David L. Hudson, Jr.: Calif. school can bar students’ American flag T-shirts

  Public school officials in Morgan Hill, Calif., did not violate the First Amendment rights of students by prohibiting them from wearing American flag T-shirts on the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo (May 5), a federal judge has ruled.

  In May 2010, an assistant principal at Live Oak High School ordered several students to remove their T-shirts emblazoned with the American flag, calling them “incendiary.” In June 2010, three students — known in court papers as M.D., D.M. and D.G. — sued in federal court, alleging a violation of their constitutional rights — including the right of free speech under the First Amendment.

  On Nov. 8, U.S. District Judge James Ware granted summary judgment to the school defendants, ruling against the students in Dariano v. Morgan Hill Unified School District. The students’ attorneys vowed to appeal.

Cameron Smith and Gary Palmer: A Small price to pay for public pensions

  This year, public employees in Alabama saw the first part of what will ultimately be a 2.5% increase in retirement contributions in an effort to shore up the state’s retirement systems. The Alabama Education Association (AEA) and Democrat legislators have cast the new contribution requirements as a “pay cut” and launched the common refrain that Alabama’s Republican leadership balances budgets on the backs of teachers and state employees.

  The truth is that Alabama’s taxpayers have increasingly shouldered the burden of public employee pensions for over a decade. Alabamians’ tax contributions to buttress public employee pensions have increased from slightly more than $300 million in 2000 to almost a billion dollars in 2010. These taxpayer dollars go directly into the current and future retirement benefits of state and education employees, benefits far superior to those most Alabama taxpayers have for their own retirement.

Jessica Arons: Mississippians rightfully reject Personhood Amendment

  Mississippi voters yesterday soundly defeated Initiative 26, the so-called Personhood Amendment, by a margin of 58 percent to 42 percent. The vague proposition, which would have defined a fertilized egg as a person, threatened a multitude of untold consequences. The Mississippi constitution alone has 9,000 references to the word “person,” aside from the number of times it appears in state statutes.

But the known consequences were numerous and chilling:

    A total ban on abortion in all circumstances
    A ban on most forms of birth control, including the pill and emergency contraception
    A ban on many aspects of common fertility treatments
    A ban on stem cell research

Steve Flowers: Inside The Statehouse: Hampered by the Electoral College

  The 2012 presidential contest has begun and is in full swing. President Barack Obama is running hard and raising tons of money. The GOP field is formulating and these aspirants are also out shaking the money tree.

  It cost a lot to run for president. These funds will be raised in all 50 states. Sadly, however, the campaign dollars will only be spent in about a dozen states. We in Alabama will not be part of the presidential election process. However, neither will the two largest states, California and New York.

  The antiquated system of electing our president through an electoral college has made most Americans’ votes for president irrelevant. This is sad and egregiously wrong. It is unconscionable that a country that calls itself the greatest democracy in the world does not elect its national president by a direct vote of the people in which the person who gets the most votes is elected president.

Charles C. Haynes: Sixth-grader wins round for student religious expression

  If you wonder why many Christian parents view public schools as hostile to their faith, talk to Michael Ayers — father of a sixth-grader in the Pocono Mountain School District in northeastern Pennsylvania.

  Last December, his little girl wanted to hand out invitations to schoolmates inviting them to a church Christmas party. Because kids were routinely allowed to distribute fliers inviting students to birthday parties, dances and other activities, K.A. (as she is described in court filings) assumed she could pass hers out, too.

  But after reviewing the flier, school officials said no. Angered by what the family viewed as school censorship of religion, Ayers filed a lawsuit on behalf of his then fifth-grade daughter.

Gary Palmer: The Green Economy: Costly and economically damaging

  The federal government’s considerable efforts to create a “green” economy are losing big money. To make it worse, data from other nations that have tried to create a green economy indicates that more job losses are coming. The news of bankruptcy filings by U.S. green energy companies that received hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded loans just adds to the frustration with the Obama Administration over the poor economy and high unemployment.

  Solyndra, one of President Obama’s model green companies and the largest recipient of taxpayer-provided largesse at $535 million, was supposed to manufacture solar panels.  However, the collapse of solar energy markets in Germany and Spain, along with the fact that China produces solar panels at much lower costs, doomed the company. That’s right … over half a billion of taxpayer dollars went right into the green money pit.

Jennifer Marshall: ‘Single Ladies’ not giving up on marriage

  Alongside The Atlantic magazine’s November cover story, “All the Single Ladies,” runs a photograph of its 39-year-old author. In a fawn-colored silk dress and up-do, Kate Bolick contemplatively sips champagne as a bridal bouquet flies over her head.

  Like many of her never-married peers, she’s scrupulously ignoring the traditional toss. Indeed, as the age of first marriage climbs higher, more single wedding-goers are evading the bouquet, having years ago disproved the catch confirms the next bride-to-be.

  The ritual is yet another reminder of an unrealized longing for marriage.

Scott Lilly: Creating Unemployment: How Congressional budget decisions are putting Americans out of work

  Most of the nearly 14 million people across our country who are currently unemployed can blame their situation on the inability of Congress and the White House to sufficiently cushion the economy from the financial crisis that began in 2007. But a growing number of unemployed Americans today are the victims of actions taken by the current Congress aimed deliberately at eliminating jobs.

  Even worse, many of these jobs are ones that will have to be performed at some point in the next several years and taxpayers will eventually pay the bill. Delaying the work not only sucks jobs out of the weak economy but also in many instances costs the government more money and over time, and serves to increase rather than decrease the public debt. This report examines some of the job-elimination efforts by the current Congress and the growing impact this is having on individuals, families, and communities around the country.

Steve Flowers: Inside The Statehouse: Previewing Alabama judicial races

  The 2012 elections are one year away. The presidential contest will be the marquee event. We will not have many state offices up for grabs. Most of our high profile posts are on the ballot in gubernatorial years. Most of the action next year will be for state judicial seats.

  Because we are now a one party state when it comes to statewide positions all of the action will be in the GOP primary. Our courts have actually been controlled by the Republican Party for close to two decades. Our state appellate judiciary is 100% Republican. Our Supreme Court is nine out of nine. Although five of the nine Supreme Court seats are up for election, it is a safe bet that all nine seats will be held by Republicans when the votes are counted and the dust has settled next November. The Democrats may not even field candidates.

Tim Kelly: Ron Paul’s radical deal

  Several Republican presidential candidates have rolled out economic plans they claim will jumpstart the moribund U.S. economy and narrow the nation’s yawning fiscal gap.

  Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s plan creates an optional 20 percent flat income tax, restricts federal spending to 18 percent of GDP, and seeks a balanced budget by 2020. His plan also calls for lowering the corporate tax to 20 percent and ending other taxes, including the estate tax and taxes on many capital gains and Social Security benefits.

  Georgia businessman Herman Cain has enjoyed a recent surge in the polls after he proposed scrapping the entire federal tax code and replacing it with 9 percent taxes on corporate and personal incomes, and a 9 percent federal sales tax. The plan has come to be known as the “9-9-9 Plan.”