Daily Clips: December 15th, 2015
American kids are graduating from high school at record rates:
The U.S. high school graduation rate reached another record high in the 2013-14 school year, with teens graduating at 82 percent, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday.
Further, the achievement gap in graduation rates between black and white students and white and Hispanic students continues to narrow.
Debates help fuel strong interest in 2016 campaign: So says Pew Research, noting how “74% of Americans say they have given a lot or some thought to the candidates, higher than the shares saying this at comparable points in the past two presidential campaigns.”
For comparison, “in December 2007 – the most recent election in which there were contested nominations in both parties – just 43% reported watching any of the debates.”
Justice Ginsburg’s ominous warning about creeping corporate power: I must admit that before I read this article, I had never heard of DIRECTV v Imburgia. This Supreme Court case was the first divided decision of the current SCOTUS term.
On the surface, not very much is at stake in DIRECTV. The company allegedly charged early termination fees that violate California law. If the plaintiffs win, they get their fees back. So this is hardly a case where some innocent’s life or livelihood is at stake.
However, “if you’re a business looking for new ways to squeeze money out of your consumers without having to worry about whether doing so is illegal, than you had a very good day in the Supreme Court on Monday.”
Silence from Republicans on the Paris agreement: Sorry Marco Rubio et al, you’re going to have a hard time convincing the American people that you are the “party of the future” when you still doubt man-made climate change.
These outdated opinions on climate also do not sit well with the American public. According to the New York Times’ Editorial Board, “about two-thirds of Americans want the United States to join an international pact to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions.”
I’ll be keeping my eye on this issue at the fifth GOP debate tonight. My guess? CNN barely spends any time on the subject and when it is brought up, candidates refer to the agreement as “job killing.” Have the GOP’s tactics really become this one dimensional/predictable? I fear so.
Dumbest headline of the day:
