Monthly Archives: June 2013
June 25, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Chris Crane, president of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) National Council, has denounced the amendment of Sens. Corker and Hoeven to the Senate immigration reform bill. So too has Kenneth Palinkas, president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Council. Crane contends that “the 1,200 page substitute bill before the Senate will provide instant legalization and a path to citizenship to gang members and other dangerous criminal aliens,
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June 25, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Don’t say he didn’t warn us: “Go ahead and build a coal-powered plant — but it will bankrupt you.” Today President Obama put those words into action. With poverty and unemployment at record levels and his foreign policy in tatters, Obama decided to address a more important problem: Americans aren’t paying enough for electricity! So he mounted a new attack on coal, America’s principal source of power. His speech was
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June 25, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Jennifer Rubin, writing in the Washington Post, detects “two starkly different visions of the GOP, as well as two potential paths for the GOP.” The question, she believes, is whether the GOP will become the party of: Rand Paul or Kelly Ayotte [I would have said John McCain, but I understand why Rubin wants to say Ayotte] on national security; The Gang of Eight or the Gang of Mike Lee,
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June 25, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Today, the Supreme Court decided an important Voting Rights Act case. In Shelby County v. Holder, it held that the formula defining covered jurisdictions for section 5 preclearance is unconstitutional. Amy Goldstein of Scotusblog explains: The preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act were designed to prevent discrimination in voting by requiring all state and local governments with a history of voting discrimination to get approval from the federal government
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June 25, 2013 — Scott Johnson
The new IRS chief is throwing sand in the eyes of those trying to see what the IRS has on display in the scandals roiling the agency. The AP story carrying the IRS man’s contribution is “New IRS chief: IRS screening was broader.” The IRS man’s line is that right-leaning and left-leaning groups were similarly abused by the IRS. That would of course explain why we have heard from so
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June 25, 2013 — Scott Johnson
A few months ago I anticipated the somewhat disappointing result produced by the Supreme Court in the Fisher case addressing the issue of “affirmative action.” I thought pessimism was warranted and that the pessimistic view has been vindicated, although that isn’t entirely clear. In his column this morning George Will capably elaborates on the damage the Court has preserved. I’m taking the liberty of reiterating my own observations on the
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June 24, 2013 — John Hinderaker
The goofy techie, of course, is Ed Snowden, and the question might seem hard to answer if the Obama administration’s incompetence were not on display for all to see. The international press, belatedly catching on to the fact that our president is a fool, is having fun with the U.S. Thus, Reuters headlines, with a snicker: “Questions turn to U.S. competence in Snowden saga.” As well they might. The Obama
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June 24, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Today’s Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas is based on a distinction between the type of deference that courts can grant to universities that use racial preferences in admission. Fisher does not upset past rulings that courts must defer to “a university’s judgment that [a diverse student body] is essential to its educational mission.” Thus, Court’s will continue to defer “to the decision to pursue the educational
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June 24, 2013 — Steven Hayward
My segment on the Kudlow Report (I’ll post a link when I can) went really fast, as these cable TV shows usually do, so I didn’t have time to cover much ground. A few observations on what Obama is going to do with his climate speech tomorrow, which the White House has been building up for the last 10 days or so —Obama is desperate to placate the greens, for
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June 24, 2013 — John Hinderaker
The Senate voted 67-27 this afternoon to cut off debate on a 1,200-page immigration bill that was still being written a few days ago, and that no one has read. Why bother with details? The 67 votes were apparently somewhat short of the number the Gang of Eight had hoped for, presumably because more Republican senators are starting to see the light. Meanwhile, the Center for Immigration Studies has calculated,
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June 24, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Our friend Kirk Kolbo represented the plaintiffs in the landmark Gratz and Grutter cases that challenged race discrimination at the University of Michigan. Gratz and Grutter provided the framework for the Supreme Court’s decision today in Fisher v. University of Texas, in which a white applicant who was denied admission argued that she had been the victim of illegal race discrimination because of the university’s racial preference policies. So I
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June 24, 2013 — Steven Hayward
My blogging silence today is explained by my attendance at the Breakthrough Institute‘s annual conference, this year on the subject of “Creative Destruction.” It’s mostly liberals in attendance–some of them fairly prominent–but there are some Power Line readers here, including one of Paul’s acquaintances, McKie Campbell, who was Republican staff director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Good to have some friendly faces here. I’ll try to give
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June 24, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
As everyone expected, the Supreme Court has rejected a court of appeals decision upholding the racial preference regime used by the University of Texas in college admissions. In Fisher v. University of Texas, the Court held that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals applied the incorrect standard. Thus, it sent the case back for further review under the appropriate standard. Under the appropriate standard, the Supreme Court said, a university
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June 24, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Michael Rubin has a string of worthwhile posts up at Commentary, including reports from Iraq where he is visiting. I want to call particular attention, though, to Rubin’s post about Syria, which draws heavily from what he has learned in Iraq. Rubin argues that “arming Syrian rebels is strategic suicide.” He explains: This trip. . .has been a wake-up call: Not only Iraqi Shi’ites, but also Iraqi Christians, Iraqi Kurds,
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June 24, 2013 — Scott Johnson
I don’t think there is a more partisan Democrat in Congress than New York Senator Chuck Schumer. I can’t think of a single issue on which I agree with him, and he seems to me an exceedingly unpleasant character to boot. He’s the whole package. So it’s good to have his friendly advice to Republicans on the record as we contend with the immigration-reform legislation he and his friends are
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June 24, 2013 — Scott Johnson
This morning Michael Barone asks: “Why does the left want to suppress free speech?” On Friday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gave an outstanding speech at AEI on the left’s assault on the First Amendment. I would go so far as to say that this is an important speech. Senator McConnell is an expert on the First Amendment free speech rights; he knows whereof he speaks. Moreover, as an actor
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June 23, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Peter Wehner argues that Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan have handled themselves “superbly” during the immigration reform debate, in the face “vitriol” from conservatives. And he denounces attempts by conservatives to “excommunicate” Rubio and Ryan from the movement over their stance on immigration which, after all, is a matter upon which reasonable conservatives can disagree. I have great respect for Pete, but strongly disagree with his assessment of Rubio’s conduct
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