Friday, April 25, 2014

Holder cancels graduation speech amid protests





Attorney General Eric Holder canceled a speech to a graduating class of police cadets in Oklahoma City on Thursday, after crowds of Oklahomans flocked to the ceremony to protest his appearance. 
Protest organizers said Holder's planned speech to the law enforcement graduates was "inappropriate," and argued that the attorney general has failed to uphold the law himself. 
"A lot of people just felt that it was very inappropriate for this man, with his track record, to speak to law enforcement officers that demand and expect to be backed up by the government working on behalf of the citizens, not against the citizens," State Rep. Mike Turner (R.), who is running for U.S. congress, told theWashington Free Beacon. 
Turner said Holder has flouted the law when it comes to illegal immigration, the "Fast and Furious" gunrunning scandal, and the Second Amendment. 
The U.S. House of Representatives held Holder in contempt of Congress in 2012, on the grounds that he was impeding investigations into Fast and Furious. 
The Oklahoma City protest made national news Thursday afternoon, after Holder backed out of the speech shortly before the graduation ceremony began.
Holder's office told the Washington Times that the last-minute cancelation was due to a scheduling issue. 

"The attorney general had been looking to addressing the cadets, and regrets he cannot attend in person," spokesman Brian Fallon told the Washington Times. "He extends his heartfelt congratulations to the cadets and their families."

Student claims community college rejected application because of Christian faith

Brandon Jenkins was denied entry to a radiation therapy program at the Community College of Baltimore County because of his Christian faith and was advised to not wear his religion on his sleeve, a lawsuit filed in federal court alleges.
Now, I have to admit to being a bit skeptical when I first heard about Mr. Jenkins’ plight – seeing how this is the age of tolerance and diversity. But any doubt I had melted away after his attorney showed me the proverbial smoking gun.
David French, an attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice, has an email written to his client by Adrienne Dougherty, the director of the college’s radiation therapy program.
In the email Ms. Dougherty explains why Jenkins was denied entry into the program. She wrote that while his grades were good, there were other students with higher grade point averages. Applicants had to have a 2.5 overall GPA to be eligible. Still, it seemed plausible that there were other candidates with higher averages.
It sounds to me like the Community College of Baltimore County has a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” religion policy.
The college also took issue with his desire to stay in Maryland after he got his degree.
“I feel that I would be doing you a disservice if I allowed you into the program and you are not able to find a job based on your past,” she wrote.
Mr. French acknowledged that his client had a single criminal charge on his record – dating back more than 10 years. Early in the admission process, Mr. Jenkins asked if that would be a problem, and he was assured it would not hamper his effort.
But then – Ms. Dougherty dropped the bombshell, the lawsuit alleges.
“I understand that religion is a major part of your life and that was evident in your recommendation letters, however, this field is not the place for religion,” she wrote. “We have many patients who come to us for treatment from many different religions and some who believe in nothing at all.”
And then, Ms. Dougherty offered what I imagine in her mind must have been helpful advice in this age of tolerance and diversity.
“If you interview in the future, you may want to leave your thoughts and beliefs out of the interview process,” she wrote.
This field is not the place for religion.
“I was astonished by the email,” Mr. French told me in a telephone conversation. “While colleges routinely discriminate against Christians, rarely do they state their discrimination so explicitly.”
In a letter to the ACLJ, a law firm representing the community college, defended Ms. Dougherty’s statement.
“Stated bluntly, that is not bad advice,” attorney Peter Saucier wrote. “Mr. Jenkins was not advised to ignore, change or deny his religious views. The suggestion simply was that he not wear them on his sleeve as his best qualification.”
So you might be wondering -- how the college knew that Mr. Jenkins is a Christian?
Well, during the interview process he was asked the following question: what is the most important thing to you? According to the lawsuit, Mr. Jenkins replied, “My God.”
Mr. French said there were no follow up questions and his client did not mention his religious beliefs. But that brief mention of God, coupled with recommendation letters that made references to faith, were enough to disqualify Mr. Jenkins from the program.
Still, the college denied they discriminated against the man. Instead, they argue they were just trying to help him refocus and succeed.
“Her words may have been inartfully stated, but the fact is that in any secular job or program interview it is better to have a concrete reason for wanting to undertake the training at hand than to say only that God directed one to do it,” Mr. Saucier wrote to the ACLJ. “That is true for every job from astronaut to attorney.”
It sounds to me like the Community College of Baltimore County has a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” religion policy.
The ACLJ’s lawsuit alleges the college violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution and they want their client granted admission to the radiation therapy program. A college spokesperson told me they have not yet seen the lawsuit.
In fairness to the college – it’s not like they are kicking him out of the school. Ms. Dougherty’s email clearly shows that she was offering him alternative degree paths. She went so far as to suggest he could work on a degree in mental health study – and noted in her email that he would make a “great candidate.”
I’ve never met Mr. Jenkins, but he sounds like a stand-up guy. Based on the court documents I’ve read, it sounds as if he took a wrong turn in life. But through his faith in God, he made amends and got back on the right path.
Here’s a man who’s trying to better himself with a college education. Here’s a man trying to live the American dream only to be told he can’t do that because he believes in God. That should spark a furious fire in the heart of every red-blooded, freedom-loving American.
The ACLJ lawsuit names four administrators: Sandra Kurtinitis, Mark McColloch, Richard Lilley and Adrienne Dougherty as defendants. Should they be found guilty of discriminating against this man because of his faith – they should be fired. American tax dollars should not be used to fund the salaries of religious bigots.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America”.

