Congressman Chris Cannon of Utah was defeated by Jason Chaffetz in Utah’s GOP Primary last night. The correct word, especially considering that Cannon was a six-term incumbent, is “trounced.”

Illegal immigration was a big issue, and Cannon was on the wrong side of it. The Wall Street “There Shall Be Open Borders” Journal will not be pleased.

With Cannon’s defeat, and a couple of successful insurgencies by the Club for Growth, I’m starting to believe that whoever is going to be president is going to face a slightly more conservative Congress, even if the Dems keep their majority. Even the GOP losses in Illinois and Mississippi were to Dems with non-PRO (Pelosi-Reid-Obama) positions. How much they were pretending is of course relevant and bears watching (see Bob Casey below).

Towards that end, House Republican leader, Ohio 8th District Congressman, and great American John Boehner would be well-advised to use Cannon’s defeat as a club to knock some sense into certain wandering RINOs.

Michelle Malkin has more, with a great assertion — “Now, this is real hope and change from a real maverick–a Republican running unashamedly and unequivocally as a conservative.”

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So Jim Dobson is getting or soon will get grief for his comment that the presidential candidate I refer to as “Mr. BOOHOO-OUCH” (Barack O-bomba Overseas Hussein “Obambi” Obama - Objectively Unfit Coddler of Haters) is “dragging Biblical understanding through the gutter.” I’ll be receptive to those criticizing Dobson when someone shows me the passage in the Bible saying that partial-birth abortion is acceptable, or further, that killing a baby that has survived an abortion — something Obama supported as an Illinois legislator — is okey-dokey.

Which reminds me — Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, with his ringing endorsement of Obama, has shown that he is a first-class fake, phony, and fraud on life issues. His late father, who was uncompromisingly prolife, is surely spinning in his grave.

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I’ve been meaning to post this item, which was originally posted in a NewsBusters comment, for some time, as it points to something I had previously missed (yeah, that happens occasionally :–>):

Actually, Gary, revenues increased 181% from 2003 to 2007. Congressional Budget Office data (scroll down a bit at the link) show that 2000 was the previous high-water mark for corporate tax collections, until 2005 through 2007 blew away the previous record.

In 2008, corporate tax collections are down about 10%. After four years of ignoring them, 2008 is when the AP (and a writer at the Wall Street Journal) “somehow” began noticing what was happening. Great point by Gary.

For being such a “tool of corporate interests,” Bush 43 has sure extracted a lot of money from them.

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Maggie Thurber, on the misnamed “Healthy Families Act” that may get onto the Ohio ballot in November:

There is nothing ‘family-friendly’ about a proposition that drives employers and jobs out of the state!

Her first commenter makes a great, sarcastic point:

The good news is that if this act passes, many Ohioans will have additional time to spend at home with sick family members … having no job to go to any longer.

Last year, I voiced objections to this nonsense here and here.

Now that Jim Johnson has quit Barack Obama’s vice-presidential candidate selection team, maybe somebody, anybody, in the media, instead of making “He’s havng a bad day” excuses, might focus on the questionable judgment of Barack Obama in having Eric Holder serve on that team.

Besides his already-known role in facilitating the Clinton pardons, including that of fugitive billionaire financier March Rich, there’s the matter of former Clinton Administration Deputy Attorney General Holder’s involvement in the Elian Gonzalez case in 2000.

As the April 23, 2000 edition of the Media Research Center’s CyberAlert noted at the time, Andrew Napolitano of Fox News charged that the early-Saturday seizure of the then 6 year-old Gonzalez flagrantly disobeyed a ruling of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In response to a question from Fox News anchor Jeff Asman, Napolitano said the following (bolds are mine throughout this post):

The order issued by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals four days ago …. said once the INS chooses the guardian, and the INS chose Lazaro Gonzalez (Elian’s paternal great uncle — Ed.) to be the guardian, and an application for asylum has been made by the guardian, the INS can not change the guardian and that’s exactly what they did here.”

Asman: “So is this executive overreach?”

Napolitano: “This is more than executive overreach. This is contempt of the circuit court of appeals order. This is a high class kidnapping is what it is, sanctioned by no law, sanctioned by no judge…”

In an interview later that morning, Napolitano left Holder speechless (also available in the fourth item at this link):

Napolitano: Tell me, Mr. Holder, why did you not get a court order authorizing you to go in and get the boy?

Holder: Because we didn’t need a court order. INS can do this on its own.

Napolitano: You know that a court order would have given you the cloak of respectability to have seized the boy.

Holder: We didn’t need an order.

Napolitano: Then why did you ask the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals for such an order if you didn’t need one?

Holder: [Silence]

Napolitano: The fact is, for the first time in history you have taken a child from his residence at gunpoint to enforce your custody position, even though you did not have an order authorizing it.

Earlier in that interview, as noted in a different CyberAlert item on the same day, Holder showed that he wouldn’t admit the truth, even when in plain sight:

Napolitano: When is the last time a boy, a child, was taken at the point of a gun without an order of a judge. Unprecedented in American history.”

Holder: “He was not taken at the point of a gun.”

Napolitano: “We have a photograph showing he was taken at the point of a gun.”

Holder: “They were armed agents who went in there who acted very sensitively…”

Here is Alan Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photo depicting how Elian Gonzalez was “was not taken at the point of a gun” (larger picture is at link):

Someone should ask Barack Obama if he is at all bothered by Mr. Holder’s inability to even recognize when someone is being taken at gunpoint, and how, among all the possible vice-presidential selection committee candidates out there, Mr. Holder was still deemed so deserving. Don’t expect that question any time soon.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

Marc Dann MUST resign. If he won’t, he must be removed. After this (HT Weapons of Mass Discussion), it’s hard to imagine how he can have any defenders besides himself. A strong argument can be made that, while less “exciting,” what Dann has done is worse than what led Eliot Spitzer to resign.

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Related — A certain person who I believe knows better tried to put one over on me by claiming that Ohio’s Old Media drove the Dann story, and ridiculed the notion that bloggers were holding their feet to the fire.

What I now recall is that a November Dann affair item was first put forth by Ohio right-side blogger Matt Naugle (who has since moved to another site). It was roundly ridiculed by left-side bloggers such as this one (see “2008 Outlook” at link), and a few on the right, who collectively owe him an apology.

