Religious Schools Sue: News Miner 84
Tax-funded schools, Buck, Boebert, tent bars, farming, HOAs, Dark Tobin, socialist sports, capitalist journalists, and more.
Tax-Funded Schools
Complete Colorado published my column, “Religious lawsuits over pre-K showcase tax-funding conflict.” I review the lawsuits by various religious preschools that wish to receive tax subsidies but do not wish to follow Colorado’s anti-discrimination rules for students and teachers.
The religious schools say their exclusion violates their rights to freedom of speech and of religion. I draw up a basic libertarian argument against that:
People involved with a school have a right to contact people around the community and request funding. But what would we think if people involved with a school told neighbors, “We need you to provide us with funding, and, if you don’t do that, we’re going to seize some of your money by force or lock you in a cage as punishment”? We would think that the school is a criminal operation, right?
Under those conditions, if someone declined to help finance the school, we would not consider the refusal a violation of the First or Fourteenth Amendment rights of the school. On the contrary: We would consider the school’s use of force a violation of the rights of the people under threat.
The situation described is remarkably like that behind the lawsuits, except government is the organization threatening to seize people’s wealth or lock them in a cage if they do not contribute to the schools. At that level, it’s hard to see how the schools are the proper parties to complain about their rights being violated.
But that’s not the only consideration. I continue:
[S]ome of the people forced to help finance preschools are the very people who send their children to the religious preschools, or who wish to do so, or who wish to help finance those schools. Is it right for government to tax those families in order to subsidize preschool for other families? That hardly seems fair.
How do we resolve these tensions? As I point out, as long as we finance schools through tax funding, there is no way to do so. I do point out, “subsidizing families directly, rather than subsidizing schools, would avoid much of the conflict specifically pertaining to freedom of speech and of religion.”
Read the entire piece.
Quick Take
Fascism: Fueled by conspiracy mongering and religious fervor, parts of the right are marching into fascism.
Buck: Good analysis from Ken Buck: “The GOP’s charge against Biden is that he personally benefited from his son’s deplorable business exploits around the globe. Without doubt, Hunter Biden’s shady business deals undermined America’s image and our anti-corruption goals, and his conduct was thoroughly reprehensible. What’s missing, despite years of investigation, is the smoking gun that connects Joe Biden to his ne’er-do-well son’s corruption.” Buck also discusses “the 2016 firing of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin” and finds no “there” there in terms of alleged misdeeds by Biden. Buck is wrong about the Trump impeachment, but he’s right about the current situation. Meanwhile . . .
Boebert: She misspoke about her wild behavior at a public venue, saying she wasn’t vaping when video clearly shows she was. She later admitted to it and apologized. She also got a little “friendly” with her male companion. Elisabeth Epps has a critical take on some of the backlash. But Boebert obviously is a hypocrite on the topic of public behavior, as with her condemnations of drag shows. Again, Republicans are fools if they don’t replace Boebert in the primary.
Denver’s Third-World Vibe: Brian Maass: “‘We're hearing there was an open bar, sales of alcohol, things like that’ [in tents!], said Denver Police Patrol Division Chief Aaron Sanchez as he surveyed the scene at 23rd Street and Champa Street. ‘We have officers looking into that.’ . . . Additionally, he said there had been complaints about the couches and tents being rented out for prostitution that were also being investigated.”
Denver Schools: Kyle Clark: “Denver Public Schools has again overruled a school's expulsion request for a student charged with attempted murder. The school board has said if the attempted murder happens off school grounds, the student can return to class.”
Jeffco Schools: Jimmy Sengenberger thinks Jeffco’s “district accountability committee” has it out for charter schools.
Immigration: Deep Singh Badhesha is often wrong. But sometimes he’s impressively right, as when he says: “Denver is not full. Colorado is not full. America is not full. Everyone who lives here should be able to stay. Everyone who moves here should be welcomed.”
Farming: Kelly Maher discovers the worst pest for farmers. This reminds me of a story my grandma told: Once a woman pulled up to my grandma's apricot tree and just started picking away! It's easy to be oblivious to how much work farming is until you try it.
HOAs: Jesse Paul wrote about a man who bought a house in an HOA, then racked up $8,649.55 in HOA fees. “Last year, the HOA filed for foreclosure. The house sold at auction for just $76,000. A few months later, the investor who bought the home sold it again for $520,000,” Paul writes. Mike Rosen suggests that Paul is biased and argues that the foreclosure was fair and that people agree to be bound by HOA rules. I have often defended HOAs, but in this case I think HOAs have a moral duty, and should have a legal duty, to sell a home for market value and give the residual value to the person suffering foreclosure. It’s insane to let some random person reap a huge windfall.
Dark Tobin: Tobin Stone, a YIMBYist and “New Liberal” who popularized the “Dark Brandon” meme, did an interview with Ernest Luning.
Socialist Sports: With self-proclaimed socialists in the legislature, we can expect a constant stream of this sort of thing (here from Epps): “Highly recommend . . . Dave Zirin’s talk on Sports in a Socialist Society. So thought-provoking. I left feeling less guilt about loving sports, but also encouraged for the future we can build, and how athletic competition will fit in.” Footballers of the world unite?
Capitalist Journalists: Corey Hutchins has an interesting comment about Craig Silverman’s podcast episode with the Sun’s Larry Ryckman: “Silverman gets Colorado Sun founder and editor Larry Ryckman to take a stand. ‘I’m a capitalist,’ Ryckman says on the show. ‘There’s nothing wrong with making money.’ (Context is about for-profit newsrooms and how the Sun is transitioning into a nonprofit.)”