Monday, March 18, 2024

From the Houston Chronicle: Texas State Board of Education faces takeover by GOP challengers backed by influential donors

An example of the influence of money in politics.

- Click here for the article.

For more than 20 years, Fort Worth Republican Pat Hardy has been a reliably conservative voice on the State Board of Education.

Hardy has fought for Moses to be included in social studies standards, advocated for presenting creationism alongside evolution in science textbooks and said she was an early voice to call for the banning of critical race theory from the state’s public schools.

But in 2024, Hardy is not conservative enough for Republican voters: She lost her primary election earlier this month against Brandon Hall, a former youth pastor who has pitched himself as a fighter for Christian conservative values.

In addition to Hardy’s outright loss, two other Republicans on the board — Pam Little and Tom Maynard — were forced into runoff elections against opponents pitching themselves as stronger conservatives. All three challengers received heavy financial support from Texans for Educational Freedom, a right-wing advocacy group that cut its teeth trying to sway local school board elections but has turned its attention to overhauling the state board, spending more than $300,000 this year.

Hall and the others are poised to have a big impact right away, as the board is scheduled to revise the state’s social studies curriculum standards next year for the first time in more than a decade. The board’s decisions will influence what children will learn about government, Texas history and American history, among other topics.

Despite getting contributions from three times as many donors, Hardy’s campaign only raised about a third as much as Hall, who brought in $146,623. Of that, $145,758 came from Texans for Educational Freedom — 99.4 percent.

Hall said he was proud to receive TEF’s support, which he said he earned because of his positions on the issues.

Fascism and Mussolini | The 20th century | World history | Khan Academy

Democracy Without Borders: Democracy declined in 42 countries in 2023, new V-Dem report says

A study by a think tank arguing that democracies are shrinking.

- Click here for the article.

The V-Dem Institute based in Gothenburg in Sweden has presented its annual report on the state of global democracy for the 8th consecutive year, gathering information from 202 countries and measuring over 600 different attributes of democracy. The report has become one of the most prominent sources in the state of democracy around the world.

The V-Dem Democracy Report 2024, titled “Democracy Winning and Losing at the Ballot”, highlights the continuity of an autocratization trend in the world, noted by previous reports from V-Dem and other organizations such as Freedom House, the Economist Intelligence Unit or International IDEA.

According to V-Dem, the share of the world’s population living in autocratizing countries since 2009 has exceeded the proportion living in democratizing countries, with 71% of the world’s population or 5.7 billion people currently living in autocracies. This constitutes a 48% increase compared to ten years ago.

According to the report, autocratization in 2023 was ongoing in 42 countries, home to 35% of the world’s population, while democratization was taking place in 18 countries, hosting only 5% of the world’s population.

Sorted by the regime types identified by V-Dem, in 2023, 32 countries in the world were considered liberal democracies, 59 electoral democracies, 55 electoral autocracies and 33 closed autocracies.

The Rules for Rulers

Friday, March 15, 2024

From the Washington Post: Realtors’ settlement could dramatically change cost of housing sales

The interest group representing the real estate profession was sued by home sellers who argued that real estate commissions were artificially high.

An example of the use of the courts to change policy.

- Click here for the story.

The National Association of Realtors has agreed to settle litigation that accused the industry group of artificially inflating real estate commissions, setting up a reconfiguration of the housing market that could dramatically lower how much consumers pay in home transactions.

. . . Under the proposed deal, the group representing 1.5 million real estate agents would change rules that plaintiffs and consumer advocates say have helped inflate commissions for home sellers, who for decades have paid Realtors 5 to 6 percent of the sale price. The association also would pay $418 million over four years to settle several cases.

. . . “There’s no doubt in my mind that this is going to bring about tremendous savings to homeowners,” said Michael Ketchmark, a plaintiff attorney representing Missouri home sellers in one of the cases, adding that he was confident that agreement would fundamentally change the real estate market and help lower the cost of housing and home sales.

. . . The association’s century-old commissions structure provides that sellers’ and buyers’ agents split an amount that typically ranges between 5 and 6 percent of the home sale price. Home sellers in Illinois and Missouri alleged in a pair of class-action lawsuits that NAR’s rules inflate commissions by requiring sellers’ agents to make a compensation offer to list on the Multiple Listing Service, a home selling database.

In October, a Kansas City, Mo., jury found that NAR and major brokerages conspired to keep commissions artificially high and awarded a class of Missouri home sellers $1.8 billion in damages. Meanwhile, the case in Illinois had been moving toward a trial, focused on similar allegations. The agreement announced Friday, if approved by a judge, would resolve those cases and end the long-standing commissions structure, Ketchmark said.

From the Washington Post: RNC fires dozens of employees after Trump-backed leadership takes over

This deserves attention.

A purge seems to be underway at the Republican National Convention. Republicans who do not fully support Trump are being removed. Critics worry this may undermine he competitiveness of the party in general elections.

- Click here for the article.

The new leadership team at the Republican National Committee — picked by former president Donald Trump — started firing dozens of employees days after taking over, according to three people familiar with the firings who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

About 60 people were told they were no longer employed, according to a person with direct knowledge of the changes.

One of the people familiar with the firings said data, political and communications staffers were affected, and notifications were made on Monday by Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump adviser who was at the RNC’s Capitol Hill headquarters. LaCivita had complained about the staff of the RNC for several months, people who spoke to him said, and long planned to make changes. The Trump adviser had studied the organization’s payroll and employees for several weeks, the person said.

LaCivita also told some contractors that they would not be renewed, and some of the ousters included employees who worked in the campaign’s state offices. Some staffers were described as shocked by the firings, which took place over the course of the day.

“Gutting a committee just before the election seems insane,” said a former RNC employee.

__________

What is the Republican National Committee?

- From Wikipedia

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention. When a Republican is president, the White House controls the committee. According to Boris Heersink, "political scientists have traditionally described the parties' national committees as inconsequential but impartial service providers."

