Betsy DeVos Continues to Be An Enemy Of LGBT People

The anti-LGBT agenda of the Trump/Pence regime ranges from the petty - the White House posting of  a photo of all the NATO countries' leaders’ spouses  omitted the name of Luxembourg’s Gauthier Destenay, the husband of the only openly gay prime minister in the world, Xavier Bettel - to truly disturbing as embodied by Trump's reversal of Obama administration non-discrimination executive orders.  In the realm of public education things are particularly frightening with Betsy DeVos, a long time religious zealot from a family that has provided millions and millions of dollars to anti-LGBT hate group organizations such as Family Research Council (her mother is on the board of a major contributor to FRC) and continues to support conversion therapy.  Now, DeVos is making it clear that under the smoke screen of "states rights" federal funding will be available to schools that openly discriminate against LGBT students and children of LGBT parents.  DeVos has about as much empathy for members of the LGBT community as the Inquisition had for Jews and supposed heretics.  A piece in Huffington Post looks at the always toxic DeVos.  Here are excerpts (Note, she suggests that racial discrimination might be OK with her as well):

The video of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos confirming that she would allow private schools to receive federal dollars while they blatantly discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students is simply stunning. Congresswoman Katherine M. Clark, a Democrat from Massachusetts, asked DeVos point blank in a hearing yesterday if she would allow federal funds to go to a school that bans LGBT students or students with gay or lesbian parents, and she used the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Indiana as an example.

DeVos, in an eerily calm manner, said that it would be up to the states to make the decision to allow “parents to make choices” when it comes to putting their kids in a hostile anti-LGBTQ environment, where lies and distortions that lead to bullying and violence are taught to children about queer people, while receiving federal money in the form of vouchers.

Even when Clark raised the issue of a school that might discriminate against African-Americans, DeVos, after mentioning something vague about civil rights protections being “broadly applicable,” still deferred to “parents making choices” as the most important principle. DeVos made it clear that it was up to the state to decide, and, as Clark pointed out, couldn’t give “one example,” in which a state’s discriminatory practice in education would be stood up to by the Department of Education in the form of withholding money.

This is the same Betsy DeVos who some media outlets told us just before her confirmation hearings had gone through some sort of transformation, or was always, in fact, supportive of LGBTQ rights and was simply misunderstood. It was an odd, convenient narrative coming at a time when she needed it.

As with Trump himself, just because Betsy DeVos might help out her well-off Republican gay friends ― who might return the favor by helping her in other ways ― doesn’t mean she’s not devoted to her family’s longtime goals, nor to putting religious beliefs before LGBTQ rights. While she gave McNalley and his husband a reference letter in their successful effort to adopt a child as gay parents, she also financially contributed to the campaign of GOP legislator Andrea LaFontaine ― a zealous religious conservative ― who spearheaded a draconian Michigan law passed in 2015, weeks before the Supreme Court’s landmark marriage equality ruling, that allows state-funded faith-based adoption agencies to turn away gay and lesbian couples based on their sexual orientation. That law seems right in line with DeVos’ statements yesterday, refusing to rule out giving federal money to schools that discriminate against LGBTQ students and parents.

DeVos has said in the past that she wanted public education to “advance God’s kingdom.”  . . . . she was listed as a vice president of her mother’s foundation, which is a major donor to anti-LGBTQ hate groups Focus on the Family and Family Research Council. 

DeVos claimed during her confirmation hearings, “I fully embrace equality” and rejected “conversion therapy,” which is promoted by many of the groups to which her family donates.  But once in office, DeVos went right along with the Trump administration action of rescinding guidelines for the treatment of transgender students, put in place by the Obama administration.

And now we have her clear statements on allowing schools to get federal funds even if they discriminate against LGBTQ people ― or any group.

Whatever Betsy DeVos might or might not truly believe really doesn’t matter. It is her public statements, and her actions, that are the only important barometers. And so far, she’s proven to be an enemy of LGBTQ people.

