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A national discussion regarding the state of civil rights in the U.S. exploded after racial comments made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling were made public, followed by news that he has been banned for life from the NBA.However, another story broke on the same day NBA Commissioner Adam Silver held his press conference that might be even more important for the future of civil rights in the country: a federal court struck down Wisconsin’s voter ID law. The law first passed in 2011, as a measure

There is considerable news in the press about setting the minimum wage at $10.10 per hour. Recently, Connecticut became the first state to pass this as the minimum wage. Is this the answer? Or is the answer a program that seeks to eliminate unemployment? Anyone who has ever taken an entry level economics class has seen the graph for the labor market with supply and demand meeting an equilibrium point. Under that model, unemployment is solely caused by wages being higher than the equilibrium poi

In Missouri, the state House of Representatives recently and overwhelmingly passed a bill that would compel law enforcement officials to get a warrant before tracking a person's electronic mobile device(s). Two pages long, Missouri House Bill 1388 amends Chapter 542 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri pertaining to "Proceedings to Preserve the Peace - Searches and Seizures." The bill is sponsored by Republican Robert Cornejo of St. Peters, who said upon introducing his bill in January, "The dat

It seems that in every cycle there is debate about which states should hold the first presidential primary elections. Some state always seems to try to jump ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Since 1972, the Iowa Caucuses have been first in the nation and New Hampshire has been the first "primary" since 1920. There, of course, have been states that have attempted to circumvent Iowa and New Hampshire, claiming that they don't truly represent America as they are small states with seemingly narrow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxmGjcTWKuo Meet Kay Shea, now 86 years old, 83 at the time of her accident. In August 2011, Kay was hit head on by a 17-year-old boy on a two lane road in central Missouri. She was taken by air ambulance to the hospital where she would stay for the next 5+ months. Her injuries are too many to list here, the hospital bills were over $800,000. There was never a question of fault. The boy admitted at the scene of the accident that it was his fault, in deposition he

Of the 35 senate seats up for grabs in 2014, the one currently held by Max Baucus (D-MT) promises to be a barn burner. Pundits speculate that Republicans have an opportunity to regain control of the Senate and with an open seat for the taking, the Montana Senate race will be highly competitive. Baucus has been tapped by President Obama to be the new U.S. Ambassador to China. In a statement released in December regarding the appointment, President Obama said: “For more than two decades Max Bau

As long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it?  - William M. “Boss” Tweed, c. 1871 History shows that for as long as the right to vote has existed, that right has been threatened. Thomas Nast’s caricature portraying “Boss” Tweed leaning against a pedestal on which stands “the Ballot” symbolizes a dark time in late nineteenth century America, where the “playing field” of politics was leveraged by party bosses and machine politics at the expense of the voters. Tammany Hall-era p

Massachusetts passed the first wage law in 1912, followed soon after by thirteen more states and the District of Columbia. However, the Supreme Court ruling in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935) resulted in the defeat of a major provision of President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” and further efforts would not succeed until Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 1938. A national minimum wage was established at $0.25 per hour.A few very sobering facts: , a startling perspec

A bipartisan team of California lawmakers is pushing a bill through California's legislature that would prevent any state-related entity from  disclosing information on citizens to federal agents without a warrant. State Senators Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) introduced Senate Bill 828, also called the Fourth Amendment Protection Act, on Monday. Specifically, the bill would prohibit "an employee of the state... a corporation... or a political subdivision of the state fr

When one thinks of the political “center” of America, the 11th Congressional District in New York, comprised of Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, is hardly the first image that comes to mind. After all, New York City is supposed to be one of the great bastions of the liberal-progressive movement, as reflected in the overwhelming wins of Democrats Bill de Blasio, Letitia James, and Scott Stringer in the 2013 citywide elections.But while pollsters run in droves to Iowa to get the pulse of “the