Center for Equal Opportunity
Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a nonprofit public-policy, research organization in Washington, DC that is against affirmative action; former White House director of public liaison and staff director of the US Commission on Civil Rights (1983-1985)
Affirmative Action in College Admissions and the US Supreme Court In the Grutter case almost 10 years ago, a divided US Supreme Court rejected racial quotas in college admissions. But it said race could be one factor in the effort to diversify student bodies and make up for the history of racial discrimination. It was a divided decision, and the court said it would take up the issue again. Today, in the case of Abigail Fisher , a white student rejected by the University of Texas, it made good on its promise. We hear what the Court heard about race-based and race-neutral strategies.
Affirmative Action in College Admissions and the US Supreme Court In the Grutter case almost ten years ago, a divided US Supreme Court rejected racial quotas in college admissions. But it said race could be one factor in the effort to diversify student bodies and make up for the history of racial discrimination. It was a divided decision, and the court said it would take up the issue again. Today, in the case of Abigail Fisher , a white student rejected by the University of Texas, it made good on its promise. If not affirmative action based on race, then what? What about economic class? Or should academic merit be the only standard for deciding who gets in, especially to more selective institutions? We hear arguments with far-reaching implications about guaranteeing equal opportunity in an increasingly diverse society.
Wall Street, Main Street and Economic Crisis The finger of blame for the worst economic mess since the Great Depression has been pointed mainly at Wall Street, but what about Main Street, where ordinary Americans were living on credit cards and subprime mortgages, borrowed money might never pay back? The Christmas season was as dismal as had been expected? On this archived discussion of To the Point, it's worth asking, as we did in October, about economic recovery. Does China's high savings rate and few credit cards offer a better model? Will the crisis change America's values?
Consumer Complicity in the Credit Crisis The finger of blame for the worst economic mess since the Great Depression has been pointed mainly at Wall Street. But what about Main Street, where ordinary Americans have been living on credit cards and sub-prime mortgages, borrowed money they'll never pay back? Now that the roof's falling in, can consumers afford to continue spending? If they don't, what happens to economic recovery? China's consumer economy is booming, with a high savings rate and very few credit cards. Is that a better model? Will the crisis change America's values? We'll raise these and other questions today.
Racial Balance in Public Schools Thirty-nine years after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King , America is still arguing about how to achieve racial equality. In the 1950's, US Supreme Court decisions provided a legal rationale for the civil rights movement and Dr. King. Key among those was Brown versus the Board of Education , which outlawed school segregation on the grounds that separate schools were inherently unequal. Forced busing is a thing of the past, but racial preferences are still used in many places to accomplish ethnic diversity. The current US Supreme Court has been asked to outlaw voluntary affirmative-action plans in Seattle, Washington and Louisville, Kentucky . Does the Constitution require that government be "color blind" or does "equal opportunity" mandate that race be a factor in school admissions? We speak with journalists, educators, public policy experts, civil rights activists and others.
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.