Unless I’m missing something Ohio’s Old Media was nowhere to be found, but got working after that, knowing full well that right-side and left-side bloggers were also on it.

If that chronology is correct, though it’s not a done deal at this moment, Ohio’s state and national left side owe Naugle a big thank-you for helping them take out the trash. That would include Hillary Clinton superdelegate Ted Strickland and Hillary Must-Win-Ohio Clinton, for whom Dann’s continued presence is a ginormous liability.

Ohio’s Old Media would, in my opinion, have been proactively looking for these kinds of things from the get-go if the GOP controlled the Statehouse. In fact, that’s not an opinion; that’s an assertion based on watching them do their jobs, occasionally overzealously and often selectively, during the previous 16 years. From here, it seems like they largely stopped doing their jobs, unless pushed, in early January 2007. Thank goodness for those, like Naugle, who have pushed them.

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Sit down, because you otherwise might faint when I say this: Give CNN (a little) credit for showing a picture from a May Day “comprehensive immigration reform” (i.e., open-borders) rally showing both an American and Mexican flag.

Though many reports, including this one, noted the presence of both countries’ flags at these rallies (earlier reports, which indicated that they were about 50-50, ended up being revised to “mostly American flags” — hmmm), the LA Times managed to shoot a picture with nothing but Old Glories as far the eye could see. Media manipulation is visual, too.

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In my Thursday post on the steep decline in newspaper circulations, I neglected to note that the Denver Post was the only paper in the March 31, 2005 Top 25 that was no longer there in March 31, 2008 (this year’s new addition is the Sacramento Bee).

The Post’s circulation has dropped at least 16% in the past three years. Story cover-ups like this one noted at Slapstick Politics (”‘Brown Pride’ Vandals Hit Denver Suburb, Local MSM Silent”; HT Michelle Malkin) explain why.

If the locals can’t rely on a paper to report the important fundamental facts about an apparent ethnicity-driven incident of major vandalism, why should they buy it, or subscribe to it?

ADP, for what it’s worth, came in at +10,000 on Wednesday.

The consensus estimate of economists, per this Bloomberg link, written almost as if after-the-fact, is -75,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rising to 5.2%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report is here, and opens as follows:

Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in April (-20,000), following job losses that totaled 240,000 in the first 3 months of the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unemployment rate, at 5.0 percent, also was little changed in April. Employment continued to decline in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade, while jobs were added in health care and in professional and technical services.

OK, the headline-making stuff beat expectations by quite a bit, with the unemployment rate going down.

Aside: Seriously, Old Media (and I’m talking to YOU, AP reporters Martin Crutsinger, Jeannine [”It’s no longer a question of recession or not. Now it’s how deep and how long”] Aversa, Ann D’Innocenzio, et al [links are to BizzyBlog searches on their names]), how can an economy with 5.0% unemployment (and falling) and decidedly non-stellar but positive growth, be in recession?

More to follow. …..

(slightly corrected from earlier this morning) The prior-month revisions were pretty small: March’s -80,000 was revised -1,000 to -81,000. February’s -76,000 was revised -7,000 to -83,000. The overall seasonally adjusted job loss was -28,000 (-20 - 1 - 7).

Some notable unemployment-rate changes (based on looking at data in the detailed tables):

• African-Americans - down 0.4% from 9.0% to 8.6%, seasonally adjusted. The raw number (i.e., not seasonally adjusted) is 8.2%, down from 9.0%.
• All Teenagers - down 0.4% to 15.4%, seasonally adjusted (down 2.6% in 3 months). Not seasonally adjusted, it went down 0.5% to 15.0% (down 3.2% in the three months).
• African-American teenagers - down 6.8% to 24.5%, seasonally adjusted (11.2% in 3 months). Not seasonally adjusted, it went down 8.0% to 23.3%. Those figures are near historic lows.

It seems reasonable to believe that these three sets of stats indicate some substitution of less-skilled labor for illegal immigrants who were supposedly “doing jobs citizens won’t do,” but may be finding it tougher to find under-the-table work (or “legal” work that requires stealing someone’s identity or Social Security number-sharing for an illegal to obtain).

A look at the big-picture “raw numbers” — Since I went down this road last month (and ripped into related business coverage), I’d better keep on traveling it.

Remember that all the verbiage you’ll see today about this or that industry “losing jobs” refers to the seasonally adjusted numbers reported by the BLS. Here is what actually happened on the not-seasonally-adjusted ground:

BLS’s best estimate is that 703,000 more real people were actually working at real jobs in April than were in March, and that 1,810,000 more were really doing so in April than in January.

While not as high as 2006 or 2007, and not as high as one would like to see, April’s increase is much closer to the previous two Aprils (within 157,000, on average) than January’s decrease or February’s and March’s increases were to their comparable 2006 and 2007 figures (all three averages were well over 250,000 than 2008). Much more improvement is needed, but some improvement did occur during April.

Here are just a few of a the real-world job-change numbers for April:
- Construction — up 114,000.
- Manufacturing — down 29,000.
- Trade, transportation, and utilities — up 34,000.
- Retail — up 7,400.
- Financial activities — up 12,000.
- Professional and business services — up 203,000.
- Government — down 3,000.

That government number, and the ones for the preceding months, make me question something from earlier this week about ballooning government employment that I’m going to have to find. Update: There has been a revision (today’s) since the USA Today article about government hiring, but as far as I can tell, they got it right (i.e., they used the NOT seasonally adjusted numbers). Update 2: They got the government part right, but the private sector part wrong, using the seasonally adjusted numbers to tell us of 286,000 private-sector jobs lost when there actually a lot more lost (due to January post-Christmas adjustments that occur every year.

…. but I resisted. So go there and see it. I’ll link to it in a couple of paragraphs.

It supports my post yesterday on Oklahoma’s vastly improved employment situation, and the possibility that its enforcement-based immigration reform law contributed to it.

The graphic is from Tim Iacono at his “The Mess That Greenspan Made” blog. It shows the 12-month unemployment-rate changes in each state, with different-colored ranges, for each month starting in March 2007 (i.e., March 2007 v. March 2006) and ending in March 2008.

