The case was Horne v. U.S. Dept of Agriculture (full embed pdf below).  Essentially a raisin farmer was fined (and the price of his crop similarly assessed) for not forfeiting their harvest to the USDA in a program where the government regulates supply and demand through production controls.

SCOTUS ruled 8-1 (Sotomayor dissent) the U.S. government cannot “take”, or force destroyed, farming crops without compensation to the farmer under the fifth amendment “takings” clause.

The most consequential aspect of the ruling stems from 8 justices affirming that “personal property” is afforded the same constitutional protection as “real property.  Specifically, in this case,  if  crops “taken” (or rendered removed from the market) for the public good, there must be compensation for the owner/farmer.   (more…)

Meet The Press aired a discussion story featuring New York prison inmates discussing the regret they carry for using guns.  The actual piece is very powerful, but almost immediately the politically correct crowd jumped into action because the prison inmates were black.

It appears from the lead-in, and the following conversation, the NBC panel was already hyper-sensitive and fraught with precursory guilt about airing the video.  Watch (it might not be available long):

The Hill has a breakdown of the cultural Marxism that followed –  the aftermath HERE.

.@DoctorLeRoyH @soledadobrien We’ve heard you. We clearly got it wrong and we are sorry.

— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) June 22, 2015

In related news:  (more…)

The latest example:

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — A Confederate monument at White Point Gardens was vandalized with graffiti.

The graffiti was discovered Sunday morning as thousands gathered downtown to honor the victims killed at Emanuel AME Church.

The words ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘This was the problem #racist’ is spray painted on the base. The vandals also called out Mayor Joe Riley and Governor Nikki Haley scrawling “Riley and Haley -Why defend this evil -This the root of our evil.”

A couple of local men moved quickly to cover the base with a tarp but it was just as quickly uncovered by other passers-by.

A lively debate soon followed, attracting Barry Tighe from the organization Code Pink. He wrote up his own sign that read “Take down racist statues” and it was followed by a local protester’s sign that read “All lives matter #CharlestonUnited.” (more…)

Moonbats within the DNC, the “Occupy” crowd, have been working diligently for years to push the Democrats toward their socialist utopia.   In turn this has pushed the Democrat party even further toward the land of the Moonbats.

For the Dem’s with visions of multi-cultural pot-smoking circles, filled with sustainable tree and sand-smelt worship, their uptwinkles are reserved exclusively for Bernie Sanders.  Hillary Clinton, down twinkles.

(The Hill) It may be time for Hillary Clinton to take the challenge from Sen. Bernie Sanders more seriously.  Sanders is surging in the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

The Vermont Independent has drawn huge crowds of supporters in Iowa and New Hampshire, and pulled within striking distance of Clinton in some Granite State polls.

“This is not a protest campaign,” Sanders declared at a breakfast with reporters in Washington last week. “This is a campaign to win.”

He’s also a powerful presence on social media, where supporters are eager to share news about his campaign.

While Clinton remains the runaway favorite, the strength of Sanders’s challenge — particularly in the states hosting the first two nominating contests — is starting to get attention. (more…)

Setting aside the profoundly poor timing of penning an op-ed for Fathers day publication, which contains predictions he will soon be arresting more cops who are also likely fathers, husbands, dads and brothers, Police Chief Batts breaks the absolute cardinal rule of principle-centered leadership:

♦  When you are a leader of significant influence – never, ever, never, punch down with your admonishments.  Fight those above you, on behalf of those behind you; never vice-versa.

All failed leaders of large complex organizations generally collapse because when the pressure gets too extreme they violate basic tenets of principle-centered leadership.  Loyalty is lost, and you weaken your own ability to influence positive outcomes.  Pointing to the past, or the boss, might garner you sympathy – but it will never generate respect. 

(Baltimore Sun) More Baltimore police officers likely face arrest as the result of reforms in a scandal-ridden department that requires “wholesale change,” Commissioner Anthony W. Batts wrote in a wide-ranging opinion piece published in The Baltimore Sun..

“Our reform efforts will very likely see more police officers arrested,” Batts wrote. “We will have more officers who are forced out because their outdated, outmoded views of policing do not match the standards the community expects and demands.”