Mortgage Lenders Request Delay of New Mortgage-Disclosure Rule

Click image to enlarge - from New York Times

Those of us in the real estate industry have known for well over a year and a half that new rules implemented by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau to improve residential loan disclosures and force lenders to ceasing handling closing on a last second, chaos basis were coming on August 1, 2015.  My employer, Liberty Title & Escrow has been getting ready for the change, purchasing new software, educating real estate agents and working with lenders to be prepared.  Now, mortgage lenders - who typically do little on a timely basis based on my experience - are asking for delays in the effective date of the new disclosure laws which, among other things would require closing statements to be provided to borrowers not less than three days before closing (currently, we often do not have final figures from lenders until mere hours before closing).  Not surprisingly, some of the biggest lenders are the worse to deal with.  The New York Times looks at efforts by lenders to continue their bad old ways for a while longer.  Here are excerpts:

New rules intended to make mortgage terms more transparent and easier for consumers to understand are scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1. But although the changes have been in the works for almost two years, the lending industry says it is not prepared for the shift.

So with two months to go, banks are asking for a delay in enforcement.

Outwardly, the new requirements seem fairly simple. Instead of the four different mortgage disclosure forms now required under the Truth in Lending and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Acts, borrowers will receive an initial Loan Estimate at the time of application, and a Closing Disclosure shortly before they sign off.

The new forms are just one part of a nearly 1,900-page rule created by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to strengthen protections after the mortgage crisis. Known in the industry as TILA-RESPA, for its integration of the two existing acts, the rule was finalized in November 2013, with an implementation date of August 2015.

The American Bankers Association, however, says its members aren’t ready. And it blames the vendors who supply the software and system upgrades needed for regulatory compliance.

In a survey released earlier this month, 79 percent of responding banks said their vendors either had not verified a delivery date for the software updates or had said the systems wouldn’t arrive before June.

The association supports legislation recently filed in the House that would prohibit enforcement of TILA-RESPA until Jan. 1, 2016. The bill would also prohibit anyone from filing a lawsuit against a lender for violating the requirements, provided the lender had made a “good faith effort” to comply.

More than 20 consumer groups have signed a letter opposing the legislation, however, saying that it was borrowers who need protecting, not lenders.

“Doesn’t the homeowner have the right to get a reasonably accurate disclosure in advance of closing?” said Alys Cohen, a staff attorney for the National Consumer Law Center.

Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has so far held firm on the Aug. 1 implementation date. At a May 12 speech before the National Association of Realtors, he acknowledged that the coming changes represent “a major undertaking.” 

Personally, I hope the CFPB refuses to extend the implementation date.  Lenders have known this was coming and need to be held strictly liable.  I've seen lender "good faith efforts" and if they are given any leeway, they will continue to abuse the system, consumers and others involved in the closing process.  The irony is that years ago, we used to have settlement statements prepared well in advance of closing, but then many lenders got greedy, cut staff and/or hired incompetent processors.  The good, competent lenders should not be penalized by the unpreparedness of the bad ones who created the problem the CFPB rules seek to fix.

Lillian McEwen Breaks Her Silence: Justice Clarence Thomas Obsessed with Pornography

As readers have probably figured out, I am no fan of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who, in my opinion, should never have been appointed to the Supreme Court because of his lack of competence and his inability to separate his own claimed religious views from his rulings. Likewise, I find his wife's blatant political activities and financial benefits from anonymous political action donors bordering on shocking - especially given the tradition of judicial spouses avoiding anything that smacks of political partisanship much less things that give the appearance of impropriety. (Two of my former law partners are federal judges, so I know first hand what normal judicial spouse conduct looks like).