Commenter Bill from Maryland tipped me to the graphic, and said:

Watch the state of OKLAHOMA light up like an island of salvation in the darkness at the end of this sequence of 13 panels showing changes in unemployment for March 2007 through March 2008.

Indeed. Oklahoma is the only state in the union where February and March 2008 unemployment was over a point lower than 12 months earlier.

April 23 Follow-up: “More on Oklahoma’s Employment Situation: A Graphic I Wanted to Steal ….”

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Oklahoma’s unemployment rate, which was a seasonally adjusted 4.3% and 4.4%, respectively, in September and October 2007 (4.1% and 4.2% unadjusted), has fallen to a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in both February and March of this year (3.5% and 3.2% unadjusted).

The unemployment rate in most states has gone up from September 2007 to March 2008. In states where the rate has gone down, none has shown an improvement like that seen in the Sooner State — not even close.

Why is that?

What has happened in Oklahoma that hasn’t happened elsewhere?

Well, one thing Oklahoma did last year was to pass an enforcement-focused immigration reform law. It did so in May, and it took effect in November. Here is how One News Now described the bill at the time it was signed by the state’s governor (original link no longer available):

House Bill 1804 was passed by overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate of the Oklahoma Legislature. The measure’s sponsor, State Representative Randy Terrill, says the bill has four main topical areas: it deals with identity theft; it terminates public assistance benefits to illegals; it empowers state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws; and it punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

Oklahoma is no longer “O.K.” for illegal aliens, Terrill observes. “When you put everything together in context,” he contends, “the bottom line is illegal aliens will not come here if there are no jobs waiting for them, they will not stay here if there is no government subsidy, and they certainly won’t stay here if they know that if they ever encounter our state and local law enforcement officers, they will be physically detained until they’re deported. And that’s exactly what House Bill 1804 does.”

The Oklahoma legislator is pleased the bill he sponsored into law was signed by Governor Henry and believes it will go a long way to curb the illegal immigration problem in the state.

It seems reasonable to ask if the law has accomplished the intended curbing of illegal immigration. This January 9 USA Today article by Emily Bazar (”Strict immigration law rattles Okla. businesses”) indicates that it has — not that Bazar thinks that this is a good thing.

The next question to ask would be whether citizens have taken jobs that illegals used to do. Though the lower unemployment rate doesn’t in and of itself prove that, it does point strongly in that direction.

The improving employment situation in the state has received sparse coverage, and the only two relevant stories I found (here and here) did not attempt to explain why it’s happening.

Will anyone in Old Media dig more deeply into the Sooner State’s situation? Or will they try to pretend that Oklahoma’s improvement doesn’t exist, because finding out why might expose some inconvenient truths, and hurt the cause of illegal-immigrant “amnesty”?

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

This could be the day’s second BizzyBlog Positivity post — Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) has news from Africa, reported by the Catholic News Agency:

Speaking on Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of a 2008 bill that would renew the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the congressman said recent reports showed the effectiveness of African HIV/AIDS prevention program based on promoting positive behavioral change.

“Five years after PEPFAR first began, the efficacy and importance of promoting abstinence and ‘be faithful’ initiatives have been demonstrated. The evidence is compelling,” Smith said.

PEPFAR, he said, relies on the ABC model, which stands for “Abstain, Be faithful, use Condoms.” Smith cited comments about PEPFAR from the U.S. State Department, USAID, and the Department of Health and Human Services that said the ABC model “is now recognized as the most effective strategy to prevent HIV in generalized epidemics… The legislation’s emphasis on ‘AB’ activities has been an important factor in the fundamental and needed shift in USG (Unitied States Global) prevention strategy from a primarily ‘C’ approach prior to PEPFAR to the balanced ABC strategy.”

Rep. Smith added that a “growing body of data” validates the behavioral changes encouraged by ABC programs. Data from Zimbabwe and Kenya “mirrors the earlier success of Uganda’s ABC approach to preventing HIV,” he noted.

….. Smith also referred to the September, 2007 testimony of Dr. Norman Hearst before the Foreign Affairs Committee. Hearst said, “Five years ago, I was commissioned by UNAIDS to conduct a technical review of how well condoms have worked for AIDS prevention in the developing world.” After he and his associates collected “mountains of data,” he said, “we then looked for evidence of public health impact for condoms in generalized epidemics. To our surprise, we couldn’t find any. No generalized HIV epidemic has ever been rolled back by a prevention strategy primarily based on condoms.”

The Bush behavior-based initiative has helped slow down AIDS in Africa. That’s how a President not obsessed with a legacy, or whether Old Media thinks his legacy is, creates a real one. (Update: Bleep — It’s obvious from reading press coverage elsewhere that the amounts being spent have gotten out of control, and are probably enriching a bunch of totally undeserving NGO types and corrupt bureaucrats/kleptocrats. That, unfortunately, will be a damning element of the Bush legacy.)

Read the whole thing. I will be surprised if you see the abstinence data reported anywhere else.

Posted in longer and revised form at NewsBusters.org.

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This bears watching — The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the employment situations in individual states shows that Oklahoma’s unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) has dropped from 4.1% in December, to 3.7% in January, to 3.1% in February.

The Sooner State’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (i.e., based on the raw data) went from 4.2% in January to 3.5% in February. The number of unemployed dropped from 72,900 to 59,700 in one month.

These results have potential national significance, because Oklahoma enacted tough illegal-immigrant enforcement legislation that took effect in November 2007.

Correlation, anyone? If it weren’t for the politically incorrect nature of the possible reason for the improvement, Old Media would be all over this story.

Maybe Ohio, where February’s unemployment rate was 5.3%, should emulate Oklahoma.

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Stuff I don’t have time to comment on (much), but which deserves notice:

• Captain Ed at Hot Air — “Oil-for-Food exec a Russian spy”
• Steven Spruiell (HT TIB All-Stars post at Weapons of Mass Discussion) — “Factory-sized Deception” (the truth about the saturation “corporations like Delphi are cruel, and we’ve gotta stop ‘em” ads run by the Obama campaign during the Ohio Primary in late February and early March); with an interesting sidebar on the ad’s spokesperson.
• Michelle Malkin — “MoveOn: Stop Fox News from taking over the world!”
• Weapons of Mass Discussion — “Ohio Just Raised Your Grandkids’ Taxes.” True, unless your kids vote with their feet.

