by: Brent Smith at the Common Constitutionalist
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It appears that the leftist group, ThinkProgress, is not happy with a certain U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia, Richard
Leon.
So upset that they posted a lengthy article this past Friday entitled, “This federal judge keeps delaying a case to give Ben Carson time to kill civil rights protections.”
Leftists know that Carson, Trump’s Director of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is no fan of government intervention and overreach, and they are worried that he may scale back the abuses of the previous administration. Naturally they didn’t describe it this way. They, like all leftists, believe government has every right and full authority to tell us how to live our lives.
In the “Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Discriminatory Effects Standard; Final Rule” (15 February, 2013), Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended (Fair Housing Act or Act), prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of dwellings and in other housing-related activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin.”
Yet, “Even today, many racial minorities and people with disabilities still face discrimination in the housing market, according to the Urban Institute,” writes ThinkProgress.
Ah yes – the Urban Institute – a Washington D.C. based think tank filled with radical race-baiters who, like the Southern Poverty Law Center, can and do find racism and racial discrimination in every facet of life.
According to Obama’s HUD the “Fair Housing Act” also extended to insurers. Well, they didn’t take to kindly to this, and sued HUD, beginning in June, 2013. They claimed that is wasn’t fair they must offer homeowner and rental insurance policies to higher-risk groups at the same rate as they would lower-risk groups. Imagine that.
To any normal American, this would seem like a perfectly legitimate claim. How long could you stay in business offering the same insurance rates to everyone? That’s absurd, unless you are a government bureaucrat.
The problem these insurance companies have is this. Title VIII further reads that, “HUD, which is statutorily charged with the authority and responsibility for interpreting and enforcing the Fair Housing Act and with the power to make rules implementing the Act, has long interpreted the Act to prohibit practices with an unjustified discriminatory effect, regardless of whether there was an intent to discriminate…”
Do you catch it? One word is all it takes to change the Act from that which appears to merely want to level the playing field (not that it does) into an authoritarian nightmare.
The word is “interpreting.” EPA rules and regulations under Obama are written the same way. By including this one word, a government bureaucracy can simply “interpret” an Act, rule or regulation, to mean whatever they wish it to mean, and pick winners and losers accordingly. It’s contemptible.
Judge Leon obviously knows this, which is why in February, a month after Trump took office, he decided not to hear the case. He knows, because the way the Act is written, that decision to penalize insurers is up to HUD. Judge Leon instead made the decision to shelve the case temporarily, giving Carson time to be installed, as well as a pair of top legal positions at the his department and the Department of Justice to be filled.
“Leon said he wanted to give Carson, who had been outspoken in his opposition…, time to consult with those still yet-to-be confirmed attorneys, one of which is also opposed to the rules, and reconsider whether HUD wanted to continue defending itself against the insurance industry.”
Well thank heavens for the judge and Dr. Carson.