Out Of State Tuition Is Higher Than Illegal Alien Tuition in California

Students from 19 states yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from California officials for charging them significantly more than illegal aliens pay to attend state-run colleges.

The 42 plaintiffs say California state lawmakers and the University of California board of regents knowingly violated a federal law enacted in 1996 that says any state that offers discounted in-state tuition to its illegal aliens must provide the same lower rates to all U.S. citizens.

California has a "unique" statute barring discrimination on the basis of geographic origin, said lead attorney Michael J. Brady.

Some students in the University of California system could be eligible for as much as $300,000 in total damages, he said.

The plaintiffs' attorneys say the lawsuit was filed in a state court in Yolo County on behalf of about 60,000 U.S. citizens who have paid out-of-state tuition to attend public higher-education institutions in California since 2002.

Mr. Brady said out-of-state students are paying $20,000 more than illegal aliens per year to attend schools in the University of California system. In the California state university system, the difference is $11,000 per year.

"And in the community college system in California, which has a total of 1.5 million students, the tuition differential is $6,000 a year," he said.

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Obama Warns Israel

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel not surprise the U.S. with an Israeli military operation against Iran. The message was conveyed by a senior American official who met in Israel with Netanyahu, ministers and other senior officials. Earlier, Netanyahu's envoy visited Washington and met with National Security Adviser James Jones and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and discussed the dialogue Obama has initiated with Tehran. 

The message from the American envoy to the prime minister reveals U.S. concern that Israel could lose patience and act against Iran. It is important to the Americans that they not be caught off guard and find themselves facing facts on the ground at the last minute. 

Obama, engineered a huge surprise on the American Public by manufacturing a crisis of epic proportions and created a budget deficit nearly four times the amount that he criticized George W. Bush for during the 2008 campaign. It appears that Obama likes to surprise us, but doesn't like to be surprised.

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Nine Banks Had No Choice But To Take TARP Funds

The chief executives of the country's nine largest banks had no choice but to accept capital infusions from the Treasury Department in October, government documents released Wednesday have confirmed.

Obtained and released by Judicial Watch, a nonpartisan educational foundation, the documents revealed "talking points" used by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson during the October 13 meeting between federal officials and the executives that stressed the investments would be required "in any circumstance," whether the banks found them appealing or not.

Paulson also told the bankers it would not be prudent to opt out of the program because doing so "would leave you vulnerable and exposed."

It's no secret that some of the banks had to be pressured to participate in the program, with several bank CEOs saying they had been strongly encouraged to take the funds. But the documents are the first proof of the government's insistence.

"These documents show our government exercising unrestrained power over the private sector," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a statement.

Paulson's spokeswoman Michele Davis, who was a top aide when Paulson was at Treasury, on Thursday said, "Secretary Paulson was not one to read talking points at meetings."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's office did not respond to requests for comment.

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Follow Up Report: Car Warranty Scam Phone Calls

As a follow-up to a post from earlier this week, the AP reports the following...

Federal regulators filed suits Thursday against several companies they say are behind a national wave of spam "robo-calls" that warn people their auto warranties are expiring and offer new service plans.

Federal Trade Commission officials said they asked a federal court in Chicago to halt the illegal telemarketing campaign of "Your Car Warranty Has Expired." Officials say as many as 1 billion of the nuisance calls have been made to Americans.

The FTC named Voice Touch Inc. and Transcontinental Warranty Inc. in the suits. It is seeking injunctions forcing them to return allegedly ill-gotten gains.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz called it "one of the most aggressive" telemarketing schemes the agency has ever seen.

"I'm not sure which is worse, the abusive telemarketing tactics of these companies, or the way they try to deceive people once they get them on the phone," Leibowitz said. "Either way, we intend to shut them down."

It took some heavy sleuthing to determine what companies were responsible since they made "extraordinary" efforts to conceal their identities by masking their true phone numbers, he said.

If a consumer received such a call about his car warranty, "there's a very real chance that these guys did it," Leibowitz told reporters in a conference call.

Representatives from Voice Touch and Transcontinental Warranty were not immediately available to comment Thursday afternoon.

While seeking return of allegedly illegal profits from the companies, the FTC isn't immediately seeking civil fines against them but may consider doing so later on, agency officials said.