Following up on this post relating to the Employment Situation Report issued earlier today —

Since the business press either doesn’t see it, or doesn’t think it’s as important as the next “Economy in Crisis” story, I guess it’s left to me to present these two charts that were just updated by Uncle Sam’s Bureau of Labor Statistics today, and to discuss their possible significance (go to this link to select the tables you see below, specifically “Civilian noninstitutional population” and “Civilian labor force” [not seasonally adjusted]):

The red-boxed areas point to the following:

• In the first table, the not-seasonally adjusted size of our workforce (i.e., the raw numbers) shrank by 2,368,000 from July 2007 to February 2008. Though a few are in the 1.5 - 1.6 million range, no other July-February period in the past 10 years comes even close to the current number.
• In the second table, the total adult population has barely budged in four months (up 94,000), and has gone down 347,000 since December. Again, no other analogous periods in the past nine years come close to these (2003-2004’s four-month increase of 318,000 and two-month loss of 152,000 are the closest).

Where have these people gone? Although the stat mavens may tell us that there’s imprecision in the numbers, these BLS tables raise these questions:

1. Is net out-migration really occurring?
2. Are those here illegally are going further “underground” and escaping detection (they are supposed to be part of BLS’s Household Survey)?
3. Or is it a combination of both?

It’s tempting to ask for a Democratic ballot on Tuesday to vote for the candidate I refer to as BOOHOO (Barack O-bomba Overseas Hussein “Obambi” Obama). That would help ensure that the candidacy of the person I refer to as HR4C (Hillary Rodham Cackling Crying Complaining Clinton) is not merely dead, but really most sincerely dead.

The problem is that if Obama wins in November, and his presidency turns out to be as bad or worse than currently indicated, I would have to own up to having contributed to it. I cannot, and will not, bear that responsibility.

So I’ll stay on the GOP side for the time being. Now what?

The candidate I refer to as JS3M3 (John Sidney the Mad Maverick McCain III) will not get my Ohio primary vote.

He hasn’t earned it. He needs to understand that he hasn’t earned it.

In fact, he seems to care very little whether he gets my vote.

He has done little since he became the presumptive nominee on Super Tuesday to bridge the divide he has built over the last decade between himself and mainstream conservatives.

His “repudiation” of Bill Cunningham for daring to use Obama’s middle name should not have been a public rebuke. Take your pick — It demonstrates shocking tone-deafness or callous indifference to what should be his base. McCain, who feels that Obama’s real middle name shouldn’t be used (heaven forbid) because it is somehow provocative (a position I totally disagree with), should have advised Cunningham of the impropriety either after-the-fact to the press or in private.

McCain will come perilously close to losing my vote if what Bob Novak has written comes to pass:

Former White House political guru Karl Rove is urging that Sen. John McCain pick Mitt Romney as his running mate, writes veteran Washington columnist Robert Novak.

According to Novak, Rove and other GOP bigwigs want Romney in the No. 2 spot despite the bad blood that exists between the former Massachusetts governor and McCain, an enmity that grew out of their heated rivalry during the Republican presidential primaries.

Despite the hype about his alleged conservatism, Objectively Unfit Mitt Romney is more liberal than John McCain. A McCain-Romney ticket combines an all-too-likely failure to control illegal immigration; a total surrender on social issues (based on what Romney has done, which is infinitely more important than what he has said); increases the chances that McCain would give in to the taxoholic-spendaholics in Washington; puts a person from a culture that gives little heed to national sovereignty one heartbeat away from the presidency; and sets the table for inflicting the scourge of RomneyCare on the entire nation.

If the Global War on Terror weren’t in progress, and the other party’s candidates so pitifully weak on national security, a McCain-Romney ticket would be a bridge too far to cross. I hope against hope that McCain has the sense not to do what Rove suggests.

Voting for Mike Huckabee could have been a legitimate temptation. After all, he’s the one still running. But in the two months-plus since it was revealed, no one that I know of has tried to claim that the story of Huckabee receiving hundreds of thousands in consulting and speaking fees while governor is wrong, or explain why it’s okay. Without any kind of attempt to defend it, the presumption has to be that it’s indefensible. Team Huckabee seems to think the whole thing doesn’t even deserve a defense. Fine: Mike Huckabee doesn’t deserve my vote. With a BizzyBlog Dealbreaker like this, I don’t even waste my time looking into where a candidate stands on the issues, because it doesn’t matter.

That leaves the only other GOP candidate who maintained his viability up to South Carolina. He is also the only candidate who had both a solidly sensible platform and a track record showing that he actually believed in it.

Fred Thompson gets my vote on Tuesday, because no active candidate has done more to earn it up to and including today than Thompson did through January 19.

I strongly suggest that anyone receiving a Republican ballot tomorrow who doesn’t think John McCain gets it yet send Mr. Maverick a message. Vote for Fred Thompson.

There’s Supply-side news from Hong Kong, and an interesting choice made in the tax targeted for elimination:

Booming Hong Kong cuts taxes as surplus soars

Hong Kong’s financial chief said Wednesday he will cut salary and corporate taxes and abolish duty on beer and wine after a booming economy pushed the city’s budget surplus to a record high.

….. Duty on beer and wine — currently at 40 percent — will be cut with immediate effect.

Tsang attributed the surplus to higher-than-expected tax revenues from the city’s booming stock and property markets as well as company profits and salaries.

Tsang fulfilled the government’s last year promise to cut salaries tax to 15 percent in 2008-09 from 16 percent and the corporate tax rate to 16.5 percent from 17.5 percent.

Tax rates went down and tax collections went up. How DID that happen?

Hong Kong residents will surely drink to that success.

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So ….. Basic medical hygiene may be less important than a kowtowed-to religion:

Muslim medics refuse to roll up their sleeves in hygiene crackdown - because it’s against their religion

Health officials are having crisis talks with Muslim medical staff who have objected to hospital hygiene rules because of religious beliefs.

Medics in hospitals in at least three major English cities have refused to follow the regulations aimed at helping tackle superbugs because of their faith, it has been revealed.

Women medical students at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool objected to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands and removing arm coverings in theatre, claiming it is regarded as immodest.

Similar concerns were raised at Leicester University -and Sheffield University reported a case of a Muslim medic refusing to “scrub” because it left her forearms exposed.