As with the Democratic Party, it also has operations on the state and county levels, in addition to many smaller organizations.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

 https://mwareanews.com/2024/03/06/glenn-rogers-pens-response-to-election-loss/

From Bolts: “Playbook of Fear” Fails to Sway Voters in Austin and Houston DA Races

Here is an analysis of recent conflict within the Texas Democratic Party in races for district attorneys in Harris and Travis Counties.

It highlights the dispute over how aggressive law enforcement - prosecution specifically - should be.

- Click here for the article.

A despondent teddy bear sits below a grainy picture of Travis County District Attorney José Garza, flanked with a warning that says “Garza is filling Austin’s streets with pedophiles and killers.” The alarmist mailer, sent to voters by a dark money group, lit up the final days of Austin’s DA race. Challenger Jeremy Sylestine denied any involvement, calling the mailer “demagogic” and “extreme.” So did other high-profile critics of the first-term DA.

But while no one claimed responsibility for the mailer, it mirrored the language that Garza’s opponents have long used to say his reforms ushered in a period of lawlessness, despite data showing crime is on the decline.

Sylestine claimed that Garza painted a “political bullseye” on police officers, and aired an ad accusing him of being “lenient” on child sexual assault. The local police union similarly accused Garza of “targeting” cops for “political gain,” or giving a “sweetheart deal to a child predator.” The head of the local GOP called for his criminal prosecution and said that Garza has “declared war” on the police. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused him of caring more about “the radical agenda of dangerous Antifa and BLM mobs than justice.” And they all routinely singled out the support he received in 2020 from a PAC associated with George Soros, the billionaire who has supported progressive causes and emerged as a leading foil for the right.

. . . Over in Houston, Harris County DA Kim Ogg has employed a similar playbook during her tenure in office, long accusing proponents of criminal justice reform of filling the streets with violence.

On Tuesday, she lost overwhelmingly in the Democratic primary to challenger Sean Teare, a former prosecutor in her office. She trails 78 to 22 percent as of publication.

While Ogg won her first term in 2016 on promises of reform, she then became one of the leading antagonists of Harris County’s landmark bail reform, which expanded pretrial release for people accused of low-level offenses. “We see judges right now letting dangerous misdemeanor offenders out,” Ogg complained in 2019. After voters elected some progressive county officials in 2018, she frequently battled with them. Ogg painted the frightening picture of a “new battleground for public safety” that pitted her staff against local Democratic judges, whom she blamed for letting violent defendants walk. (The Harris County jail has remained overcrowded and in violation of minimum safety standards.)

“When you have murderers running around on multiple bonds… it’s a scary time,” she said.

Again this year, Ogg went after her challenger, Teare, for being “Soros-funded”—ironically, since her first win in 2016 was fueled by more than half-a-million dollars in spending from a PAC with ties to the billionaire. While benefiting herself from heavy financial support from the bail industry, Ogg claimed that Soros backed Teare because she “did not toe the line on bail and did not agree to open the doors of the jail to violent offenders.”

Teare told Bolts last month that Ogg spread a “culture of fear” in her office. He says the DA has caused line prosecutors to overcharge some cases, be too aggressive in plea offers, and resist pretrial detention, for fear of backlash over a specific case of recidivism. “That’s the way you don’t get in trouble,” he said.

Teare has said he supports the misdemeanor bail reform and he pledged not to take campaign donations from the bail industry. His website features a study that showed the increase in pretrial releases did not increase crime.

Information about the source: 

- Click here.

Bolts is a digital magazine that covers the nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up. We report on the local elections and obscure institutions that shape public policy but are dangerously overlooked in the U.S., and the grassroots movements that are targeting them.

We focus on two areas where local governments play a key role: criminal justice and voting rights.

When it comes to practices that balloon prisons or weaken democracy, decisions are often made by an opaque ecosystem of institutions and officials. Our journalism shines a spotlight on the levers of power that influence democracy and mass incarceration—think of your local judges, county clerks, or prosecutors—and the political battles around them.


 


Monday, March 4, 2024

From Axios: The SEC's revolving door exits to crypto

For our look at the revolving door, in this case between the SEC, and the businesses it regulates

The Rgulatory Agency: Securities and Exchange Commission

The Crypto Industry
- Coinbase
- Ripple
- Terraform Labs
- FTX

Law Firms: 
- White & Case
- Sullivan & Cromwell

- Here is the article.

Lawyers who helped build the regulatory case against crypto are now advising firms on how to navigate it, Crystal writes.

Why it matters: It's an example of the SEC's long-criticized "revolving door" with the companies it regulates and is more notable given the power shift underway in crypto following several high-profile court losses for the agency.

The big picture: The issue raises strong concerns of regulatory capture, a phenomenon where the regulatory scheme and laws governing an industry are influenced in favor of regulated entities.But for crypto, an industry that's been regulated mainly through enforcement, the movement of key agency lawyers is likely to have a more immediate direct impact — in the courtroom.

Between the lines: Ladan Stewart, the lawyer overseeing the SEC's lawsuit against Coinbase, recently left the agency for White & Case.She served for over eight years in the agency's enforcement division, and oversaw its crypto litigation program taking on Ripple, Do Kwon's Terraform Labs and multiple FTX execs.

Her experience at the SEC "is a significant asset given the heightened regulatory scrutiny of the crypto industry in recent years," Joel Cohen, the head of White & Case's white-collar practice, said in a statement."Ladan is extraordinarily well positioned to counsel crypto industry players and defend them against regulatory or private actions."

Case in point: In the Coinbase lawsuit, the SEC is already facing off against one of their own — Steven Peikin, of Sullivan & Cromwell, who was co-director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement from 2017 to 2020. Axios observed SEC lawyers on the Coinbase case showing deference to Peikin in July as the crypto exchange was defending itself in a New York courtroom.

Ripple claimed victory against the SEC in a different courtroom in the same building that same day.

What they're saying: The Office of Inspector General's annual report on SEC management and performance challenges lists "recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce" as an issue: "Although the SEC has hired an average of over 300 staff members from external sources annually over the past four years, until 2023, most of those gains were offset by staff departures."