Attorneys general in Arkansas, Indiana and Missouri have taken similar actions over the calls offering deals on extended warranties, which have brought about 300,000 inquiries and 4,000 complaints to the Better Business Bureau from consumers over the past two years. The calls come even if the consumer has signed up for the national "Do Not Call" registry, which is maintained by the FTC.

The calls target people regardless of whether they have warranties or even own cars. They call numbers randomly and leave messages with a computerized voice telling people, falsely, that their auto warranties are about to expire, regulators say.

"Out of warranty? You are still eligible to reactivate warranty coverage. This is the final call before we close the file." The recording typically gives the caller an option to stop receiving calls, but they continue to come even if consumers opt out.

If people call back and agree to buy policies, the companies often don't let them see the contracts until they agree to pay. And some people don't learn until they've spent thousands of dollars that the deals don't cover many types of repairs, according to regulators.

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Carrie Prejean, Bristol Palin and Christian Hypocricy

It seems that Mel Gibson is getting flack for having an extra-marital affair. This, of course, is something that never happens in Hollywood, but in Mel's case, it was made newsworthy because he is Catholic. Not just Catholic. He's actually a practicing Catholic.

Carrie Prejean continues to be crucified because she's a Christian who posed for topless photos. Nevermind that she was never really topless. She was wearing a vest which was supposed to cover up her personal parts, but the photographer couldn't resist taking photos against Ms. Prejean's wishes whenever he could sneak a peek.

And of course, there's Bristol Palin, unwed and baby in tow, talking abstinence. The left can't figure out what credible message she might be able to deliver to other teenage girls about the responsibilities one takes on when becoming a mother. They only see hypocrisy.

I think we get it. These Christians are all hypocrites and you on the left are not.

Those who point this out foolishly think the argument ends there. They miss the point that to be a hypocrite you need to have standards. Without standards, you cannot fail to meet them. 

Being imperfect beings, we are all going to fail. The fact that we actually keep trying is what makes us human. The character of a Christian is that we work to please God and live by the standards He has set. Anyone who has read the Bible understands that we are not perfect, and never will be. Becoming a Christian doesn't negate our humanness, with all of its frailties and faults.

The difference is, we know what standards God has set, and we strive to achieve them. 

There are folks who are hypocrites from day one. Those who never have standards to violate, but who want to hold others to a standard. The Hollywood left who thinks they they are superior to Mel Gibson because they can commit adultery without having a guilty conscience, for example.

The media, of course, would rather focus on those who try and fail, than those who never try in the first place, as if it's better to admit that you're just scum and then revel in it. Larry Flynt exemplified that kind of hero. He was a man without values who delighted in the failings of others, but also admitted to having sex with a chicken.

Talk about a lack of standards. That chicken is a skank.

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Obama Considers ... The Unthinkable (for the left)

The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil -- indefinitely and without trial -- as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The proposal being floated with members of Congress is another indication of President Barack Obama's struggles to establish his counter-terrorism policies, balancing security concerns against attempts to alter Bush-administration practices he has harshly criticized.

I expect there to be a large outcry over this issue, if this stands. Accusations of Obama being a "flip-flopper" from his opponents on the right, and cries of "caving-in" and returning to the "failed policies of the past" from the left.

I'm going to give Obama props on this one. It looks to me like he may be taking seriously the reality that the "terrorists" (if we can still call them that) that are being held are REALLY BAD GUYS and present a threat to our country. At the same time, we may not have enough legal evidence to hold up in a "regular jury trial" where all the rules of evidence come into play, unless they would simply confess to who they really are and what they've done.

There have been a number of times that, by his actions, Obama has said (in effect) that Bush was right on several issues related to Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and terrorism. Of course, the media has not played it that way, and never will.

Let's hope Obama gets it right on issues of national security. If he does not, then all of the decisions made on the economy, health care, infrastructure and other issues will be moot.

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Unemployment Rises (Again)

New jobless claims rose more than expected last week due partly to an increase in layoffs by the automobile industry, while the number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits set a record for the 15th straight week.

 

The Labor Department said Thursday the number of new claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 637,000, from a revised 605,000 the previous week. That's above analysts' expectations of 610,000. 

The increase comes after initial claims dropped in four of the previous five weeks, which raised hopes that the wave of layoffs announced earlier this year has crested and that the recession was nearing a bottom.

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Obama Hasn't Done Enough

President Barack Obama says Arizona State University officials aren't the only ones who think he needs to accomplish more to earn an honorary degree.