Some students have said that they would prefer to quit the course rather than expose their arms, but hygiene experts said no exceptions should be made on religious grounds.

It’s worth reminding folks that in a nationalized health care system such as the British NHS, patients often don’t have an alternative as to which hospital they go to, or which doctor will serve them. And besides, in a forced-uniformity system, the problem may exist anywhere there is a Muslim female doctor.

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Jonah Goldberg makes a great point in discussing the “respectability” of unrepentant 1960s radicals William Ayers (”I feel we didn’t do enough [violence]”) and Bernardine Dohrn (HT Instapundit):

What fascinates me is how light the baggage is when one travels from violent radicalism to liberalism. Chicago activist Sam Ackerman told Politico’s reporter that Ayers “is one of my heroes in life.” Cass Sunstein, a first-rank liberal intellectual, said of Ayers and Dohrn, “I feel very uncomfortable with their past, but neither of them is thought of as horrible types now - so far as most of us know, they are legitimate members of the community.”

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This USA Today article shows that those who want to tear us apart are making very real progress:

Teens losing touch with common cultural and historical references

Big Brother. McCarthyism. The patience of Job.

Don’t count on your typical teenager to nod knowingly the next time you drop a reference to any of these. A study out today finds that about half of 17-year-olds can’t identify the books or historical events associated with them.

Twenty-five years after the federal report A Nation at Risk challenged U.S. public schools to raise the quality of education, the study finds high schoolers still lack important historical and cultural underpinnings of “a complete education.”

This is what a large part of the educational establishment wants: No common culture, (except perhaps “US - bad; rest of world, good”). Combine this with the the influx of millions of illegal aliens who clearly are not picking up on our heritage, and in fact are often hostile to it, and you realize that they’re getting their way. And we’re letting them. If there is no cultural glue holding a nation together, it runs the risk of falling apart.

The argument presented in the article that learning basic reading and math skills is getting in the way of learning our culture is as bogus as it comes. How is it that the culture got passed on during the first half of the 20th century, when basic-skills curricula were much tougher? Answer: Because educators almost univerally cared about it.

A Hollywooder shows some spine:

Steven Spielberg has decided not to participate in this summer’s Beijing Olympic Games as an artistic adviser, citing China’s lack of progress in resolving the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
His move is a public relations blow to the Chinese government, which is under pressure to force the government of Sudan to resolve the crisis in Darfur.

Spielberg’s worldwide profile could lead others involved in the Games to pull out and even lead sponsors to reconsider their roles in the event.

Let’s hope so.

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Speaking of China (HT Information Week via Techdirt), this is four months old, but it needs more notice than it has received:

A “Journey to the Heart of Internet censorship” on eve of party congress

In partnership with Reporters Without Borders and Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a Chinese Internet expert working in IT industry has produced an exclusive study on the key mechanism of the Chinese official system of online censorship, surveillance and propaganda. The author prefers to remain anonymous.

On the eve of the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which opens this week in Beijing, Reporters Without Borders and the Chinese Human Rights Defenders call on the government to allow the Chinese to exercise their rights to freedom of press, expression and information.

“This system of censorship is unparalleled anywhere in the world and is an insult to the spirit of online freedom,” the two organisations said. “With less than a year to go before the Beijing Olympics, there is an urgent need for the government to stop blocking thousands of websites, censoring online news and imprisoning Internet activists.”

Good luck with that.

Techdirt describes the size and scope of the censorship machine:

Apparently, there are three agencies responsible for different aspects of online censorship: the Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau, the Bureau of Information and Public Opinion, and the Internet Bureau. There’s also the Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau to handle all the internet firms located in Beijing. It’s all very organized. The Propaganda Agency is in charge of licensing news agencies — but the licenses aren’t to report news or do any, you know, reporting. The licenses are to report propaganda provided by the government. The Public Opinion group basically watches over what public opinion is saying and lets Party leaders know about it, so that a response can quickly be generated. The Internet Bureau, then, is where the real censorship takes place. As for the Beijing Internet organization, it meets with the big internet firms and tells them what news stories will be allowed or not allowed that week.

All with the assistance of members of the BizzyBlog Internet Wall of Shame. According to Information Week, three of whom (Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!) called for, and got, the US State Department to form a task force last year “to investigate the problems posed to the Internet by repressive regimes” — that they are assisting.

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A Cincinnati-area state rep has introduced a bill to make English the official language in the State of Ohio. This post from Virginia (HT Instapundit) is part of why it’s a good idea.

The contest for most offensive headline of the year might be over. From USA Today last week:

Al-Qaeda tries to salvage image

Al-Qaeda militants operating here have shifted tactics to try to improve their image among Iraqis and avoid the mass civilian killings that alienated the public in Baghdad and other cities, the U.S. military says.

It’s as if “avoiding mass civilian killings” is a difficult habit to break, like smoking or drinking.

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A headline where the punch line is too easy:

CIA Monitors YouTube For Intelligence

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Last week, LaShawn Barber had a column identifying which party has a century-plus legacy of racism. Go there to learn which one.

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Britain losing its bearings, Example 1:

History and citizenship lessons should stick to the bare facts rather than encouraging loyalty to Britain when covering subjects such as the Second World War or the British Empire, the Institute of Education researchers said. Teachers should not instill pride in what they consider great moments of British history, as more shameful episodes could be downplayed or excluded.

The translation is the headline: ” Don’t teach children patriotism.”

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Britain losing its bearings, Example 2:

Britain kow tows to China as athletes are forced to sign no criticism contracts

British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not to speak out about China’s appalling human rights record – or face being banned from travelling to Beijing.

The move – which raises the spectre of the order given to the England football team to give a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1938 – immediately provoked a storm of protest.

The controversial clause has been inserted into athletes’ contracts for the first time and forbids them from making any political comment about countries staging the Olympic Games.

Most athletes will tend to avoid controversy anyway, as it has the potential to distract them from their goals and to focus press attention on them during their final weeks of preparation. But this move, clearly as a result of pressure from Beijing, places the height of duress on athletes who want to exercise their consciences, or believe that others should be able to, saying in effect: “If you want to achieve what you’ve always dreamed about, something you may likely never have a shot at again. shut up.” That’s unacceptable.

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The Wall Street “There Shall Be Open Borders” Journal spins California exit polling:

About six in 10 (exit-polled) voters said illegal aliens should either be allowed to apply for U.S. citizenship or to stay as temporary workers. Those voters went for Mr. McCain comfortably. A minority of 38% favored deportation, which is closer to Mr. Romney’s position, but the Senator won even 29% of those voters.

Note the absence of a “secure the borders” option.

CORE POST, Feb. 4: Why Is Romney ‘Objectively Unfit Mitt’?

Other Important Recent Items:
- Feb. 3 — Duncan Hunter Has Raised the National Security Alarm Over Mitt Romney. So Where Is the Scrutiny?
- Feb. 2 — 50 Ways to Reject Romney
- Feb. 1 — Did You Hear? ‘Conservative’ Talkers and Pundits Love Mitt Romney. Now They’re Trying to Save Him.
- Jan. 31 (external), Sam Brownback: Election a Battle Over Abortion, Pro-Life Judges; Trusts McCain
- Jan 28 (external), insidecatholic.com — “Why I Don’t Trust Mitt Romney” (money quote: “For a lot of people, especially Christian conservatives, it’s one of those black and white issues. You’re either pro-life or not. That’s the trouble with Governor Romney — he’s gray.”)

RomneyCare:
- Feb. 4 — The RomneyCare Crackup Continues, and Is Becoming a Chasm
- Jan. 31 — WSJ Op-Ed: RomneyCare Is Life-Threatening CoerciveCare
- Jan. 30 — ‘Universal’ Health Care ‘Terminated’? Yes, in California. But RomneyCare Is Alive in Massachusetts (and WE Are Paying for It)
- Jan 28 (external), CNS News — “Massachusetts Health Care Costs Skyrocket” (RomneyCare implosion continues)
- Jan. 15 — Midnight Message for Michigan on (Objectively Unfit) Mitt (A Model for HillaryCare II)
- Jan. 7 — The RomneyCare Crackup Is Arriving Early (Heavy Fines and Rationing)
- Oct. 18 — The Coming RomneyCare crackup (fourth item at link)

“Romney, the Courts, and the Constitutions” (RC&C), and Gay Marriage:
- Jan. 10 — Mitt Romney Calls Gregg Jackson ‘Delusional’; What Does That Make Romney?
(more…)

Let’s have some fun on TIB tonight (click on the TIB link at Weapons of Mass Discussion).

Based on Paul Simon’s 50 ways to leave your lover

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The problem’s all inside your head on Mitt Romney,
The others make you want to vote for him illogically.
I’d like to help you in your struggle to be free.
There must be fifty ways to reject Romney.

It all starts with the fact that he’s insufferably rude,
Calls critics delusional, y’know that can’t be misconstrued.
So I’ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude –
There must be fifty ways to rip Mitt Romney.
Fifty ways to reject Romney.

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1. Calling Ronald Reagan “adamantly “pro-abortion.”
2. Calling Gregg Jackson delusional for daring to raise why Romney is Objectively Unfit.
3. Tolerating sanctuary cities in Massachusetts.
4. Raising fees in Massachusetts.
5. Failing to roll back the top income tax rate in Massachusetts.
6. Lying to an AP reporter about whether a lobbyist is tied to his campaign.
7. Calling Henry Hyde pro-abortion.
8. Signing on to state-run health care.
9. Leaving Massachusetts’s finances in bad shape.
10. Pretending that he left Massachusetts’s finances in good shape.
11. He was worse as governor of Massachusetts than Bob Taft was as governor of Ohio.
12. He claimed to be a “lifelong hunter,” having hunted at most a few times.
13. He pulled $20 billion out of nowhere and promised it to Michigan.
14. $50 Subsidized Abortions in RomneyCare.
15. Costs out of control in RomneyCare.
16. Huge penalties to those who don’t buy insurance in RomneyCare.
17. His hair is too perfect.
18. He is still invested in Bain Capital.
19. Other family members are still invested in Bain Capital.
20. Bain Capital is invested in Iran.
21. Bain Capital is invested in Russian Oil companies.
22. Bain Capital is invested in Chinese Communist oil companies.
23. Those Chinese and Russian oil companies Bain has invested in have made multibillion-dollar deals with Iran.
24. Mitt Romney has criticized pension funds that have invested in companies doing business with Iran.
25. Bain Capital did not increase jobs at many if not most of the companies it invested in.
26. Romney would not support the Bush tax cuts in 2003 when asked, and now claims he supported them.
27. Romney’s tax increases while governor extracted money from New Hampshire residents to balance the Bay State’s budget.
28. The dog strapped on the roof for an hours-long trip.
29. Falsely claims that he saw his father March with MLK in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
30. When it was found that his father had never done that, told everyone that it all depended on the meaning of the word “saw.”
31. At least $90 million spent.
32. At least $35 million of it from his own back pocket.
33. Romney Supported Abortion Rights EXPANSION in 1994.
34. Romney presumptively pushed aside the incumbent to attain the governorship in Massachusetts.
35. He and his campaign spread a false rumor that Fred Thompson would drop out no matter what happened in Iowa.
36. He has abandoned RomneyCare now that he is running for president, abdicating responsibility for the monster he created.
37. His personal financial disclosure form is incomplete, misleading, and not on deadline.
38. He co-opted the National Review.
39. He co-opted Massachusetts Right to Life to get an endorsement (and from a sub-group, not the whole organization).
40. His campaign is the most likely source of the anti-Mormon robocalls in Iowa and elsewhere to set up his speech about religion.
41. He co-opted the Heritage Foundation to write a state-run health plan.
42. He left the Massachusetts GOP so weak that it lost the governor’s mansion for the first time in 16 years.
43. He left the Massachusetts GOP so weak that it was a smaller minority in the legislature than when he took office.
44. Weak employment growth while he was governor.
45. Thinks his family’s service as Mormon missionaries is the equivalent of military service.
46. Hoodwinked Sean Hannity, into thinking he (Romney) is less liberal than John McCain.
47. Hoodwinked Laura Ingraham, into thinking he (Romney) is less liberal than John McCain.
48. Hoodwinked Glenn Beck, into thinking he (Romney) is less liberal than John McCain.
49. Hoodwinked Rick Santorum, into thinking he (Romney) is less liberal than John McCain.
50. Hoodwinked the Great One, Mark Levin, into thinking he (Romney) is less liberal than John McCain.

