the “extreme summer heat” causes workers to take more breaks, get ill, or stop working altogether.

“Extreme summer heat is increasing in the U.S. and will be more frequent and intense in the future,” states the EPA. “Heat exposure can affect workers’ health, safety and productivity. When exposed to high temperatures, workers are at risk for heat-related illnesses and therefore may take more frequent breaks, or have to stop work entirely, resulting in lower overall labor capacity.

Via: CNS News

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After 'gratifying' week, Obama sees long to-do list in time left

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It did not match the week of his wedding or the weeks his daughters were born, but President Barack Obama acknowledged on Tuesday that last week was a particularly momentous one for him.

The Supreme Court legalized gay marriage and upheld his signature healthcare law, and Congress passed legislation critical to a Pacific trade pact Obama wants to finalize before leaving office in January 2017.

"I might see if we can make next week even better," quipped Obama, who has about 18 months left in his presidency.

What's next? Obama told reporters he hopes to next work with Congress on an infrastructure funding package and on reforming the criminal justice system.

"The list is long and my instructions to my team and my instructions to myself have always been that we are going to squeeze every last ounce of progress that we can make ... as long as I have the privilege of holding this office," Obama said at a news conference.

Obama began work on his to-do list on Tuesday, unveiling a plan to make more U.S. workers eligible for overtime pay.

He also tried to marshal business and labor to pressure Congress to renew the charter for the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Via: Yahoo News

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John Kasich to announce presidential bid July 21

Ohio Gov. John Kasich will jump into the crowded Republican presidential field on July 21 at the student union at his alma mater, The Ohio State University, in Columbus, advisers tell POLITICO.

Kasich, 63, who was overwhelmingly reelected in November, will aim to appear less scripted and guarded than the leading candidates. Advisers say he combines establishment appeal with a conservative record going back to his stint as House Budget Committee chairman, during his 18 years as a congressman from Ohio.

Despite his late start, Kasich will be one of the most closely watched candidates — partly because Ohio is such a crucial presidential state, putting Kasich on many short lists for vice president.

Kasich briefly pursued a presidential bid in the 2000 cycle, but got no traction and dropped out in July 1999, endorsing then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

For Kasich’s announcement on July 21, doors will open at 9:30 a.m. at The Ohio Union at Ohio State.

The announcement date puts Kasich a week behind the other Midwestern governor in the race, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who plans to announce the week of July 13.

The July launch gives Kasich a shot at raising his national profile enough to qualify for the first GOP debate, on Aug. 6 in his home state. But participation in the Cleveland debate will be based on national polling, and Kasich advisers admit that qualifying will be tough, even with his announcement bump.

Kasich, who graduated from Ohio State in 1974, can expect an excited crowd in the Buckeye capital. He’ll follow his kickoff rally with an announcement tour that includes Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Michigan.

The GOP talent pool is getting shallow, with so many credible candidates vying for the nomination. But Kasich landed two of the best-known names in Republican politics:

His chief strategist will be John Weaver, mastermind of John McCain’s insurgent campaigns of 2000 and 2008. And the lead consultant for Kasich’s super PAC, New Day for America, will be ad maker Fred Davis, based in the Hollywood Hills, who worked on McCain ’08 and has had several viral hits. Both worked on Jon Huntsman’s presidential campaign in 2012.

Via: Politico

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Federal Judge Orders Brady Center to Pay Ammo Dealer’s Legal Fees After Dismissing Lawsuit

A federal judge has ordered that the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence pay the legal fees of an online ammunition dealer it sued for the Aurora movie theater shooting.

The order, which was issued last week, comes after Judge Richard P. Matsch dismissed the gun control group’s suit that sought to hold Lucky Gunner legally responsible for the 2012 shooting. The Brady Center had argued in their suit that the way Lucky Gunner sells ammunition is “unreasonably dangerous and create a public nuisance.”

“A crazed, homicidal killer should not be able to amass a military arsenal, without showing his face or answering a single question, with the simple click of a mouse,” Brady Center’s Legal Action Project Director Jonathan Lowy said at the time. “If businesses choose to sell military-grade equipment online, they must screen purchasers to prevent arming people like James Holmes.”

Judge Matsch disagreed with the Brady Center’s argument. He said the suit was filed for propaganda purposes. “It is apparent that this case was filed to pursue the political purposes of the Brady Center and, given the failure to present any cognizable legal claim, bringing these defendants into the Colorado court where the prosecution of James Holmes was proceeding appears to be more of an opportunity to propagandize the public and stigmatize the defendants than to obtain a court order,” hesaid in his order.