Add his wife Michelle to that list.

"I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven't yet achieved enough in my life," Obama said in a commencement speechWednesday. With a smile he added: "First of all, Michelle (Obama) concurs with that assessment. She has a long list of things that I have not yet done waiting for me when I get home."

"But more than that I come to embrace the notion that I haven't done enough in my life. I heartily concur. I come to affirm that one's title, even a title like 'president of the United States,' says very little about how well one's life has been led."

The statement, "I haven't done enough," undoubtedly refers to his intentions to use his power to oversee the government takeover of health care and additional industries, increase taxation, and move America to a European stye socialist state.

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Confusion About Capitalism

From The American Spectator

By Ralph R. Reiland on 5.12.09 @ 6:07AM

"Only 53 percent of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism," according to an April survey by Rasmussen.

Age made a large difference in how Americans viewed capitalism and socialism, according to the survey, with capitalism getting the worst grades among adults under 30. Only 37 percent of the under-30s favored capitalism, 33 percent preferred socialism, and 30 percent were undecided. It sounds like they could vote in a Castro if he had a good smile.

The preference for socialism, in contrast, dropped to 26 percent among the 30-somethings in the Rasmussen survey, and dropped to just 13 percent among adults over 40.

By party, Republicans by an 11-to-1 margin said that capitalism was superior to socialism, while Democrats were more pro-socialist and more evenly divided, with only 39 percent preferring capitalism, 30 percent favoring socialism, and 31 percent undecided.

Rasmussen didn't define socialism or capitalism for the respondents during the survey, so we really don't know how many of the aforementioned responses were based on even the slightest knowledge about the two economic systems.

In January, for instance, I surveyed 50 recent high school graduates, now all in college or on their way. To the question, "Define capitalism in 10 to 20 words," here are some of the written responses, not atypical:

"Capitalism is making the most money for the government and having the government control the people." 

"Capitalism is the money that is in the government. It is when the government controls all the money."

"Capitalism is based on a money-hungry nation, seeking to establish power through money."

"Capitalism is when an economy is based on the needs of the people."

"Capitalism is when the government takes a bigger role in the economy and controls more things."

"Capitalism is when the government is the only one deciding laws and regulations."

"I have no clue what capitalism is because I've never paid any attention to politics or the world around me until this year."

"Capitalism is everything that makes our government run properly."

"Capitalism is how the government is run. It is the government system."

"Capitalism is when the government has complete control over the decisions that the country makes."

Those responses, coming primarily from students in the top half of their class in allegedly high-quality school systems, don't provide much encouragement about what's going on in high school classes in history, political science, government or business (or much confidence in the value of the Rasmussen survey).

Not all the responses were that bad. One student, for example, wrote: "Capitalism promotes individualism. It is a free market system that allows individuals to use their entrepreneurial skills to advance their lives." Another wrote, "Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth and the means of producing wealth are privately owned and controlled, rather than publicly controlled or state-owned." Wrote a third student, "Capitalism is an economic system based on markets (both regarding markets for goods and services and markets for labor) and based on the private ownership and private control of capital." And more succinctly from another student, "Capitalism rewards hard work and risk-taking -- the opposite of socialism and communism."

The bad news is that there's nothing to keep this latter group of better-informed students from being out-voted by the former and larger group of less-knowledgeable students.

The good news is that it's not very hard to get these students on the right track once they're exposed to even a modicum of information regarding the fundamental differences between capitalism, socialism and communism.

On the final exam in an economics course that I just completed teaching, one question asked students to evaluate capitalism. Wrote one student, not that many semesters out of high school, in a not atypical response:

Capitalism represents a profound change in human thinking that occurred over the past 400 years, a drop in the bucket in time. And yet, these recent centuries have seen remarkable and historic advances, improvements in the quality of life for the masses that were unthinkable in the Dark Ages, due overwhelmingly to free market enterprise. Capitalism carries a host of inherent positives -- the self-regulating effects of competition, workers with specialized skills who can command a livable wage, increasing technological advances, voluntary exchange between workers, consumers and businesses, the property rights of citizens, the encouragement of risk-taking and business creation. Most importantly, capitalism marks a "rags to riches" story never before seen in history, wherein hard work and a cutting edge mind can lead the poorest individual from poverty to wealth.

The bottom line? It looks like we need a bigger supply of pro-capitalist teachers.

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