As loyal Hotline readers know, we are militantly pro-choice when it comes to allowing children to attend the best schools. We have also partnered at Unleash Prosperity to form the Education Freedom Alliance with ALEC, Job Creators Network, and about a dozen other organizations – including a black pastor group – to promote school choice for all kids of all colors. The goal is 25 states in 2025.
We’re proud of our new motto. Click the image below to see the new booklet:
We know it’s a winner because the teacher's unions hate it. We think we’ll print some tee shirts with this slogan.
Our sources tell us there's a big push for Kamala to tap Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro for her running mate. He's young, slick like Bill Clinton, and of course runs the state that could decide this election.
When Shapiro ran for governor, he pledged to support "lifeline" scholarships to attend private schools for low-income families. It was one of his signature promises and helped define him as a common-sense centrist.
Last year, Shapiro went on national Fox News and said he still supported the lifeline scholarships.
After a long fight, the budget got to his desk with the scholarship program included, WHAM, Shapiro line-item vetoed it, using the excuse that he just couldn't get any Democrats to support enabling legislation. The truth is, he caved to the teacher unions.
The WSJ editorial page appropriately skewered him:
What an embarrassing surrender. The $100 million scholarship plan would have helped lower-income students in the state's worst-performing district schools find other education options. Students in K-8 would have received $5,000, high-schoolers $10,000, and special-needs students $15,000 vouchers for private school tuition and related expenses. EdChoice polling finds that 63% of Pennsylvania residents support school vouchers…
Why did Mr. Shapiro sell out? His excuse about the Democratic Legislature doesn't wash since he should be at the height of his political clout and he only needed to turn a vote or two in his own party. The more likely reason is that he was squeezed by the teachers unions. The Governor has presidential ambitions, and passing school choice would have put him on Randi Weingarten's enemies list.
Josh Shapiro turned out to be a fraud. He cynically chose unions over kids. Maybe he's perfect for Kamala.
3) American Airlines Sued for Using ESG When Investing Worker Pension Money
We’ll, it’s about time! Pilots and other American Airlines employees are suing the Airline for mismanaging their pension funds by playing politics with their pension dollars.
The workers allege that AA’s “pursuit of a leftist political agenda” is cutting into the returns on their workers retirement money.
As we've shown many times on these pages: ESG and gets lower returns than non-political investment strategies.
Inside Climate News reports that this is the “first of a kind lawsuit” against private pension plan managers. The pension plan in question covers 100,000 employees' 401k plans.
The lawsuit is being filed under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) law. Employers must use due diligence in safeguarding the returns of the funds they manage. It seems clear to us that ESG is contradictory to this end.
The story also notes that: "In 2022, the Biden administration released new rules designed to encourage [pension managers] to advance social and policy goals such as renewable energy by making ESG investing easier. The rules were challenged by 26 Republican state attorneys general, but a district court judge in Texas ultimately upheld Biden's rule."
We believe that Trump should announce that these rules will be overturned on day one of his return to the Oval Office.
4) Are Washington State Voters Finally Fed up With Progressive Governance?
Washington state, once an importer of talent and brainpower, because it has no state income tax, jeopardized its future in 2021 by adopting a 7 percent long-term capital gains tax on any assets over $262,000.
State legislators claimed the tax was really an excise tax, thus getting around the state constitution's ban on an income tax. Sadly, the state's progressive Supreme Court rubber-stamped their fairy tale reading of the law.
But the voters will have their say this November, and we happily report that a new poll taken for the Seattle Times finds that by 2-to-1, Washington voters support a measure to repeal the state's new tax.
The Seattle Times poll shows voters also backing ballot initiatives to repeal Washington's carbon tax credit system and allow people to opt out of the payroll tax that funds the state's long-term care insurance program.
A tax revolt in of-all-places, liberal Seattle, is a big deal.