Walter Williams, in a thoroughly excellent Townhall column, interrupts the hysteria over the economy to describe the impacts of what is being considered to “fix” the mortgage market situation, even though in historical context it’s not as bad as it was in other times (bold is mine):

The Bush bailout, as well as Federal Reserve Bank cuts in interest rates, is a wealth transfer from creditworthy people and taxpayers to those who made ill-advised credit decisions, and that includes banks as well as borrowers. According to Temple University professor of economics William Dunkelberg, 96 percent of all mortgages are being paid on time. Thirty percent of American homeowners have no mortgage. Delinquency rates were higher in the 1980s than they are today. Only 2 to 3 percent of all mortgages are in foreclosure. The government bailout helps a few people at a huge cost to the rest of the economy.

Williams wrote the above before this morning’s announcement of the 3/4-point Fed rate cut. The professor is correct that this is a wealth transfer, IF Bernanke & Co. are cutting rates beyond what is necessary to keep the whole economy going. I would suggest that at least a third of today’s announced cut is just that.

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Dennis Prager has never been accused of being pro-abortion, which is why this passage from his latest column deserves attention:

In fact, if it is Ronald Reagan that Republicans want, Giuliani is extraordinarily close to that venerated man. Ronald Reagan stood for two great beliefs: that big government is a big problem for a free society and that America must be militarily strong and lead the war against global communism.

Substitute “global jihadism” for “global communism” and you have Rudy Giuliani’s twin pillars. His one major weakness in appealing to all conservatives is that he is for abortion rights. Let me, then, briefly address all those who, like me, consider nearly all abortions immoral.

Ronald Reagan was pro-life, and it mattered little to the pro-life cause. Concerning abortion, what matters most in a president is the type of judges he appoints to the Supreme Court. As George Will wrote on behalf of Giuliani, “The way to change abortion law is to change courts by means of judicial nominations of the sort Giuliani promises to make.” It is extremely unlikely that John McCain would appoint similarly conservative judges. After all, why would he appoint judges like Scalia and Alito who apparently differ with him on the constitutionality of McCain’s own “campaign finance reform” laws?

Pro-life Republicans need to ask themselves: Will a Democrat or Giuliani as president render abortion less common in America? The best is the enemy of the better. And Giuliani is far better on abortion than any Democratic nominee.

The big question is whether you can trust Giuliani when he says he will nominate strict constructionist judges. I would suggest that, like his positions or not, at least you know where Rudy stands. What you see is what you get, and based on his career, what he promises is what you’ll get. With the Three Stooges, who knows?

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Here’s a tax loophole that should be plugged (HT Instapundit). I would note that while there are many universities earning unrelated business income and not paying taxes, the Christian Broadcasting Network is at the top of the list referred to. I should also note that what the list refers to as “total income from business activities” is probably tax-speak for “revenues,” not “profit.”

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From Michigan:

Michigan will no longer let illegal immigrants get driver’s licenses, a practice just seven other states continue to allow.

Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington do not require drivers to prove legal status to obtain a license.

How did that go unnoticed?

I am pleased to report that the word about Mitt Romney’s myriad weaknesses is spreading, and continues to be enhanced by the contributions of others.

This is the fourth of a series of several daily links to others who have news about Objectively Unfit Mitt.

Here goes.

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A Wall Street Journal editorial on GOP presidential candidates’ tax-cut plans notes that all have come around to presenting specifics — except, oh-so-predictably, one:

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney is proposing to expand tax free savings accounts and he speaks vaguely of cutting tax rates. That’s fine with us, though in his typical fashion it seems like the path of least polling resistance. For all of his talk about “changing” Washington, Mr. Romney so far hasn’t offered a tax reform that would reduce the sway of lobbyists and money changers.

Earth to Journal, and to GOP voters: Mitt Romney would more than likely be the lobbyists’ and money changers’ best friend — no matter where they’re from or who they represent. Watch this if you think my concern is without foundation.

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RomneyFacts.com has a great comparison of Blue Mitt and Red Mitt, showing contradictions in his statements — including one instance of where the contradictions occurred on the very same day.

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Salt and Light compares Romney on Reagan in 1994 and 2008:

• 1994 (video): “Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”
• 2008 (video): “Back in 1994 I was making it clear that I was my own man. And I am my own man.”

Sorry, Mitt — any viewer can see that the borderline anger on display in 1994 was meant to tell the audience that you were not only not a fan of Reagan-Bush, but downright hostile towards them.

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Where does he find these people? Romney finance chair choices have turned out to be embarrassing — or they would be, if they got reported:

Romney’s finance team co-chair has been indicted:

A federal grand jury has indicted Fabian for allegedly making $32 million in false purchases of computer equipment to pay for his lavish spending habits. Prosecutors are seeking $32 million worth of Fabian’s assets, including beach real estate in North Carolina, property in Maryland and a yacht.

….. and his Utah finance chair is a crook:

Lichfield was named in a June 2007 complaint filed in federal court in Utah by the families of 133 children who have attended schools associated with WWASP, alleging that they were subjected to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Plaintiff Chase Wood, who attended the Cross Creek Center for Boys (founded by Lichfield in the late 1970s) and another WWASP-affiliated school, claims he was fondled, forced to eat his own vomit, and locked in a dog cage.

Fabian and Lichfield are now former co-chairs. A video about Lichfield’s “schools” is here.

Here’s something about a current co-chair. Romney’s Idaho guy, Frank Vandersloot, is an art-of-intimidation bully who expended an incredible amount of energy attempting (and failing miserably) to defend (get this) pedophile Boy Scout leaders in the Grand Teton Council. Really, even though a local-area paper found that there had been at least a four Scout leaders who had preyed on dozens of victims.

A full list of Romney co-chairs is here. Anyone with relevant info on any of these folks is welcome to e-mail me.

By the way, I predict that if Romney is the nominee, there will be a concerted effort by Old Media to get to the bottom of what appears, based on this simple Google search on “Mormons and ‘child abuse’” and other information I have learned, to be a serious child-abuse problem that exists in the Mormon Church and segments of the Mormon community.