Lucky Gunner praised the court’s decision and vowed to do everything in its power to recover the money awarded to it by the ruling.

“The federal judge on the case ruled it was apparent that this suit was filed to pursue the Brady Center’s ‘political purposes’ and was used as an ‘opportunity to propagandize the public,’” Lucky Gunner spokesman Anthony Welsch said. “Lucky Gunner agrees with the court’s assessment and continues to do all it can to hold the Brady Center accountable for legal fees awarded in the case.”

The company said it would donate that money to a number of gun rights groups and has set up a website to allow its customers to vote on how to distribute the funds.

“Any legal fees Lucky Gunner recovers will be given to 2nd Amendment supporting organizations as voted on by the shooting community,” Welsch said.

The case is now pending appeal.

The Brady Center did not respond to a request for comment.

Via: WFB

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What Actually Comes Next

Less than forty-eight hours after King Anthony sovereignly provided new theology for our secular, civil religion, the left is now publicly calling for the abolition of tax-exempt status for religious non-profits and churches.

It will come. It has to come. If gay marriage is a fundamental right under the equal protection clause, it is going to trump a lot of the first amendment. As Chief Justice Roberts noted, King Anthony’s theology precludes “free exercise” of religion.

But all of this is down the road a few years. Let me tell you what is going to happen first.

Silence.

A newspaper in Pennsylvania has declared it will no longer allow letters to the editor opposed to gay marriage because it is a fundamental right.

BuzzFeed declared that, in its editorial position, there is no position other than support for gay marriage.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, banned all apps from its store that display the Confederate flag. That had to be walked back a bit, but there you have it.

The Los Angeles Times refuses to run letters pointing out that global warming is a scam.

And now, Apple and Facebook are set to develop news platforms that will have a human curator, instead of a computer algorithm. Twitter, likewise, is engaging humans on trending news topics, etc. It is only a matter of time because Google works its algorithm magic to drive down links to those who oppose the new cultural agenda.

So we will see orthodox Christian voices disappear from most news channels. The left are master propagandists. One of the chief tricks of the propagandist is to convince you that you are all alone. Everyone else thinks otherwise. So an Apple that celebrates gay rights and bans what it thinks is hate is only one step from prohibiting a Russell Moore piece through its news service.

Facebook can devalue conservatives and shut them down.

Twitter can declare support for traditional marriage to be hate and turn off accounts, mine included.

Newspapers, radio stations, and television networks who long ago embraced the idea that people are born gay despite ample evidence to the contrary in most (but not all) cases, will reach further. If you are a talk radio show host who supports traditional marriage, get ready for your parent company to tell you that is no longer allowed. After all, it is a fundamental right.

A CNN that was celebratory on its twitter feed after the gay marriage ruling can hardly be expected to allow on any pundit who dissents without treating that person as a contemptible bigot. MSNBC will run news stories on the rise in hate groups that, no doubt, the Southern Poverty Law Center will list. That list will include all orthodox Christian churches.

The left has worked very hard to control information. They will now work extra hard to push conservatives forcibly into a ghetto of thought. The overarching goal will be to convince you that no one agrees with you and there are no voices echoing you.

Just remember, you are not alone.

Via: Red State

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Ending Tax Exemptions Means Ending Churches

Mark Oppenheimer of The New York Times is now calling for the government to remove tax-exempt status from churches. After I posted a link to his article on Facebook, a pastor friend commented: “I’m not sure our small church could survive.” That, my friends, is the point. And Oppenheimer knows it.

Legal gay marriage is not the endgame for the gay-rights movement. It never was. Moral approval is the endgame. The agenda is not tolerance for different beliefs and lifestyles. The agenda is a demand that everyone get on board with the moral revolution or be punished. That means if you or your church won’t get with the program, then the revolutionaries will endeavor to close you down.

But they aren’t going to say,”We’ll close you down,” in so many words. They will cover it in propaganda that conceals their real aim. They’ll say, as Oppenheimer does, that taxpayers are “subsidizing” churches, that ministers make fat-cat six-figure salaries, and that government should get those rich priests and preachers off the government dole.