Oregon panel recommends moving to federal health care exchange

The Obama administration is getting ready to rescue the failing Oregon state health care exchange, which has been hit by technical glitches from the start.
On Friday, the Cover Oregon board will take up a recommendation made Thursday by a partial panel to hand over the state- run exchange to the federal government.
The move comes nearly seven months after Oregon’s online system was supposed to go live, but never did so completely.
Cover Oregon official Alex Pettit said fixing the existing system would be too risky and take too long to implement.
He also said it would be too costly. Trying to fix the system would cost around $78 million, he said. Switching to the federal system would be considerably cheaper, estimated at $4 million to $6 million.
Oregon would continue using its current technology for Medicaid enrollments, but not for people who are buying private policies.
Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told Fox News in a written statement Thursday, “We are working with Oregon to ensure that all Oregonians have access to quality, affordable health coverage in 2015.”
Oregon's exchange is seen as the worst of those of more than a dozen states that developed their own online health insurance marketplaces. The state is the only one where the general public still can't use an online enrollment system to sign up for coverage in one sitting -- despite an early start building the site and millions of dollars from the federal government.
The Oregon exchange – like the ones in Maryland and Massachusetts- have been hit hard by technical glitches that have made signing up difficult for consumers.
The website was supposed to go live Oct. 1, but Cover Oregon and the technology vendor that built it, Oracle Corp., have been unable to work out all the glitches. Instead, Oregonians must use a costly, time-consuming, hybrid paper-online process to sign up for insurance.
The state has spent nearly $7 million on the paper processing efforts, in addition to $134 million in federal funding paid to Oracle.
Oregon was the only state to receive a month-long enrollment extension because of the technology problems.
The federal Government Accountability Office has announced an investigation into Oregon's exchange, including looking at whether the federal government can reclaim grant money given to Cover Oregon if taxpayer funds were mismanaged.
Separately, former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asked for an inspector general's investigation into problems with the rollout of the health care law.
An independent investigation ordered by Gov. John Kitzhaber found state managers repeatedly failed to heed reports about technical problems that prevented the exchange from launching. It also found that Oracle did a shoddy job in building the exchange. Four Oregon officials connected to the development of the Cover Oregon portal have resigned.
Kitzhaber has insisted that communications about the portal's troubles never reached him as the planned Oct. 1 launch neared.
So far, about 240,000 Oregonians have enrolled in coverage through Cover Oregon. More than 69,000 of those enrolled in private health plans, while 171,000 enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan, the state's version of Medicaid. 
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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