It was a big stretch for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to call the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on her state’s immigration law “a victory.” The high court tossed out much of the law, which Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach helped write. The state “may not pursue policies that undermine federal law,” the court wrote. For now, the court did let stand the law’s requirement that police officers check the immigration status of those they detain if there is “reasonable suspicion” the person is an illegal immigrant. But even that provision could face additional legal challenges, said the justices, who want the issue first heard by state courts. The Supreme Court’s ruling isn’t much of a victory for the federal government, either. It was the feds’ failure to enforce immigration law, and Congress’ failure to create a workable and responsive immigration system, that caused some states to take matters into their own hands.
Former Reagan economist Arthur Laffer, who consulted on Kansas’ tax policy, and Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal noted how “the largest peacetime expansion of government spending in U.S. history” occurred during George W. Bush’s administration, not during the Obama administration. The list of spending is long, they wrote, starting with “the 2003 trillion-dollar Medicare prescription drug benefit and culminating with the actions taken to stem the 2008 financial meltdown – the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bailout of insurance giant AIG and government-sponsored lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the ill-advised 2008 $600-per-person tax rebate, the stimulus add-ons to 2007’s housing and farm bills, etc.” The stimulus plan and auto industry bailouts helped increase spending during Obama’s first year in office, but since then it has decreased (due in part to the recovering economy and pressure from GOP lawmakers who suddenly cared again about deficits).
Kansas City Star columnist Mary Sanchez gave the University of Kansas high marks for toughening its admission standards, a move signed off on by the Kansas Board of Regents last week. Beginning in 2016, an incoming freshman would need a 24 or better on the ACT (up from 21 now) and a 3.0 grade point average in high school (up from 2.0) for automatic admittance to KU (an even higher GPA could offset a lower ACT score). But Sanchez noted that KU will take into account whether an applicant comes from a family of KU grads, and “‘Who’s your daddy?’ shouldn’t be a privilege at a public institution seeking to serve a range of students.” She added: “KU is wisely attempting to elevate itself to a higher national ranking by improving retention and graduation rates. And bloodline has nothing to do with the ability to succeed academically.”
It was a big stretch for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to call the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on her state’s immigration law “a victory.” The high court tossed out much of the law, which Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach helped write. The state “may not pursue policies that undermine federal law,” the court wrote. For now, the court did let stand the law’s requirement that police officers check the immigration status of those they detain if there is “reasonable suspicion” the person is an illegal immigrant. But even that provision could face additional legal challenges, said the justices, who want the issue first heard by state courts. The Supreme Court’s ruling isn’t much of a victory for the federal government, either. It was the feds’ failure to enforce immigration law, and Congress’ failure to create a workable and responsive immigration system, that caused some states to take matters into their own hands.