Since a Republican is involved, I predict that Old Media will do a thorough job.

I further predict that if they do that thorough job, they will find a lot to write about.

I finally predict that they will get to within, excuse the expression, close enough striking distance of Mitt Romney’s circle of friends (Update: and acquaintances — Ed.) to have an impact on his prospects, and that the impact will not be favorable.

Special Last-Minute Additions:
- Jan. 14 (external) — The Mitt Romney YouTube Boxed Set — 22 different vids on the various dark sides of Romney
- Jan. 14 (external) — Michael Medved: “Romney the Weakest Candidate”

RomneyCare:
- Jan. 15 — Midnight Message for Michigan on (Objectively Unfit) Mitt (A Model for HillaryCare II)
- Jan. 7 — The RomneyCare Crackup Is Arriving Early (Heavy Fines and Rationing)
- Oct. 18 — The Coming RomneyCare crackup (fourth item at link)

“Romney, the Courts, and the Constitutions” (RC&C), and Gay Marriage:
- Jan. 10 — Mitt Romney Calls Gregg Jackson ‘Delusional’; What Does That Make Romney?
- Received Jan. 7, External post — Did Mitt Romney Break the Law?
- Jan. 7 — A Miracle: Someone in the Media Gets It On Objectively Unfit Mitt
- Jan. 3 — One More Time: Why Is It ‘Objectively Unfit Mitt’?
- Jan. 1 — Romney’s Crunch-Time Choke Game Fix on Same-Sex Marriage
- Nov. 26 — Index to RC&C Posts and ‘Cliff’s Notes’ Explanations
- Nov. 21 — RC&C Part 1 — Abortion Coverage in RomneyCare
- Nov. 21 — RC&C Part 2 — Mitt Romney and Same-Sex Marriage
- Nov. 23 — RC&C Part 3 — Various Excerpts, Statements, and Comments
- Nov. 24 — RC&C Part 4 — What’s Beck Got to Do with It?
- Nov. 25 — RC&C Part 5 — The Next President and the Courts

Tax- and Econ-related Posts:
- Jan. 14 External link — The American Spectator, “Mitt’s Mythical ‘Mass. Miracle’”
(more…)

Here are important points made in a subscription-only op-ed in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend by Ernest Christian and Gary Robbins about an important, underappreciated type of “tax cut” that took place in 2002 and 2003:

….. the economy did not respond much to a Keynesian tax cut in 2001, consisting mostly of a new 10% bottom bracket for individuals and a child credit. In the first quarter of 2001, real investment began falling at an annual rate of 6%. The decline was stopped by the 30% partial expensing (of investments in capital equipment — Ed.) enacted in the spring of 2002. Investment started rising again at a real annual rate of 9% beginning with the enactment in 2003 of 50% partial expensing, in combination with lower rates of tax on capital gains and dividends.

….. An analysis for the Institute for Policy Innovation in 2001 concluded that, over time, each $1 of tax cut from first-year expensing produces about $9 of additional GDP growth. The high ratio occurs in large part because more capital investment leads to more employment and higher wages.

Keep in mind that this form of “tax cut” is really just a timing difference where more expense is reported in earlier years, and less in future years. Assuming rates don’t change, the amount of tax paid will ordinarily be the same over the life of a given capital investment.

Allowing more or even full expensing of investments in capital equipment beyond what is already allowed should be something that both parties in Congress can actually agree on. Given the documented return in GDP growth, how could anyone reasonably say no?

Of course, if the current congressional majority had a brain and was really willing to take on the economic slowing it is complaining about (or is the correct word “celebrating”?), it really should extend or make permanent the tax system that will have been in place for seven years past its current expiration date of 2010 (this is known more commonly as “extending or making permanent the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003″).

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In case you’re wondering, Joey Vento of Geno’s Steaks, the Philadelphia restaurant owner who insists that his customers order in English (first blogged on here in May 2006), is still under fire in Philadelphia. The city’s new mayor has this to say about the situation, noted by Jim Panyard in the Philadelphia Bulletin:

Asked about the nationally famous Geno’s Steaks squabble over owner Joey Vento’s sign telling customers to order in English, Mr. (Mayor Michael) Nutter said:

“I think the sign sends the absolute wrong message in a city that is trying to encourage a multicultural environment and encourage immigrants to come to Philadelphia.”

Translation: Mr. Vento may think it’s a private business, but such things no longer exist in the city. We have our sights on him.

Vento is still under investigation by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. Investors Business Daily had this to say in December when the last hearing was held:

In 1906, Congress passed and President Theodore Roosevelt signed legislation requiring that people seeking to become naturalized citizens demonstrate oral English proficiency. Was Teddy a racist or a realist?

….. As we have said before, the official-English movement and requirements for speaking English on the job are not anti-immigrant. They are pro-assimilation.

English is the language of corporate America and the economic ladder all must climb. It is the difference between staying one of Joe Vento’s customers and becoming one of his competitors.

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A MarketWatch article on teen employment, (requires free registration), or more correctly stated, teen interest in employment, merits attention in the debate over immigration and “jobs citizens won’t do”:

Even as teens shun work force, job opportunities await

New data indicates that last year’s labor-force participation rate for 16- to 19-year-olds hit 41.3% — down from a peak of 57.9% in 1979, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Experts cite increasing competition for jobs, as well as low wages and high pressure for college admittance as factors keeping kids out of the labor pool.

….. In 2006, the typical earnings of more than half of working older teenagers were less than $200 per week, according to BLS. With wages like these, even parents see that extracurricular activities such as sports and clubs can be better options to help kids prepare for their future, Goodman says.

If currently available wages are seen as unacceptable in comparison to college and other costs that have to be met, consider these contributing factors:

• A pool of competing illegal immigrants artificially keeps wages in unskilled jobs lower than they otherwise would be.
• The current college-aid system penalizes “too much” work by teens. Available federal aid is reduced by $1 for every $2 in additional annual earnings by the student above roughly $3,000. So, no surprise, a lot of students stop working at the penalty threshold, or simply decide not to work.
• The college-aid system also gives the schools too much of an ability to raise tuition and fees without resistance. There is no good explanation, other than the explosion in federal student aid, as to why college tuition costs have consistent gone up at about twice the rate of inflation for at least the past 30 years.