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March 2017

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on March 15, 2017 13 Comments
You might think that—given the chance to chide the star of a competing network—CNN would have called out MSNBC's Rachel Maddow over her failed, overhyped "scoop" on Donald Trump's taxes. But nary a discouraging word about Maddow could be heard on CNN this morning.  Liberal media solidarity more important than beating the competition? Instead, commenting this morning on the release of Donald Trump's 2005 tax return, CNN's Chris Cuomo described the Alternative Minimum Tax [AMT] he paid as a "benefit" to Trump. It was just the opposite. The AMT Alternative Minimum Tax is designed to prevent people with large incomes from using deductions to reduce their tax liability beyond a certain amount. No matter how little a taxpayer would normally pay, the AMT imposes a higher minimum.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 15, 2017 1 Comment
Yesterday we reported how the mastermind of the 2001 Sbarro Pizzeria bombing, Ahlam Tamimi, might be brought to justice in the U.S. for the killing of two American citizens (among a total of 15 people killed). Tamimi currently lives in Jordan, where she is a TV announcer, after being released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in October 2011. She continues to brag about her role in planning the suicide bombing, including scouting the location, which she chose because of the crowds and presence of religious Jews. She helped guide the suicide bomber to the location. Her only regret is that she didn't kill more people.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 15, 2017 10 Comments
In the video below, college students are asked for their thoughts on President Trump's Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Their responses sound like they came right off a Democratic Party memo: "DeVos isn't qualified for the position!" and "Anyone but her would have been a better choice!" and "She doesn't know what she's talking about!" Then the interviewer asks the same students for their thoughts on policies like school choice and vouchers for low income families - policies embraced by DeVos - and the students agree with them.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 14, 2017 57 Comments
Rachel Maddow has a history of claiming big scoops which then flop. There was the debunked 2012 big scoop about supposed GOP wrongdoing in Michigan. And the 2014 big scoop that the Koch Brothers were behind Florida groups pushing drug testing for welfare recipients, which was not true. We covered the Florida non-scoop big scoop, Rachel Maddow’s come undone with Koch Derangement Syndrome.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 14, 2017 14 Comments
North Korea has threatened America with "merciless" attacks due to the continued drills between our military and South Korea. From Reuters:
North Korea said the arrival of the U.S. strike group in the seas off the east of the Korean peninsula was part of a "reckless scheme" to attack it. "If they infringe on the DPRK's sovereignty and dignity even a bit, its army will launch merciless ultra-precision strikes from ground, air, sea and underwater," the North's state news agency KCNA said.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 14, 2017 3 Comments
President Donald Trump's promises to overhaul regulations and the tax codes along with positive sale outlooks have raised optimism among U.S. CEOs. The Business Roundtable conducted its CEO Economic Outlook Index, "a measure of expectations for revenue, capital spending and employment," found that the optimism jumped to 93.3. That's a jump of 19.1 points and the most since 2009.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 14, 2017 14 Comments
The 2001 Sbarro Pizzeria suicide bombing in Jerusalem for me has been one of the place markers in the history of terrorism, one of those reference points which changed everything. Other such "before and after" points, to me, are the 1972 Munich Massacre of Israeli athletes (1972); the bombing of the Beirut Marine Barracks (1983), the World Trade Center attacks (1993 and 2001); and the videotaped beheading of Daniel Pearl, February 1, 2002. We have written many times about the Sbarro bombing, you can view them all in our Sbarro Pizzeria Bombing tag.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 14, 2017 11 Comments
The top European Union court has ruled that employers can ban the Islamic headscarf from the workplace. From the BBC:
The European Court of Justice (ECJ), ruled on Tuesday morning that employers are allowed to ban workers from the "visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign" including headscarves. The ruling was prompted by the case of a receptionist who was fired from security company G4S in Belgium for wearing a headscarf to work.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 14, 2017 19 Comments
Alliance Defending Freedom recently visited the campus of UW-Madison and asked students when it's OK to refuse to do business with someone. Two hypothetical situations presented to students sounded fine to most but a third caused quite a bit of discomfort. Should a designer be forced to work with Melania Trump? Of course not, most students respond. Should a Muslim singer be able to refuse a Christian church's request for service. Most students agree.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 14, 2017 34 Comments
New York State has been trying to raise teacher standards in order to solve the problem of low graduation and literacy rates in minority school populations. That makes sense - how can an academically unqualified teacher be expected to help raise academic success among students. These increased standards were meant to help minority students by ensuring that qualified teachers were not limited to wealthier districts. One of the key components of the push for higher teacher qualifications was a literacy test. The test is just one of several tests prospective teachers need to pass. That literacy test survived a court challenge in 2015.  A federal judge found that the test, unlike prior tests, was not discriminatory:

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on March 14, 2017 13 Comments
If you haven't seen OMB Director Mick Mulvaney in action, do yourself a favor and watch the video here. On today's Morning Joe, Mulvaney showed himself to be smart, well-spoken, undefensive and down-to-earth as he systematically demolished Mika's, and by extension, the CBO's, claims about the Trump admin's health care proposal. Before Mulvaney appeared, the panel had engaged in extended hand-wringing over the loss of coverage that the CBO has projected. Mulvaney made three telling points:
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