The piece was published Friday on The Sun’s website and appears in Sunday’s print editions. (more…)

Well, well, well – what do you know, FEMA gets it right.  The taxpayers are spared from having to bail out Baltimore’s inept leadership.   Almost immediately: “the wheels on the bus go whaa – whaa – whaa”…  Up next: “FEMA is racist”.

BALTIMORE – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied a state request for disaster aid to cover the costs associated with the rioting and unrest that broke out in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray.

W. Craig Fugate, FEMA’s administrator, wrote in a June 12 letter to Gov. Larry Hogan that federal disaster aid was “not appropriate” for such an event.

“Therefore, I must inform you that your request for a major disaster declaration is denied,” Fugate wrote.

Spokeswoman Erin Montgomery said Friday that the Hogan administration “is reviewing FEMA’s response and will make a determination about the appropriate next steps, including a possible appeal.” (more…)

There may have been a time when a discussion about racial issues was possible, but that window of opportunity quickly passed when the professional left decided to double down on division with a professional community organizer.

The professionally black have a vested ideological and financial interest in the retention of grievance.  No amount of discussion will overcome or quench the institutional need to be perpetually aggrieved.   (Apropos photo-credit Charleston, SC via CBS)

We can agree the shooting in Charleston South Carolina was a hate crime; we can even concede that it might be called terrorism – but that will never change the inherent one-sided nature of the conversation.

Call it whatever you want to call it.  Hate Crimes, domestic racial terrorism, it really doesn’t matter.  If the labels apply for a white person to intentionally kill a black person solely due to the color of their skin.   Then what exactly is this: (more…)

(Via Washington Free Beacon) Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is seeking to fine the State Department for illegally withholding the release of a key report on Iranian human rights abuses that was supposed to be released earlier this year, but was withheld, according to sources, in order to appease Iran as negotiations over its nuclear program approach a June 30 deadline.

The Obama administration was legally obligated to release a full report outlining the state of Iranian human rights by Feb. 25 but has so far declined to do so.

Cruz and other senators petitioned the State Department in May to comply with federal law compelling the report’s public release. (more…)

The vote was 218-208. Backing the bill were 190 Republicans and 28 Democrats; 50 Republicans and 158 Democrats voted against it. Eight members did not vote.

Neither Wall Street nor their 24/7/365 lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, care about U.S. jobs.  Their collective stakes are based on business financial statements which can be improved if expenses are reduced and labor costs are outsourced.

Tom Donohue, CoC President, controls the congressional reelection purse strings.  Both John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are beholden to Tom Donohue; that’s why both are working earnestly to deliver something vital to the CoC and President Obama.

Well written article -> (Via Politico) […]  It’s the second time in two weeks that Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) chamber voted to approve the legislation. The legislation was halted last week by House Democrats, who voted against an aid package for workers in an attempt to scuttle the larger trade agenda. This time, Boehner and McConnell devised a complicated process that could deliver Obama his biggest legislative achievement in years.

The legislative maneuvering, on which Boehner and McConnell consulted with Obama during a conference call this week, could result in Obama approving the trade package before the July 4 recess — and eventually usher in a trade deal that would touch 40 percent of the global economy. The fast-track authority is essential, proponents say, because it would bar Congress from making any changes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership after a deal is reached between the U.S. and other negotiating countries. Lawmakers would get only an up-or-down vote on the pact. (more…)

Considering the fraud throughout the presidency, it should come as no surprise a 2009 DC inaugural ball was funded through similar scheme.  The ideological Democrats couldn’t raise money via donations, so they stole taxpayer money from a children’s fund to pay for a lavish black tie affair….

WASHINGTON—Neil S. Rodgers, a former District of Columbia government official, was sentenced today to a period of incarceration and ordered to pay full restitution on a charge stemming from his role in channeling $110,000 in youth and drug prevention grant funds that were used to pay for an inaugural ball.

[…] According to the government’s evidence, Rodgers aided [Harry] Thomas in illegally securing funds for the 51st State Inaugural Ball, held on Jan. 20, 2009, at the Wilson Building.

“Neil Rodgers worked with former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas to perpetrate a fraud that diverted money from at-risk children to throw a black-tie ball for adults,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen. “His conviction at trial brings to seven the number of people convicted as part of Harry Thomas’s chronic abuse of the public trust.” (more…)