Reality check: The revolving door may benefit the industry, but it doesn't necessarily indicate regulatory capture.A securities lawyer Axios spoke to called SEC defection a "time-honored tradition." But the argument — that regulators go easy on the industry to snag those jobs later — is mostly wrong, the lawyer says.

"If Elizabeth Warren decided she wanted to leave government and go work for Big Law or Wall Street, she could name her price and place of employment."

The bottom line: One theory that may have legs came from Bloomberg's Matt Levine in 2014: "Strict regulation makes the revolving door spin faster."

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/03/attorney-general-merrick-garland-voting-rights-bloody-sunday-service

 https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/fraction-of-texans-vote-in-primaries/

TRUMP v. ANDERSON

 https://www.scotusblog.com/

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-719_19m2.pdf

 https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-supreme-court-upholds-baseballs-antitrust-exemption

Some scenes from election equipment pickup





 

Sunday, March 3, 2024

From the Texas Tribune: Early voting turnout in 2024 Texas primaries slumps compared to 2020

 For our look at:  

- voter turnout.
- primary elections.

Click here for the article

More than 200,000 fewer Texans participated in early voting during the 2024 primary election compared to the 2020 primary – despite an overall uptick in the number of registered voters in the state.

About 10% of registered voters, or 1.8 million people, cast a ballot during early voting, which ran from Feb. 20 to March 1. That marked a significant decline from the last presidential primary election in 2020, where 12.6% of registered voters participated early.

_______

For more: 

- MIT Lab: Voter turnout.

- MAP: VOTER TURNOUT PERCENTAGE.

- US Elections Project. National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present.

For our look at political polarization

- The polarization in today’s Congress has roots that go back decades.

- US Congress is on track to be the most polarized ever, data shows.

 - Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States: What the Research Says.

- The polarization paradox: Elected officials and voters have shifted in opposite directions.

 https://www.economist.com/international/2024/02/28/africa-is-juggling-rival-powers-like-no-other-continent

 https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trust/archive/winter-2024/a-roadmap-for-managing-wildfire-costs

 What is a civility ordinance? The sidewalk law planned for some Houston neighborhoods, explained https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/civility-ordinance-explained-18698498.php

Thursday, February 29, 2024

S21 - The Khmer Rouge Prison From Hell

From Wikipedia: Information warfare

- Click here for the entry

2/29/24

Supreme Court takes up Trump immunity appeal.

Dummy tank.

- The Institute for the Study of War.

Analysis of the United States Documented Unplugged Orphaned Oil and Gas Well Dataset.

Ryan Sitton.

Broker.

In vitro fertilisation.

Wrongful Death of Minor.

Setting the Record Straight on 10 Misconceptions about Migration and Asylum at the US-Mexico Border.

Wikipedia: James LePage, et al. v. The Center for Reproductive Medicine and Mobile Infirmary Association

- Click here for the article. 

. . . a 2024 Alabama Supreme Court case in which the court held that, under Alabama's Wrongful Death of a Minor law, frozen embryos should be considered as living beings, making the accidental loss of embryos by an in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic considered equal to murder.

. . . In 2020, a patient at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile, Alabama improperly accessed the cryogenic freezer where frozen embryos were stored, removing and dropping them on the floor after their hands suffered from cold burns. Four parents—James and Emily LePage and Felicia and Scott Aysenne—sued against the Center for Reproductive Medicine, with William Tripp and Caroline Fonde serving as plaintiffs in LePage's lawsuit.

The Alabama Supreme Court opinion holding that embryos are children, explained.

What's the quickest way to make money?

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

From the Texas Tribune: Rural housing programs serve Texas’ elderly and disabled. This federal bill could make the process easier.

Fiscal Federalism
Social Goods
- etc. . . . 

- Click here for the article.  

As Texans spend more of their income on paying their rent than essentials like health care, food, and transportation, several bills filed this congressional session aim to make it easier for people in rural communities to continue living there.

Last week, Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, introduced House Bill 7412. It would address administrative issues in the Rural Housing Voucher program that prevent people in rural communities from using critical benefits like housing vouchers.

The bill would clean up some of the hurdles, such as making official notices about housing assistance more readable and informing landlords of the program so they are more likely to accept vouchers from tenants. It would also direct the Rural Housing Service office to develop a plan identifying at-risk tenants and ensure they have a fast approval process for vouchers.

Crockett’s bill, along with a package of bills under the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, stand to update the housing landscape for people in far-flung areas around the country.

The federal bills address Section 515, a program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development. It provides loans to individuals, nonprofit organizations or corporations to build, improve or purchase rural multifamily housing. People who live in rural communities can also receive a housing voucher through the 515 program that can be used toward rent where it is accepted.

Texas, the second most populous state, has 646 Section 515 properties — the largest number of any state — which serve more than 20,000 families.

How far the rural housing bills go depends on action from Congress. Aside from narrowly dodging government shutdowns, political strife has so far caused legislation to be done at a snail’s pace. This includes the new Farm Bill, which continues to be kicked down the road through extensions.

Advocates say the program is vital to keep rural housing affordable for those living paycheck to paycheck — they cater to families with low and moderate incomes, the elderly, and people with disabilities. According to a national report, 92% of Section 515 tenants have incomes that are less than half of the area median income. More than half of households are elderly people or people with disabilities.

Regarding NetChoice v Paxton

Texas Tribune: Does the First Amendment apply to social media moderation? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide.

ScotusBlog: Supreme Court skeptical of Texas, Florida regulation of social media moderation.

Oyez: NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton.

NetChoice

Wikipedia: Computer & Communications Industry Association.

Wikipedia: Paul Clement.

Monday, February 26, 2024

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/26/supreme-court-social-media-case-netchoice/

From The Houston Chronicle: Suspended Houston police cases grow from 2,000 to 264,000 under Chief Finner's watch, union says

For our look at local governments and criminal justice.

- Click here for the article

A review of sex crimes cases suspended with an internal code citing a lack of personnel has expanded department-wide to include more than 264,000 cases, Chief Troy Finner said Monday.

The dropped cases makes up about 10% of the department’s 2.8 million filed since 2016, Finner said. About 100,000 of those are property crimes, he wrote.

Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Association, said he was concerned about the latest revelations. The union president said Monday at least three of the department's division Standard Operating Procedures included directives about when to use the code to close cases.

The divisions included auto theft, vehicular crimes and major assaults and family violence, Griffith said. The major assault guidelines were signed off on by Finner Dec. 1, 2023, Griffith said.

Finner did not respond to a request for comment about the allegations as of Monday afternoon.

"I am very concerned," Mayor John Whitmire said Monday, following Finner's announcement. "It is unacceptable and I have instructed Chief Finner to be transparent and continue his review as a top priority. Public safety continues to be my highest priority."

Griffith said employees were instructed they could use the code on misdemeanor cases with little solvability. He said other cases could be suspended using that code, but those could be reopened if someone reaches out to the department seeking charges, Griffith said.

- City of Houston Police Department.

Open Secrets: Most expensive ever: 2020 election cost $14.4 billion

- Click here for the article.  

Saturday, February 24, 2024

From the Washington Post: How different groups voted in the South Carolina primary, according to exit polls

Another look at the factions within the Republican Party - at least in South Carolina - based on exit polls. Voters in the Republican Primary were divided in many ways, including whether they voted for Trump or Haley. These results don't accurately reveal the differences within the party because this was an open primary. Haley made an appeal for Democrats to crossover and vote for her. I'll look around and see if there is an estimate of how many may have done so.


Here's a bit about how the poll was conducted, this info is found at the bottom of the article: 


Methods: These results are from a survey of 2,126 Republican primary voters as they exited randomly selected voting sites in South Carolina on Feb. 24, 2024. The poll was conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool (ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC), The Washington Post and other media organizations. Results will be weighted to match vote tallies by region and to correct for differential participation by subgroup. Totals may not add to 100 percent because of rounding.



- Click here for the article.

Donald Trump’s comfortable victory over Nikki Haley was fueled by strong support from White evangelical Christians and voters without college degrees. Big majorities of primary voters favored deporting most undocumented immigrants and said that Joe Biden’s 2020 election was illegitimate, and both of these groups favored Trump over Haley by an overwhelming margin.


The poll revealed that gender and age were not indicators of . . . 


Trump voters were more likely to:

- not be college educated
- have family incomes below $50,000.
- be very conservative.
- be white evangelical Christians
- focus on immigration and the economy.
- want a president who "fights for people like me."
- favor a national ban on abortion
- deport undocumented aliens
- think that Biden was illegitimately elected
- think Trump could be president even if convicted 
- vote for Trump rather than against Haley
- have previously voted in a Republican Primary

Thursday, February 22, 2024

https://pavo.org/

https://www.fivb.com/

https://usavolleyball.org/

https://provolleyball.com/ 

From the Texas Tribune: Texas passes on $450 million summer lunch program for low-income families

The state government tends to refuse these funds citing a variety of reasons.

- Click here for the article.  

This year 35 states will participate in a $2.5 billion federal nutrition program that will help low-income parents buy groceries for their children when free school meals are unavailable during the summer months.

But Texas, which has 3.8 million children eligible for the program, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has opted not to join this national effort. If it had, qualifying families would have received $120 per child through a pre-loaded card for the three summer months. The USDA calculated that Texas is passing on a total of $450 million in federal tax dollars that would have gone to eligible families here.

The reason for the pass is simple, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. When the USDA notified HHSC officials of their new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT program on Dec. 29, that gave the nation’s second largest state only six months to get it up and running and that’s not enough time, said Tiffany Young, a spokesperson for the state agency.

Although the summer program would involve two other agencies as well – the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Agriculture – HHSC would have to bear the brunt of the work because they would have to coordinate and direct the distribution of the preloaded cards to qualifying families.

Already on their plate is the cumbersome unwinding of Medicaid coverage. Since last April, the agency has removed more than 2 million Texans from the program since the federal government lifted continuous coverage rules during the pandemic, forcing those who still qualify for coverage to reapply. From HHSC’s perspective, launching an entirely new program would be at this time.

Additionally, the USDA would only cover 50% of the administrative expenses for Summer EBT. It would be up to the state to cover the residual cost.

The program is called the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children.

For more: United States Department of Agriculture.
- Website.
- Wikipedia.

Food and Nutrition Service.
- Website.
- Wikipedia.

Political Typology Quiz Results

GOVT 2305 THS01: Establishment Liberals

GOVT 2306 THS02: Establishment Liberals.

GOVT 2306 THS01: Stressed Sideliners.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Was the Founding Undemocratic? The Property Requirement for Voting

- Click here for the link.

Quotes: 


Alexander Hamilton:

"If it were probable that every man would give his vote freely, and without influence of any kind, then, upon the true theory and genuine principles of liberty, every member of the community, however poor, should have a vote… But since that can hardly be expected, in persons of indigent fortunes, or such as are under the immediate dominion of others, all popular states have been obliged to establish certain qualifications, whereby, some who are suspected to have no will of their own, are excluded from voting; in order to set other individuals, whose wills may be supposed independent, more thoroughly upon a level with each other."


