Don't Worry, the Obama Administration Is on the Case!
Your wages may not be up. Your 401(k) may be sputtering along. The murder rate in the country's largest cities jumped 13 percent in the past year. A Federal Reserve Board survey finds 49 percent of part-time workers would prefer to work more hours at their current wage, and 47 percent say they couldn't cover an unexpected $400 expense. Children are starting to come across our southern border in greater numbers again, with fears of another surge coming this summer. Our immigration enforcement remains inexplicably lax; "In 2015, [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] freed 19,723 criminal aliens, who had a total of 64,197 convictions among them. These included 8,234 violent convictions and 208 homicide convictions; 124 criminal aliens released by ICE have subsequently been charged with homicide." But by golly, the Obama administration is not just sitting there! The Obama administration is planning to issue a sweeping directive telling every public school district in the country to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity. A letter to school districts will go out Friday, adding to a highly charged debate over transgender rights in the middle of the administration's legal fight with North Carolina over the issue. The declaration -- signed by Justice and Education department officials -- will describe what schools should do to ensure that none of their students are discriminated against. It does not have the force of law, but it contains an implicit threat: Schools that do not abide by the Obama administration's interpretation of the law could face lawsuits or a loss of federal aid. The move is certain to draw fresh criticism, particularly from Republicans, that the federal government is wading into local matters and imposing its own values on communities across the country that may not agree. It represents the latest example of the Obama administration using a combination of policies, lawsuits and public statements to change the civil rights landscape for gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. I guess that ISIS problem is fixed, huh? What does it take to be considered "transgender"? All Johnny has to do is say, "I feel like a woman inside," and he's allowed to go into the girl's locker room? If you're going to give a group specific legal protections, you have to be able to clearly define who qualifies as a member of that group. Like Anna Kendrick, We're Going to Miss McJobs When They're Gone Be careful what you wish for; Kemberlee Kaye points out, "Being replaced by machines is probably not what the Raise the Wage! crowd had in mind, but here we are. Again." Coming soon to Wendy's and other fast food restaurants near you: ordering kiosks. The technology dreams of Wendy's Co. will become a reality for consumers this year. The Dublin-based restaurant chain has been testing a number of new technologies in restaurants and at its 90 Degree Labs venture here in Columbus and Tuesday said those new options, including self-serve ordering kiosks and an upgraded mobile app, are going live. "We're going to be using the first half of this year to get really operationally good at the way in which the kiosks work and to ramp up production," Chief Information Officer David Trimm said at the company's annual investor conference. "We expect that to be in general availability in the second half of the year." Banks and airlines, among other businesses, have conditioned customers not only to use self-service but to expect it, he said, citing a survey by research firm Gartner Inc. where 75 percent of respondents said as much. Farewell, McJobs. The ladder connecting our culture's beloved extended adolescence and full-time adult employment has been creaking and warping for a long time. Finally the living wage crowd arrived with chainsaws to cut those lower rungs to pieces. Way back in 1986, Amitai Etzioni argued "McJobs Are Bad for Kids," lamenting, "as many as two-thirds of America's high-school juniors and seniors now hold down part-time paying jobs." You Millennials won't believe it, but that was life in the Reagan era: people complained that too many people were working. Etzioni's op-ed blurred obvious common-sense concerns about teenagers' ability to balance a job and schoolwork with the notion that the ritual of getting the first job, first responsibility, first boss, first mistakes, and first paycheck was somehow harmful to teenagers. Wait, it gets better; back in the 1980s, Etzioni complained that these afterschool and weekend jobs were leaving teens with too much money: Today, the teen pay may be low by adult standards, but it is often, especially in the middle class, spent largely or wholly by the teens. That is, the youngsters live free at home, ("after all, they are high school kids") and are left with very substantial sums of money. Where this money goes is not quite clear. Some use it to support themselves, especially among the poor. More middle class kids set some money aside to help pay for college, or save it for a major purchase -- often a car. But large amounts seem to flow to pay for an early introduction into the most trite aspects of American consumerism: Flimsy punk clothes, trinkets and whatever else is the last fast-moving teen craze. "Stop going out and earning and spending that money, you brats! And get back onto my lawn!" Fewer teens work summer jobs compared to past generations. I hope the McJob critics are happy. Will the GOP Keep the Senate? Over on the home page, I take a look at whether Donald Trump's nomination will endanger GOP control of the Senate. For Democrats, hopes of retaking the Senate begin with six key targets: Illinois's Mark Kirk, Wisconsin's Ron Johnson, New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte, Ohio's Rob Portman, Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey, and the open seat created by Marco Rubio's retirement in Florida. In a normal political environment, the GOP could feel pretty good about its chances with those five incumbents and one open seat -- but this presidential cycle has been anything but normal. In Pennsylvania, Toomey hasn't trailed in a poll yet, nor has Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, up against Democratic governor Maggie Hassan. In Ohio, Portman's neck-and-neck with former governor Ted Strickland. In Florida, the GOP nominee -- either Representative Doug Jolly, Representative Ron DeSantis, or Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera -- will start with a small advantage if Democrats nominate the obnoxious Alan Grayson; they'll start with a slight disadvantage if Democrats pick comparably milquetoast Patrick Murphy. The darkest outlook comes in Illinois, where there's been little polling, but Democratic challengers Tammy Duckworth will start with a blue-state advantage over Kirk, and in Wisconsin, where Russ Feingold, the man who lost his seat to Johnson in 2010, has enjoyed a usually small but consistent lead in polling this year. In a normal year, Republicans could keep half of these six seats; in a bad one, they could lose all of them. But take note of this: One other wrinkle: Three GOP Senate seats that would be safe under normal circumstances feature octogenarian incumbents: John McCain of Arizona is 80, Alabama's Richard Shelby is 82, and Iowa's Chuck Grassley is 83. They're all hale and hearty for men in their eighth decade, but it's not unthinkable that age and many years in Washington turn into disadvantages in this cycle. Maybe all three men win reelection easily. Or maybe this is the wrong year to be a very familiar face, asking for another six years. ADDENDA: ABC announced their lighthearted crime series Castle is not coming back next year. It's a relief; the tentative plans to continue the show without the female lead, Stana Katic, sounded ominous. I'm sorry to hear the recurring limited series Agent Carter isn't coming back; after a plodding, preachy first season, it really embraced its sense of fun in the second season.  | 
Comments
Post a Comment