Never mind that the average base salary of a full-time senior pastor ranges from $33,000 to $70,000 (source). Never mind that ministers do pay income taxes. Never mind that it is absurd to suggest not paying taxes is a subsidy. Never mind that exemptions do function to keep church and state out of one another’s business. That doesn’t fit the fictional narrative activists wish to advance—that these churches don’t deserve to have their “subsidy” continued in light of their intolerable views on sexuality.

The real intent of removing tax-exempt status is to cripple the institutions that continue their dissent from the sexual revolution.

No, the real intent of removing tax-exempt status is to cripple the institutions that continue their dissent from the sexual revolution. When tax exemptions are removed, donors will give far less than they are giving now. Churches will become liable to property taxes. That means that many churches will have to forfeit their property to the government because they won’t be able to afford the taxes they have to pay on it. Many of them wouldn’t be able to pay them now. If donations went down, they would be that much further from being able to pay them. As a result, churches that reside on valuable properties in urban locations would be immediately vulnerable. Eventually, so would everyone else.

Via: The Federalist

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Obama To Unveil Plan To Bring Overtime Pay To 5 Million More Workers

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama this week will propose a plan to extend overtime pay to 5 million American workers who are currently excluded under federal law, according to sources.

The president will recommend updating overtime rules so that salaried workers who earn less than roughly $50,400 per year would be guaranteed time-and-a-half pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week. Under the current rules implemented by former President George W. Bush, salaried workers must earn less than $23,660 per year in order to be automatically eligible for overtime pay.

The president announced his intention to make overtime reforms last year, but the details of the plan have been kept secret until this week. The president is expected to discuss the proposal later this week during a visit to Wisconsin. Details of the proposal were first reported by Bloomberg.

In a blog post on The Huffington Post Monday night, Obama said that "too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve," and that his proposal would help assure that "hard work is rewarded."

"That’s how America should do business," the president wrote. "In this country, a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. That’s at the heart of what it means to be middle class in America."

With heavy lobbying by business groups, many progressives feared the White House would recommend only modest changes, thereby impacting relatively few workers and employers. Instead, the White House has proposed a substantial reform that has the potential to change pay and scheduling for millions of people.

Employers whose workers become newly eligible for overtime will now face a choice: Either pay a premium for those extra hours worked, or get the employee's hours below 40 per week, likely by shifting the labor to other workers. The proposal would be robust enough to cut across industries, bringing many workers either more pay or more time off, and forcing many employers to grapple with overtime costs that they never had to before.

The proposal must still undergo a public-comment period before it can be finalized and go into effect, but the release of a concrete proposal will mark a major step in what's likely to be one of the president's most far-reaching reforms undertaken without congressional approval. The changes are expected to go into effect in 2016.

Via: Huffington Post

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[COMMENTARY] Ben Carson Gains As Non-establishment Candidate

Former pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson continues to rise in the polls, despite having never held political office, and political commentator Byron York says that part of the reason is because he is a very appealing candidate. 

Carson is in fourth place in the Real Clear Politics average of polls with support from 9.4 percent of Republican voters, and that number has slowly risen since he first announced his candidacy in early May, when he was at 4.8 percent. 

Special: Can Ted Cruz Take On the GOP Establishment?

In addition, the former neurosurgeon won the straw poll at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver over the weekend, the Washington Examiner reported. 

York, who writes for the Washington Examiner, gives five reasons why Carson is so popular among conservative audiences: First, "Carson is really appealing." 

He appears to stand apart from the categories that other candidates fit in, whether it's old vs. new, governor vs. senator, populist vs. establishment, and the like. 

Second, as a candidate who has never held office before, "he speaks to the throw-'em-out strain among conservatives." 

Carson told the conservative group in Denver that "the professional pundits say, 'You can't do it because you're not a politician.' I would say I can do it because I'm not a politician."

York says that this appeals to conservatives who are fed up with politicians, even Republican politicians. 

Third, there are a group of Republicans who like Carson's "it's-really-very-simple commonsense approach to complex issues." 

A fourth reason for his appeal is partly because he is the only black candidate running for the Republican nomination, and "he might appeal to that part of the Republican mind that has been scarred by years of accusations of racism." 

Lastly, "Carson projects a serenity and faith" that is also attractive to some. 

Whatever the reason, York says that "Carson's rise and unorthodox campaign style ... has left some of his rivals baffled." 

Via: Newsmax

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The EPA's big land grab

(Getty Images)

The EPA just finalized one of the biggest land grabs in American history.

Under the Clean Water Rule, all "tributaries" will be categorically regulated by the federal government. Tributaries — which quite literally mean anything with a bed, banks and an "ordinary high water mark" — are now under federal control. Not my words; the Environment Protection Agency's (EPA). This includes ditches and less.

Under the same rule, the word "adjacent" is stretched from the Supreme Court's definition of actually "abutting" what most Americans regard as a real water of the United States to anything "neighboring," "contiguous," or "bordering" a real water, terms which are again stretched to include whole floodplains and riparian areas. Floodplains are typically based on a 100-year flood, but a separate regulation would stretch that to a 500-year flood.

And, finally, under the rule, the EPA cynically throws in a catch-all "significant nexus" test meant as a shout out to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's opinion in Rapanos v. United States when, in fact, the EPA's rule makes a mockery of Kennedy's opinion and of no fewer than three Supreme Court rulings.

Under the three approaches, no land or "water" is beyond the reach of the federal government, never mind the traditional understanding of private property or state and local control of land use.

Farmers, ranchers, dairymen and others, on and off the farm, are in a widespread panic with the finalization of this rule because not only does it allow the EPA onto their land, but it throws the gate wide open to environmental group-led citizen lawsuits that promise to carry the rule's reach beyond what even the EPA had envisioned. That is because even though the EPA may have intended to show some restraint in the exercise of its new found powers, the rule itself is virtually boundless and citizen suits are controlled only by the rule. This rule carries with it fines under the law to the tune of $37,500 per day, but comes with absolutely no clarity for farmers as to what side of the law they are now on.

I started work as an legislative assistant covering agriculture for Sen. John Tower (R) of Texas back in 1971 before serving nearly 20 years in Congress, and I have never seen a bigger land grab by the federal government than the Clean Water Rule.

Like Tower, and like most Texans serving in Congress today, I was consistently ranked as one of the most conservative members in Congress. And that is why it appalls me that instead of libertarian groups announcing that their No. 1 objective is to overturn this rule and protect the private property rights of every American citizen — which is at the very heart of a free society — these groups were reported on June 24 in The Washington Post as saying that their No. 1 objective is, of all things, killing U.S. sugar policy.

Via: The Hill

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Undocumented sex offenders left in Seattle-area neighborhoods without tracking

7 found 11 convicted sex offenders in the country illegally living across western Washington neighborhoods. 

The government has tried to deport most of these people, but a Supreme Court ruling requires they be released after six months in jail, if their home country won't take them back. 

>> PHOTOS: Most wanted sex offenders in Washington (updated June 4)

KIRO 7 obtained sources through the Senate Judiciary Committee: a list of every ZIP code in the country that some offender called home at the time of release. 

In the Seattle area, sex offenders who are undocumented were dropped off from Tacoma to Bellingham. See a map and list below for a breakdown.

• 98003, Federal Way
• 98011, Bothell
• 98023, Federal Way
• 98032, Kent
• 98036 Lynnwood
• 98092, Auburn
• 98104, Downtown Seattle
• 98108, Seattle
• 98203, Everett
• 98226, Bellingham
• 98421, Tacoma

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they can't and don't track where the offenders are after they're released into neighborhoods, documents show. 

Mark Krikorian from the Center of Immigration Studies says the government can do more. He wants the State Department to deny visas to countries that won't accept deportations. 

Via: KIRO-TV

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The OPM Hack and Obama’s Politicization of the Federal Bureacracy

By now, it’s clear that hackers — believed to be tied to the Chinese government – stole files from the Office of Personnel Management that amount to a giant “how to blackmail anyone in the federal government” manual. This was America’s “cyber 9/11,” exposing an administration full of true believers in the expansion of government who can’t handle the most basic tasks of secret-keeping. 

How does a government failure so consequential — a foreign power accessing 18 million confidential records, including the intimate personal details of federal workers’ infidelity, drug abuse, and personal debts uncovered during the background-check process for security clearances — happen?

For many Obama critics on and off the Hill, the answer lies in a troubling pattern of incompetent management from Obama appointees selected more for their political loyalty than for their expertise, skill, or leadership abilities.

 RELATED: Why Are We Ignoring a Cyber Pearl Harbor? Before becoming the head of OPM, 

Katherine Archuleta had no background in the kind of work the agency does. Archuleta, a lawyer and former Clinton administration official, was national political director for President Obama’s reelection campaign. She served as the chief of staff to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solís, and was the City of Denver’s lead planner for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Like the president, she has roots in “community organizing”: She co-founded the Latina Initiative, a Colorado organization aimed at getting more Hispanic voters involved in politics. (In 2011, the Latina Initiative suspended its operations, citing insufficient funding.) Nothing in this record suggests any expertise in the vitally important human resources and record-keeping functions OPM is supposed to serve.