John Adams: 

It is certain in theory, that the only moral foundation of government is the consent of the people. But to what an extent shall we carry this principle? Shall we say, that every individual of the community, old and young, male and female, as well as rich and poor, must consent, expressly, to every act of legislation? No, you will say. This is impossible. How then does the right arise in the majority to govern the minority, against their will? Whence arises the right of the men to govern women, without their consent? Whence the right of the old to bind the young, without theirs?

why exclude women? You will say, because their delicacy renders them unfit for practice and experience, in the great business of life, and the hardy enterprises of war, as well as the arduous cares of state. Besides, their attention is so much engaged with the necessary nurture of their children, that nature has made them fittest for domestic cares. And children have not judgment or will of their own. True. But will not these reasons apply to others? Is it not equally true, that men in general in every society, who are wholly destitute of property, are also too little acquainted with public affairs to form a right judgment, and too dependent upon other men to have a will of their own? If this is a fact, if you give to every man, who has no property, a vote, will you not make a fine encouraging provision for corruption by your fundamental law? Such is the frailty of the human heart, that very few men, who have no property, have any judgment of their own. They talk and vote as they are directed by some man of property, who has attached their minds to his interest


James Madison:

The right of suffrage is a fundamental article in republican constitutions. The regulation of it is, at the same time, a task of peculiar delicacy. Allow the right exclusively to property, and the rights of persons may be oppressed. The feudal polity alone sufficiently proves it. Extend it equally to all, and the rights of property or the claims of justice may be overruled by a majority without property, or interested in measures of injustice. Of this abundant proof is afforded by other popular governments and is not without examples in our own, particularly in the laws impairing the obligation of contracts.

In civilized communities, property as well as personal rights is an essential object of the laws, which encourage industry by securing the enjoyment of its fruits: that industry from which property results, and that enjoyment which consists not merely in its immediate use, but in its posthumous destination to objects of choice and of kindred affection.

In a just and a free government, therefore, the rights both of property and of persons ought to be effectually guarded. Will the former be so in case of a universal and equal suffrage? Will the latter be so in case of a suffrage confined to the holders of property?

 https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/022024zor_7647.pdf

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Jury Duty

From the Texas Tribune: Texas gives $125 million to rural sheriffs and prosecutors for pay increases

More federalism - in this case, state assistance to counties.

- Click here for the article.  

Texas has awarded $125 million in grants to rural sheriffs and prosecutors across the state, the Texas Comptroller said in a statement last week — an effort to help those law enforcement agencies attract and keep talent in their communities.

The pool of money was established by state lawmakers last year in Senate Bill 22, which passed with bipartisan support. The legislation, authored by state Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, totaled $330 million and established grants for increasing minimum salaries and additional equipment.

Rural law enforcement can apply for the grant again in 2025, which the comptroller will issue using the remaining money.

The comptroller’s office, which among other duties manages the state’s budget and collects taxes, began accepting applications last year and determined the amount each county would receive by population size. Only counties with a population smaller than 300,000 were eligible for the grant.

Of Texas’ 254 counties, 236 have populations slimmer than 300,000, according to a 2022 estimate from the Texas Demographic Center.

The comptroller’s office said 94% of eligible sheriff’s offices applied for money. Nearly 86% of eligible prosecutor’s officers applied, the comptroller said. The comptroller awarded grants to 224 sheriff offices and 138 prosecutors offices.

The grant’s recipients must first raise pay — with sheriffs earning $75,000, deputies $45,000, and jailers $40,000 — before using the money to buy equipment. The grants ranged from $250,000 to $500,000 for sheriff’s offices. Prosecutors could apply for anywhere between $100,000 and $275,000.

The money is a start to reverse a long-term decline of prosecutors in rural Texas counties, said Pamela Metzger, executive director of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at the SMU Dedman School of Law.

From the Texas Tribune: Paxton’s push to oust incumbents puts spotlight on Court of Criminal Appeals primaries

Both the Texas Attorney General and Governor are attempting to remove opponents within their party by campaigning against them in the party primary.

- Click here for the article

The three incumbents running for their seats on Texas’ highest criminal court were not well known political figures outside of the legal community. That was until they earned the ire of Attorney General Ken Paxton in response to a 2021 opinion over a voter fraud case.

Now, the three female Republican justices on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, Judge Barbara Hervey and Judge Michelle Slaughter, find themselves in the position of having their conservative credentials questioned in “low-information elections” in which they’re up against Paxton’s political machine.

“The Court of Criminal Appeals, who I am concerned was put there by George Soros ‘cause no one knows who they are, they’re all Republicans but even Republicans don’t know who they are,” Paxton told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson last month, referring to the Democratic mega donor.

The three incumbents, who have nearly a century of combined experience practicing criminal law, as prosecutors and jurists, have been accused by Paxton’s allies of abandoning their judicial duties and stripping the attorney general’s power to enforce voter fraud — a consequential issue for the modern-day GOP under former President Donald Trump.

For more along these lines: 

Judge rejects attempts to toss indictments against Texas AG Ken Paxton, keeps April trial on course.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton remains on track to be tried for felony fraud this spring after the presiding judge shot down his attempts to have the charges thrown out.

During a Friday court hearing in Houston, Harris County District Court Judge Andrea Beall rejected Paxton’s arguments that his right to a speedy trial had been violated.

Beall’s decision means that, barring another unexpected delay, Paxton’s securities fraud trial will kick off on April 15. The proceedings are much anticipated; the attorney has been under active indictment for nearly nine years. He has pleaded not guilty.

Special prosecutor Brian Wice applauded Beall’s decision and said Paxton was the reason these cases have not yet gone to trial.

“We think that the general’s fingerprints, footprints and DNA were all over the delays,” said Wice, a private criminal defense lawyer brought on to represent the state after the local district attorney recused himself.

During the hearing, Paxton’s defense attorney Dan Cogdell blamed the prosecutors for much of the delay. He said their attempts to be paid — which have been unsuccessful since 2016 — put off the trial for years.

From Wikipedia: Allegheny Portage Railroad

An early infrastructure project designed to make transportation over the Appalachian Mountains easier. 

- Click here for the entry.

The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania. It operated from 1834 to 1854 as the first transportation infrastructure through the gaps of the Allegheny that connected the midwest to the eastern seaboard across the barrier range of the Allegheny Front. Approximately 36 miles (58 km) long overall, both ends connected to the Pennsylvania Canal, and the system was primarily used as a portage railway, hauling river boats and barges over the divide between the Ohio and the Susquehanna Rivers.

Main Line of Public Works.

