likelihood

A lot of us were totally expecting this, but not this fast:

Today, U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon granted a preliminary injunction against the United States for unconstitutionally withholding funds from ACORN. In its decision, the court found that there is a likelihood the plaintiffs will be able to show that Congress’ targeted defunding of ACORN violates the Constitution’s prohibition against Bills of Attainder, legislative acts which single out a specific person or group for punishment.

The Court’s ruling stated, “The plaintiffs have raised a fundamental issue of separation of powers.  They have been singled out by Congress for punishment that directly and immediately affects their ability to continue to obtain federal funding, in the absence of any judicial, or administrative, process adjudicating guilt... The public will not suffer harm by allowing the plaintiffs to continue work on contracts duly awarded by federal agencies...”

This whole issue came to fruition because the weak-kneed Democrats once again caved to the very small minority of the right. Hopefully this case will go all the way up to SCOTUS and they will uphold the ruling.

A true look into the current chance of Americans rising to the top has taken place and what we use to say about our land is no longer true:

America may still think of itself as the land of opportunity, but the chances of living a rags-to-riches life are a lot lower than elsewhere in the world, according to a new study published on Wednesday.

The likelihood that a child born into a poor family will make it into the top five percent is just one percent, according to "Understanding Mobility in America", a study by economist Tom Hertz from American University.

By contrast, a child born rich had a 22 percent chance of being rich as an adult, he said.

"In other words, the chances of getting rich are about 20 times higher if you are born rich than if you are born in a low-income family," he told an audience at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank sponsoring the work.

He also found the United States had one of the lowest levels of inter-generational mobility in the wealthy world, on a par with Britain but way behind most of Europe.

Alan Greenspan made a speech last year a few months before retiring. He said that the increasing divides amongst our social and economical classes are an increasing threat to our democracy. That is so very true. Considering the fact that to run for a seat on the United States House of Representatives has a price tag in the range of $20 million to $100 million, it is not surprise this threat exists.