Major Defeat to Labor Unions, SCOTUS Rules 5-4 Against Forced Fees to Government Workers … Free Speech Wins

ANOTHER SCOTUS WIN FOR CONSERVATIVES …

Yesterday, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to labor unions ruling 5-4 that state government workers cannot be forced to pay “fair share” fees to support collective bargaining and other union interests. Imagine that, employees are not compelled to have their free speech dictated by a union.  This decision is said to affect 5 million government employees in 24 states and the District of Columbia.  Writing the dissent for the court’s four liberal members, Associate Justice Elena Kagan said the majority succeeded in its “crusade” by “turning the First Amendment into a sword.” Sorry Libs, why wouldn’t this be a choice matter? Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined Kagan. Those in the majority, Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch. The majority overturned the high court’s four-decade-old precedent, known as the “Abood” case from 1977.

The key plaintiff was Mark Janus, an Illinois state employee, who pays about $550 annually to the powerful public-sector union known as AFSCME. While not a member of the union, he is required under state law to hand over a weekly portion of his paycheck,  which he says is a violation of his constitutional rights. How can anyone not see that this was a violation of one’s First Amendment rights not to have compelled speech?

Opinion can be read here.

SCOTUS Transcript

In a major legal and political defeat for big labor, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that state government workers cannot be forced to pay so-called “fair share” fees to support collective bargaining and other union activities.

The conservative majority said a union’s contract negotiations over pay and benefits were inextricably linked with its broader political activities, and concluded workers had a limited constitutional right not to underwrite such “speech.” The case specifically examined union fees paid by non-members.

“This procedure violates the First Amendment and cannot continue,” Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “Neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a non-member’s wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay.”

While the current case applies only to public-sector employees, the political and financial stakes are potentially huge for the broader American labor union movement, which had been sounding the alarm about the legal fight.

The unions say 5 million government employees in 24 states and the District of Columbia would be affected by this ruling.

The majority overturned the high court’s four-decade-old precedent — known as the “Abood” decision — dealing with so-called “agency” fees, allowing states to require public employees to pay money supporting collective bargaining and other union activities.

Watch Mark Janus on his Supreme Court battle against Big Labor from Feb. 2018

DOJ Settles Lawsuits over Tea Party Targeting by Obama IRS … Admission that Conservatives Were Unfairly Ttargeted by the IRS under the Obama Administration

OH YEAH … BECAUSE OBAMA NEVER WEAPONIZED THE IRS AGAINST CONSERVATIVES …

After years of litigation,  The Trump administration has settled lawsuits with some Tea Party and other conservative groups who say they were unfairly targeted by the IRS under the Obama administration. For those that denied that the Obama White House had weaponized the IRS against those that he considered enemies has now been shown to be the truth. What didn’t Obama weaponize and use for his political purposes while president?

This is only some justice. Sadly, the Obama administration with a complicit media was allowed to trample on individuals First Amendment rights, which in turn allowed Obama to be reelected. Personally, an apology is not accepted. There needs to be a lot more than this so that no rogue, ideologue president ever uses the power of the federal government against We the People.  The damage that was done by Obama was sick and heinous. Certain individuals should have gone to jail. Wake the hell up America … and for the LEFT, maybe the next time it will be against you. Maybe that’s when you will finally find fault in such actions.

The Trump administration, after years of litigation, has settled lawsuits with Tea Party and other conservative groups who say they were unfairly targeted by the IRS under the Obama administration.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced early Thursday that the Justice Department had entered into settlements with Tea Party groups whose tax-exempt status was significantly delayed by the IRS dating back to 2013, “based solely on their viewpoint or ideology.”

The settlements involve payments to the plaintiffs and an apology from the IRS.

The targeting scandal drew heavy attention in 2013 when the IRS admitted it applied extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for nonprofit status. Lois Lerner, then head of the Exempt Organizations unit responsible, became the public face of the scandal, though other IRS officials were involved as well.

Sessions said that groups with names involving “Tea Party” or “Patriots,” or those with specific policy positions concerning government spending, were subject to “inappropriate criteria” to “screen” applications.

“The IRS’s use of these criteria as a basis for heightened scrutiny was wrong and should never have occurred,” Sessions said in a statement Thursday. “It is improper for the IRS to single out groups for different treatment based on their names or ideological positions.”

While the IRS did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment, court documents show that the agency did offer an apology.

“The IRS admits that its treatment of Plaintiffs during the tax-exempt determination process, including screening their applications based on their names or policy positions, subjecting those applications to heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays, and demanding some Plaintiffs’ information that TIGTA determined was unnecessary to the agency’s determination of their tax-exempt status, was wrong,” the IRS said in court documents. “For such treatment, the IRS expresses its sincere apology.”

The Justice Department’s settlement would pay the claims of each of the over 400 groups in the case. The attorneys for the groups said it was “a great day for the First Amendment,” but noted that day “was too long in coming.”

Lying, Crooked Hillary Clinton Blasts Fake News Calling it an “Epidemic” that Congress Should Take Action Against

FUNNY HOW HILLARY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT FAKE NEWS WHEN THE MSM SAID THAT DONALD TRUMP COULD NOT WIN …

Hillary Clinton bemoaned the “epidemic” of fake news and called on Congress to take action against it. Of course Hillary, Democrats and her minions blame fake news for her colossal, electoral college landslide loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton and her people blame every other than themselves and a candidate that stood for nothing and could not connect to John Q. Public. Hillary lost two elections that she was supposed to win because she was a terrible candidate.