The Main Line of Public Works was a package of legislation passed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1826 to establish a means of transporting freight between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It funded the construction of various long-proposed canal and road projects, mostly in southern Pennsylvania, that became a canal system and later added railroads. Built between 1826 and 1834, it established the Pennsylvania Canal System and the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Later amendments substituted a new technology, railroads, in place of the planned but costly 82-mile (132 km) canal connecting the Delaware River in Philadelphia to the Susquehanna River.

Monday, February 19, 2024

 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/17/trump-hubris-family-empire-new-york

 https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/texas-ercot-solar-power-record-rooftop-18663045.php

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/19/politics/republicans-retiring-house/index.html

2024 Presidential Greatness

- Click here for the study.

From USA Today: 5 disinformation tactics voters should guard against before Election Day

Could be useful when thinking about this semester's essay topic.

- Click here for the article.  

Basic point:

Here are five tactics of disinformation used by authoritarians to gain power that voters should watch out for in the coming months:

1) Repetition. By repeating a false claim, a disinformer can trick people into believing lies are true.

2) Go big. Another tactic of propagandists is to go big. Everyone tells small lies, the thinking goes, but most people cannot imagine that someone would have the audacity to tell a huge lie

3) The either/or fallacy. A third strategy that authoritarians use to manipulate the public is the either/or fallacy. They use this technique to divide and conquer factions within society.

4) The part/whole fallacy. Another strategy is what debaters refer to as the “part/whole fallacy.” Disinformers look for the most undesirable or controversial policy view of the opposing party and then suggest that the whole party shares the same view.

5) Destroy truth. A final tactic is one that is used by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin, of course, learned the tradecraft of influence operations in the KGB, the former Soviet intelligence service. The goal of this tactic is to convince people that truth doesn’t matter.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

 


From PISD: Board of Trustees Call May 4 Bond Election

For our look at local sources of revenue.

- Click here for the notice

The Pearland Independent School District Board of Trustees called for a May 4 bond election to address infrastructure and district-wide technology needs.

After considering recommendations from the Bond Advisory Committee comprised of community members, business leaders, and parents, trustees called for a $30 million technology and a $75 million infrastructure bond election during their February 13 regular meeting.

Determining the need for technology and facility infrastructure bonds within Pearland ISD was comprehensive and rooted in careful analysis and planning.

The district started by thoroughly assessing its current technology and infrastructure assets. This involved evaluating the condition of existing facilities, finding any shortcomings or areas needing improvement, and checking if the technology resources were enough to support modern educational needs. After gathering assessment data, analyzing it, and taking input from stakeholders and consulting experts, the district formulated a detailed long-term plan for facilities and technology. These plans laid out strategic goals, priorities, and recommendations to address identified needs and ensure that facilities and technology infrastructure align with educational objectives.

The bond package, which seeks to address facility issues identified as top priorities by the committee, includes. . .

Infrastructure Proposition

Electrical: district-wide upgrades to lighting for cost efficiency and added security, including replacement of old lamps for LED indoor and outdoor and addition/replacement of deteriorated light poles; wiring and extension of circuits of existing generators at multiple locations; and replacement of aging electrical components.

HVAC: Replacement and rebuild of HVAC deteriorated system/components, including chiller, boiler, heating and domestic boilers, air handler, and more, at several campuses, district stadium, and Transportation East facility, as well as district-wide replacement of pipe insulation.

Plumbing: Replacement of aging roofing components, including roof drain “cow tongues” (Turner/PJH South), water lines (PJH West), and drainage improvements (Carleston drive).

Roofing: Replacement of existing roofs at PJH East, Rogers, Jamison, East Transportation, PACE Center, Shadycrest, Old ESC, PJH West, and Athletic buildings at PHS.

Life Safety: Upgrades to existing fire alarm systems at PACE Center, Rogers, Challenger, Rustic Oak, Silverlake, CJ Harris, PJH West Weight Room, East Transportation, PHS (Searcy) and Dawson (partial), elevator rebuilds at PHS, district stadium, Turner (2) and PJH South, district-wide fire sprinkler upgrades, campus handheld radio replacement and first responder radio coverage testing equipment.

Parking and Traffic: Parking lot replacement (Carleston and ESC), additional parking (Challenger) and re-painting of fire lanes (district-wide)

Interior Scope: Interior painting, sound system upgrades, Clock System upgrades, gym ceilings and floor refinish/repair, carpet replacement and slab repair/leveling.

Technology Proposition

The technology bond's total amount covers five years of expenses, which includes replacing teacher and student computers on a one-to-one basis, upgrading classroom technology, and investing in staff, teachers, and shared computers, labs, servers, storage, networking, and a data center.

If the proposed technology and infrastructure bonds are approved, most of the planned expenses for technology and infrastructure will be covered until 2032, allowing capital funds to become available for addressing transportation, program, and other operational needs.

If either or both bond propositions pass, the tax rates will stay consistent at the approved rate of $1.1373, which was established during the fall of 2023 through the passage of Pearland ISD’s Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE). This stability is facilitated by Pearland ISD’s current capacity within the Interest and Sinking budget (I&S), which will cover the bond projects, alleviating the need for adjustments to the operating or Maintenance and Operations (M&O) budget.

A standout among local and state school districts, Pearland ISD has a history of excellence and innovation in fiscal management, having earned state recognition for its cost-effective operations, paired with high academic achievement and overall student success. According to Niche, the district was recently ranked No. 4 in the Houston area out of 53 and No. 30 out of 1,052 school districts in Texas.

“If the technology and facility infrastructure bonds passed, Pearland ISD would maximize available funding without increasing taxes, allowing us to enhance our educational resources and facilities and support creating a sustainable and strong financial future,” Superintendent Larry Berger said.

To vote in the May 4 election, individuals must be registered Brazoria County voters living in Pearland ISD before April 4. A list of polling places will be available closer to the election date.

For information about registering to vote and voting locations, please visit www.votetexas.gov.

If you have questions about the May 4 bond election, visit www.pearlandisd.org/bond or contact Pearland ISD at 281-485-3203.

Regarding the upcoming primary elections in Brazoria County.