Before the hack, Archuleta’s primary goals at OPM appeared to be increasing the diversity of the federal workforce and implementing Obamacare’s changes to federal workers’ health-insurance options.

Via: National Review

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The green mirage—and con job

Elon Musk and his fellow barons of Climate Crisis, Inc. recently got a huge boost from Pope Francis. Musk et al. say fossil fuels are causing unprecedented warming and weather disasters. The Pope agrees and says Catholics must “ask God for a positive outcome” to negotiations over another UN climate treaty.

It matters not that the predicted calamities are not happening. There has been no warming in 19 years, no category 3-5 hurricanes making US landfall for a record 9-1/2 years, indeed none of the over-hyped climate disasters occurring in the real world outside the alarmists’ windows. In fact, poor nations support the treaty mostly because it promises some $100 billion per year in adaptation, mitigation and compensation money from FRCs: Formerly Rich Countries that have shackled their own job creation, economic growth and living standards in the name of stabilizing Earth’s perpetually fluctuating climate.

Any money that is transferred will end up in the pockets of governing elites. Poor families will get little or no cash—and will be told their dreams of better lives must be limited to jobs and living standards that can be supported by solar panels on their huts and a few wind turbines near their villages.

Simply put, the Musk-Obama-Pope-Climate Crisis schemes will save humanity from exaggerated and fabricated climate disasters decades from now—by impoverishing billions and killing millions tomorrow.

For the catechism of climate cataclysm coalition, the essential thing is that we believe the hysterical assertions and computer models—and support endless renewable energy mandates and subsidies.

Musk and his Tesla and Solar City companies have already pocketed $4.9 billion in taxpayer-financed subsidies, and even long-elusive profitability has not ended the handouts. Now he claims a small “blue square” on a map represents the “very little” land required to “get rid of all fossil fuel electricity generation” in the USA and prevent a non-existent climate cataclysm. We just need rooftop solar panels linked to wall-mounted battery packs—a mere 160 million Tesla Power walls—to eliminate the need for all coal and natural gas electricity generation in the United States, he insists.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Supreme Court will re-hear Texas affirmative action

The Supreme Court said Monday it will dive back into the fight over the use of race in admissions at the University of Texas, a decision that presages tighter limits on affirmative action in higher education.

The justices said they will hear for a second time the case of a white woman who was denied admission to the university's flagship Austin campus.

The conservative-leaning federal appeals court in New Orleans has twice upheld the university's admissions process, including in a ruling last year that followed a Supreme Court order to reconsider the woman's case.

The case began in 2008 when Abigail Fisher, who is white, was denied admission to the University of Texas's flagship Austin campus because she did not graduate in the top 10 percent of her high school class -- the criterion for 75 percent of the school's admissions. The university also passed her over for a position among the remaining 25 percent, which is reserved for special scholarships and people who meet a formula for personal achievement that includes race as a factor.

The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2013. But rather than issue a landmark decision on affirmative action, it voted 7-1 to tell a lower appeals court to take another look at Fisher's lawsuit. That meant the university's admissions policies remained unchanged.

Last year, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals again upheld the university's admissions policy. Fisher is a graduate of Louisiana State University.

Justice Elena Kagan is not taking part in the case. She sat out the first round as well, presumably because of her work on the case when she served in the Justice Department before joining the court.

The case, Fisher v. University of Texas, 14-981, will be argued in the fall.

Via: Fox News

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[VIDEO] Obama Goes Grey in Last Week Tonight‘s ‘End of Obamacare’ Montage

To commemorate the Supreme Court of the United States’ Obamacare decision last Thursday, Last Week Tonight put together a nearly two-minute collection of clips featuring people predicting Obamacare’s end. Titled “Five Years of People Prematurely Declaring the End of Obamacare,” the short montage does two things rather wonderfully:

1. It sums up all of the negative reactions to the Affordable Care Act since its signing into law in 2010.
2. It demonstrates just how much grayer President Obama‘s hair has become in the past five years.

To top it off, the president’s official address of the SCOTUS decision isn’t actually the final clip. That distinction belongs to MSNBC, whose guest is asked, “Is the fight against Obamacare from Republicans over now?” His answer? “My short answer would be no.”

Via: Mediaite

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