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Apparently, Virginia Thomas like many on the far right sees herself as exempt from the rules that govern others. Recently, she even had the audacity to call Anita Hill and ask that Hill bury the hatchet by apologizing to Thomas' husband. Well, now that brazen behavior seems to be biting both Thomas in the ass. Because of Thomas' behavior, Lilian McEwen, a woman well acquainted with Clarence Thomas has loudly said what she was afraid to say 19 years ago about Thomas. In effect, she substantiates Hill's testimony and confirms that Clarence Thomas is a very seamy and warped man. Pay backs can surely be Hell. If Thomas had any integrity, he'd resign from the Court. But, of course he doesn't and will not. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:
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When Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his explosive 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Thomas vehemently denied the allegations and his handlers cited his steady relationship with another woman in an effort to deflect Hill's allegations. Lillian McEwen was that woman.
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She was never asked to testify, as then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), who headed the committee, limited witnesses to women who had a "professional relationship" with Thomas.
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Now, she says that Thomas often said inappropriate things about women he met at work -- and that she could have added her voice to the others, but didn't. . . . . She did not want to do anything to harm her career, she added. Plus, she realized, "I don't look good in this."
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News broke that the justice's wife, Virginia Thomas, left a voice mail on Hill's office phone at Brandeis University, seeking an apology -- a request that Hill declined in a statement. After that, McEwen changed her mind and decided to talk about her relationship with Thomas.
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To McEwen, Hill's allegations that Thomas had pressed her for dates and made lurid sexual references rang familiar. . . . . He was obsessed with porn," she said of Thomas, who is now 63. "He would talk about what he had seen in magazines and films, if there was something worth noting."
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According to McEwen, Thomas would also tell her about women he encountered at work. He was partial to women with large breasts, she said. In an instance at work, Thomas was so impressed that he asked one woman her bra size, McEwen recalled him telling her.
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[S]he says, "I know Clarence would not be happy with me." "I have no hostility toward him," McEwen said. "It is just that he has manufactured a different reality over time. That's the problem that he has."

Sarah Palin’s Worldview

With each passing day it should become increasingly obvious that the selection of Sarah Palin as John McSenile's running mate is an insult to every American other than perhaps the deranged elements of the Christian Right who are not, in my opinion, "dealing with a full deck" in any event and who always put religious fanaticism ahead of logic, reason and competence. As I have mentioned before, I have real suspicions whether or not Palin was foisted on McCain by the far right elements in the GOP such as James Dobson and other Christianists. If such is the case, McCain's knuckling under shows he is too senile to be president. Today's New York Times in its main editorial raises similar concerns which ought to demonstrate that by picking Palin, John McCain has confirmed that he is not fit to be president. Here are some editorial highlights:
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As we watched Sarah Palin on TV the last couple of days, we kept wondering what on earth John McCain was thinking. If he seriously thought this first-term governor — with less than two years in office — was qualified to be president, if necessary, at such a dangerous time, it raises profound questions about his judgment. If the choice was, as we suspect, a tactical move, then it was shockingly irresponsible.

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The idea that Americans want leaders who have none of those things — who are so blindly certain of what Ms. Palin calls “the mission” that they won’t even pause for reflection — shows a contempt for voters and raises frightening questions about how Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin plan to run this country.

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One of the many bizarre moments in the questioning by ABC News’s Charles Gibson was when Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, excused her lack of international experience by sneering that Americans don’t want “somebody’s big fat résumé maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state.”

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But that is not what troubled us most about her remarks — and, remember, if they were scripted, that just means that they reflect Mr. McCain’s views all the more closely. Rather, it was the sense that thoughtfulness, knowledge and experience are handicaps for a president in a world populated by Al Qaeda terrorists, a rising China, epidemics of AIDS, poverty and fratricidal war in the developing world and deep economic distress at home.

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This nation has suffered through eight years of an ill-prepared and unblinkingly obstinate president. One who didn’t pause to think before he started a disastrous war of choice in Iraq. One who blithely looked the other way as the Taliban and Al Qaeda regrouped in Afghanistan. One who obstinately cut taxes and undercut all efforts at regulation, unleashing today’s profound economic crisis. In a dangerous world, Americans need a president who knows that real strength requires serious thought and preparation.