- Texas Secretary of State: Offices up for Election in 2024.
- Texas Secretary of State: Election Dates 2024.
- Brazoria County Elections Division.
- Brazoria County: Voter Registration.
- Brazoria County: Voter Precincts.
- Brazoria County: Candidate Information.
Brazoria County Democratic Party Candidates
- Democratic Sample Ballots.
- Brazoria County Republican Party Candidates
- Republican Sample Ballots.

From The Washington Post: Inside Ted Leonsis’s decision to move Wizards, Capitals to Virginia

A look at the relationship between city governments and professional sports teams.

- Click here for the article

For months, the billionaire owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals had been pressing the D.C. government to pay at least half the cost of modernizing his aging downtown arena. Now, in an email on Dec. 10, a Sunday afternoon, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser was offering just that — $500 million toward an $800 million project to keep his basketball and hockey teams playing in the city for decades to come.

Leonsis responded two hours later, saying he would review the proposal right away and suggesting they meet. On Tuesday morning, the mayor presented her offer at Leonsis’s corporate offices at Capital One Arena, in a conference room with windows overlooking the street below.

They spoke for an hour before the Democratic mayor brought up the elephant in the room. She said she had heard chatter that Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was about to announce a deal to build an arena for the teams on the other side of the Potomac River. She asked Leonsis if it was true.

Leonsis spun 360 degrees in his chair. Nothing had been signed, he said, but he acknowledged he would be joining Youngkin for an announcement the next day.

Suddenly, it became clear: He hadn’t invited the mayor to his offices to discuss her offer. He’d done it to tell her she was too late.

“If you would have offered this to me earlier,” he said, “I would have accepted it.”

Leonsis’s decision to pull his teams out of the city represents a consequential rupture in what has been a successful partnership between a three-term mayor and an owner who had invested in the District for more than two decades and pledged to stay there. If local and state officials in Virginia sign off, the move could also stall an economic engine that has drawn more than 2 million visitors per year to Chinatown, an area that has lately struggled with empty storefronts, office vacancies and crime.

From the Washington Post: Trump’s anger at courts, frayed alliances could upend approach to judicial issues

Many of the plans detailed here would tie together the executive and judicial powers, and give the president more direct control over the justice department. 

- Click here for the article.

Trump has complained publicly and privately that his first-term Justice Department leaders were too weak, that his Supreme Court picks have tried to come across as too “independent” and that the court system has broadly been biased against him, as he faces 91 felony charges. Trump told donors in meetings in late 2023 that one of his only mistakes as president was that he did not pick the right people to lead the Justice Department, according to people who attended, and he regularly discusses plans for the department in a second term.


Terminology: 

conservative legal establishment
Federalist Society
stock the federal bench
Leonard Leo
Donald McGahn
Mitch McConnell
top attorney general candidates
Article III project
judicial advocacy group
Jeffrey Clark
Deregulation
Faith and Freedom Coalition
Insurrection Act
White House Counsel’s Office
populate the agencies.
Project 2025

From the Houston Chronicle: Mayor Whitmire overhauls Houston Housing Authority board, blames agency for housing voucher pause

More on the powers of a strong mayor as well as housing policy.

- Click here for the article

Terminology: 

- Houston Housing Authority
- board of commissioners
- "Section 8” Housing Choice Vouchers
- public housing
- low-income housing assistance
- affordable housing development.
- federal regulations
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- property taxes
- tax break deals

In later material we will note that affordable housing is considered to be a social good. 

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

https://texasorthopedic.com/

https://toa.org/medicare-2/

https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=22&pt=9&ch=199&rl=5

https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.ViewTAC?tac_view=2&ti=22

https://www.county.org/resources/resource-library/texas-counties-101/about-texas-counties

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

 https://youtu.be/3joj1Vo_fKI?si=0t0wzslV6qZ8-pnu

Why the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapsed



Following the collapse, the Washington state government 

- Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Failure of the Bridge. A Reprint of Original Reports.

The Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridge collapsed on November 7, 1940. Immediately after this catastrophe several Boards of Engineers were appointed by the different agencies connected with the financing and construction of the bridge to report on the causes of failure, amount of damage, and cost of dismantling and rebuilding. These Boards made their reports to the agencies by which they were retained. The Advisory Board on the Investigation of Suspension Bridges obtained additional copies of these reports and arranged to supply technical libraries with assembled and corrected copies.


The FWA ("Carmody") Investigation Board.

The State of Washington and the United States government both appointed boards of experts to investigate the collapse of the Narrows Bridge. The insurance companies established a "Narrows Bridge Loss Committee."

The Federal Works Administration appointed a 3-member panel of top-ranking engineers: Othmar Amman, Dr. Theodore Von Karmen, and Glen B. Woodruff. Their report to the Administrator of the FWA, John Carmody, became known as the "Carmody Board" report.

In March 1941 the Carmody Board announced its findings. Three key points stood out: (1) The principal cause of the Narrows Bridge's failure was its "flexibility;" (2) the solid plate girder and deck acted like an airfoil, creating "drag" and "lift;" and (3) aerodynamic forces were little understood and engineers needed to test all suspension bridge designs thoroughly using models in a wind tunnel.

The Board refused to blame any one person. The entire engineering profession was responsible, said the experts.


Twin Views of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse.

After the various studies of the collapse, a new suspension bridge was constructed at the same location . The new bridge is four lanes wide and has open grid sides instead of solid I-beams . It was opened on October 14, 1950, and has not displayed any of the interesting oscillatory properties of the first bridge

Sunday, February 11, 2024

From Wikipedia: Taxation as theft

Thought this might fit in well with our discussion of civil liberties.

A theft is - among other things - a violation of one's civil liberties, one that is done regularly by governments. And since taxation is a concurrent power, this happens by all governments. 

- Click here for the article

The position that taxation is theft, and therefore immoral, is found in a number of political philosophies. Its popularization marks a significant departure from conservatism and classical liberalism, and has been considered radical by many as a result. The position is often held by anarcho-capitalists, objectivists, most minarchists, anarchists, right-wing libertarians, and voluntaryists.