So let’s understand this, she wants the government to determine what is and what is not fake news? ARE YOU KIDDING? Be very careful what you ask for, especially when it goes against the U.S. Constitution and the 1st Amendment of Freedom of Speech. I rarely, if every agree with the opinions, beliefs and ideology of The Young Turks, but I do on this one. Is there fake news, of course there is. Did it decide the election? Not a chance. Oh, because the MSM never spread fake news and propaganda to boost Hillary Clinton. Now you get a good look what a Hillary Clinton presidency would have looked like. She wants government to go after the 1st Amendment. Not only NO, HELL NO!!!

Hillary Clinton on Thursday decried the spread of fake news online, calling it an “epidemic” that Congress should take action against.

“The epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year — it’s now clear the so-called fake news can have real-world consequences,” Clinton said during a speech on Capitol Hill.

Some Democrats have argued the spread of anti-Clinton fake news online contributed to her electoral loss to Donald Trump.

The issue has received renewed attention this week after a gunman entered a pizzeria in Washington that was at the center of a false viral conspiracy theory that alleged it was home to a pedophilia ring operated by Clinton and her inner circle.

Lee Francis, Teacher at Massey Hill Classical High School in Fayetteville, NC Suspended after American Flag-Stomping Faux First Amendment Lesson

THIS TEACHER WAS NOT PROVIDING ANY LESSON ABOUT FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS WAS ABOUT THE RADICAL LEFT’S DISRESPECT AND HATRED OF AMERICA.

Lee Francis, a teacher at Massey Hill Classical High School, has been put on suspension with pay after he placed an American flag on the ground and stepped on it in an so-called effort to teach children about freedom of speech. The backlash from this disgusting act has been swift and massive on social media and from the public at large. The top school system administrator, Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Frank Till said in a statement, “Clearly, there are other ways to teach First Amendment rights without desecrating the flag.” However, the radical leftist teacher said he’s been shocked by the backlash, both in-person and on social media, that his lesson has generated. REALLY, WHAT KIND OF A CLUELESS INDIVIDUAL ARE YOU? This fool is shocked that people would be outraged that you used a school setting to desecrate an American flag in a state that has so many military installations!

A note to Lee Francis and the rest of the American hating liberal teachers in America … the majority of people in the U.S. love America and they don’t need you stomping on a flag to provide them with a lesson on free speech. This was just a hateful act of a liberal trying to spew their venom on children. Nothing more.

A teacher’s First Amendment lesson at a Fayetteville high school has sparked outrage and he has been place on leave by school officials.

Lee Francis, a teacher at Massey Hill Classical High School, said he put an American flag on the ground and stepped on it. But, he said, it was in the context of a lesson on freedom of speech.

“I put it on the ground and I used my right foot and I took two steps on it, and immediately two kids get out of the room,” he said.

A number of residents denounced Francis’ actions, calling them unpatriotic.

“I think it’s inappropriate to teach that in school,” said Fayetteville resident Grayson Chavonne. “If he wants to do that in his own home that’s his prerogative, but it doesn’t need to be taught to our kids.”

Dan Travieso, who is running for the N.C. Senate in District 21, called Francis’ lesson a direct insult to those who fought for our country and a “poor choice of judgment.”

“Just because I step on the flag doesn’t mean I step on their graves,” Francis said. “It doesn’t mean I step on their bodies as they return from overseas. It means I step on a piece of fabric.”

This fool’s statement shows just how little this man really knows and why he should never be teaching children. Guess what you moron, people have given their lives to defend the flag that is symbolic of America and liberty. Yes you were disrespecting those that died defending it and if you can’t understand that, you should be no where near teaching children.

Colorado ACLU Board Member: Shoot Trump Voters ‘Before Election Day’ … From the LIB who Called Trump a Hate Speech Felon

JUST CURIOUS, HOW DO YOU THINK THE MSM WOULD REACT IF DONALD TRUMP OR ANY REPUBLICAN MADE SUCH A COMMENT?

Isn’t it the unhinged, lunatic LEFT that is against guns and gun violence? Hmm, then why would Loring Wirbel, board member of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Colorado chapter and co-chair of the ACLU’s Colorado Springs chapter, call for supporters of GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump to be shot before they vote for the billionaire businessman? Where is the liberal tolerance? Where’s the love? Better than that, this moron calls Trump a hate speech felon and yet is calling for people to shoot people in the process, seriously? Who’s the felon?

Isn’t the liberal left double standard of intolerance remarkable? These are the folks that rail about free speech, yet they look to prevent Donald Trump from having his. Then this is the same bunch that look to take the guns away from law abiding citizens while they make threats of gun violence and call for voters to be shot. Unreal and SICK!

Loring Wirbel, board member of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Colorado chapter and co-chair of the ACLU’s Colorado Springs chapter, called for supporters of GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump to be shot before they vote for the billionaire businessman.

Comparing Trump to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, Wirbel wrote in his Facebook page:

The thing is, we have to really reach out to those who might consider voting for Trump and say, “This is Goebbels. This is the final solution. If you are voting for him I will have to shoot you before election day.” They’re not going to listen to reason, so when justice is gone, there’s always force, as Laurie would say.

More insane rants from the LEFT via Twitchy.

Just curious, how is one allowed to make such a threat like this and a call for violence? Sorry, this goes beyond free speech.