Proponents of this position see taxation as a violation of the non-aggression principle. Under this view, government transgresses property rights by enforcing compulsory tax collection, regardless of what the amount may be. Some opponents of taxation, like Michael Huemer, argue that rightful ownership of property should be based on what he calls "natural property rights", not those determined by the law of the state.

Defenders of taxation argue that the notions of both legal private property rights and theft are defined by the legal framework of the state, and thus taxation by the state does not represent a violation of property law, unless the tax itself is illegal. Some defenders of taxation, such as socialist Matt Bruenig, argue that the phrase "taxation is theft" is question-begging, since it relies on presupposing a particular theory of property entitlement.

Saturday, February 10, 2024

From the Houston Chronicle: Houston transportation planner resigns as street designs lead to strife

For out look at both local government (the strong-mayor system) and transportation policy.

- Click here for the story.

Friday, February 9, 2024

 https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2xvrPmrTV2/?igsh=ZXdtcmk0YTVqYTZ4

The right to have ones vote counted

Another one of our unenumerated rights perhaps?

This is part of what former president Trump was accused of violating with his actions surrounding the 2020 elections.

But there's nothing in the U.S. Constitution stipulating such a right. Does it therefore not exist?

Some related readings: 

Right to Have Vote Counted.

- Vote Counting and Tabulation.

Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003

In recent trainings I had to cover material regarding prison rape.

Generally that's not a problem in the classrooms on prison, so it doesn't affect me much, but you Never know. 

Here's background on the act.

- Wikipedia

The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) is the first United States federal law intended to deter the sexual assault of prisoners. The bill was signed into law on September 4, 2003.

Public awareness of prison rape is relatively recent and estimates of its prevalence vary widely.

In 2001, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a paper called No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons, the single event that contributed most to PREA's passage two years later.[2] HRW had published several papers on the topic of prison rape in the years since its initial report called All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons, released in 1996, when there was barely any Congressional support for legislation aimed at prison rape. A 1998 attempt by Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), known as the Custodial Sexual Abuse Act of 1998, was attached to the reauthorization bill for the Violence Against Women Act but summarily removed and never reintroduced. 

Michael Horowitz, a Hudson Institute senior fellow, has been credited with playing a part in passing PREA by helping to lead a coalition of the bill's supporters.


Groups which supported the bill: 

Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Concerned Women for America.
Amnesty International USA
Focus on the Family
Human Rights Watch
NAACP
National Association of Evangelicals
Penal Reform International
Physicians for Human Rights
Presbyterian Church USA
Prison Fellowship
Salvation Army
Union of American Hebrew Congregations.


For more: 

S.1435 - Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.

- 42 U.S. Code Chapter 147 - PRISON RAPE ELIMINATION.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/workers-america-jobs-demographics-charts-94a5ff6c?mod=browser_push

Thursday, February 8, 2024

From Lawfare: White House Submits 48-Hour War Powers Resolution Report Following Response to Jordan Attack

For our look at he extent of executive power in the United States.

Background: What is the War Powers Resolution

The War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, with a further 30-day withdrawal period, without congressional authorization for use of military force (AUMF) or a declaration of war by the United States. The resolution was passed by two-thirds each of the House and Senate, overriding the veto of President Richard Nixon.

- Click here for the article

On Feb. 4, President Joe Biden released a letter “consistent with the War Powers Resolution” notifying Congress of the U.S. strikes on Feb. 2 against Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. The strikes followed the Jan. 28 attack on the U.S.’s Tower 22 outpost in northeast Jordan that killed three U.S. service members. In the letter, Biden wrote that these most recent strikes were conducted “[i]n response to the continuation of attacks against United States forces since my prior report” issued on Jan. 25—not just in response to the Jordan attack.

According to the letter, the president “directed the strikes in order to protect and defend our personnel and assets who are in Syria, Iraq, and Jordan conducting military operations pursuant to the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force [AUMF]” and to “degrade and disrupt the ongoing series of attacks against the United States and our partners.” This War Powers Resolution letter is the eighth the Biden administration has submitted since the militias began to escalate their attacks on U.S. forces following Hamas’s attack in Israel on Oct. 7.

Biden stated that the strikes were conducted “pursuant to” his Article II authority and “in accordance with” the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs—consistent with Biden’s last two War Powers Resolution letters on strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. And as in each of the prior seven letters, President Biden asserted that the strikes were a “necessary and proportionate action consistent with international law” and an exercise of the U.S.’s right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

You can read the report here or below. And you can read the rest of the reports following the strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria here (Jan. 25), here (Jan. 5), here (Dec. 27), here (Nov. 22), here (Nov. 14), here (Nov. 10), here (Oct. 27) or below.

From the New York Times: Quiz: Let Us Predict Whether You’re a Democrat or a Republican

I anticipate having this as the basis of the written question for week 6.

- Click here for it.

Here's some policy info on each party: 


Democrats

Democratic platforms seek to promote social programs, labor unions, consumer protection, workplace safety regulation, equal opportunity, disability rights, racial equity, regulations against environmental pollution, and criminal justice reform. Democrats tend to support abortion rights and the LGBT community, as well as a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Democrats typically agree with the scientific consensus on climate change and favor a multilateral approach in foreign policy.

Republicans

The positions of the Republican Party have evolved over time. Currently, the party's fiscal conservatism includes support for lower taxes, small government conservatismfree market capitalism, free tradederegulation of corporations, and restrictions on labor unions. The party's social conservatism includes support for gun rights outlined in the Second Amendment, the death penalty, and other traditional values, often with a Christian foundation, including restrictions on abortion. In foreign policy, Republicans usually favor increased military spending, strong national defense, and unilateral action. Other Republican positions include opposition to illegal immigration, opposition to drug legalization, pornography and affirmative action, and support for school choice and school prayer.

See Also: 

Demographics of the Democratic Party.

Factions in the Democratic Party.

Factions in the Republican Party.