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[ElectricBlanketFire]

University of North Carolina system risks losing more than $1.4 billion in federal funds if they don't comply..

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina government and university officials were given until Monday to tell federal attorneys whether they would stop enforcing a new law blocking LGBT protections, particularly provisions requiring transgender people to use public restrooms that correspond to their biological sex.

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory said Sunday he will decide how to respond to the U.S. Justice Department by the deadline but sounds little interested in capitulating to the agency. Government attorneys contend the law approved by the state Legislature in March violates the federal Civil Rights Act.

The Justice Department is "trying to define gender identity, and there is no clear identification or definition of gender identify," McCrory said on "Fox News Sunday."

McCrory said he was not aware of any North Carolina cases of transgender people using their gender identity to access a restroom and molest someone, a fear frequently cited by the law's supporters as the main reason for its passage.

The governor said there was no comparison between civil rights laws that forbid racial discrimination and the Justice Department's claim that the federal law also protects transgender people.

"We can definitely define the race of people. It's very hard to define transgender or gender identity," McCrory said, adding his request for more time to respond to the Justice Department was denied.

North Carolina has already paid a price for the law, with some business scaling back investments in the state and associations cancelling conventions. The costs to state government could be even more acute.

The 17-campus UNC system risks losing more than $1.4 billion in federal funds if they don't comply. Another $800 million in federally backed loans for students who attend the public universities also would be at risk if it's found that enforcing the law violates Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on sex. The letter to McCrory said the law also violates Title VII, which bars employment discrimination.

Willing to lose over a billion dollars to protect people against an imaginary threat.

 

[BlastProcessing]

Link here.



Willing to lose over a billion dollars to protect people against an imaginary threat.

Profiles in courage.

 

[Makai]

Wow. Much worse than I thought. UNC system gets wrecked if financial aid is really in jeopardy.

 

[cameron]

NYT: "North Carolina Governor Won’t Concede That Transgender Law Is Biased"

Mr. McCrory’s bid for additional time is an extension of the argument that Republican leaders in North Carolina have been making for days: that the Justice Department imposed an excessively hasty deadline to determine the future of a law they contend is crucial to public safety and privacy.

The federal government, Mr. McCrory said, had given North Carolina just “three working days to respond to a pretty complex letter and to a pretty big threat” and that state officials “don’t think three working days is enough to respond to such a threat.”

A spokesman for Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for governor and the state’s attorney general, criticized Mr. McCrory’s stand.

“Governor McCrory signed HB2 into law in the dark of night after passing it in just 12 hours, and now complains when he’s given five days to defend it,” the spokesman, Ford Porter, said in a statement. “The governor needs to undo this law now and stop playing politics with our economy.”

Mr. Cooper has refused to defend the law in federal court.

Although the General Assembly will reconvene before Mr. McCrory must submit his reply on Monday, there is virtually no chance that lawmakers will change the law by 5 p.m. The speaker of the State House of Representatives, Tim Moore, said last week that the deadline would “come and go” without action by the Republican-controlled legislature.

“I think we all as legislators have a duty to make sure that we analyze everything, that we look to see what our legal arguments are to counter what the Obama administration is trying to do and see what other things can be done,” Mr. Moore said.

 

[Stinkles]

“I think we all as legislators have a duty to make sure that we analyze everything, that we look to see what our legal arguments are to counter what the Obama administration is trying to do and see what other things can be done,” Mr. Moore said.

Literally admitted to just doing the opposite of whatever Obama does.

Your tax dollars at work

 

[Wolfe]

Literally admitted to just doing the opposite of whatever Obama does.

Your tax dollars at work

Too bad they didn't all quit their positions when Obama ran for a second term, really take it all the way.

 

[Unfriendly TimeTraveler]

The stubbornness of this entire thing is baffling and is hurting NC in a lot of ways. Sad thing is that the majority of people agree with this whole thing and don't understand the ability to act right and allow something so small as to letting a person to use the restroom that harms no one.
Kinda off topic cause it's not specifically on the exact effect but it's also sad that some music groups have to make public statements that if they do play in NC (which many have canceled) that they do not agree with the law and will treat everybody respectfully regardless of their gender when they do play in NC.

 

[Frozenprince]

Literally admitted to just doing the opposite of whatever Obama does.

Your tax dollars at work

Maybe more people should vote instead of just bitching after the fact.

Horrible law, made by horrible people, but people voted for this fuckwit and not enough people went out to vote against them.

 

[Alucrid]

Maybe more people should vote instead of just bitching after the fact.

i don't live in NC, but i also pay federal taxes

 

[Platy]

If I was the University of North Carolina I would take like 1% of that money (or even less) and sit with the trans students/workers and say "So ... do you people acept that money to have your surgeries/medicines instead of using the bathroom at the university? Will even pay for urinary problems of not pissing for long time ..."

 

[crackhead_bob]

What's the long game of this, or Governor McCrory's doubling down? They're already poised to lose millions in business alone. I wonder what silver lining he sees in all of this.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Maybe more people should vote instead of just bitching after the fact.

Horrible law, made by horrible people, but people voted for this fuckwit and not enough people went out to vote against them.

It's the south. This is their life anyway.

 

[chuckddd]

What's the long game of this, or Governor McCrory's doubling down? They're already poised to lose millions in business alone. I wonder what silver lining he sees in all of this.

The creation of bigot paradise.

 

[Suikoguy]

It's the south. This is their life anyway.

Yeah, but this is a state in the process of changing to a swing state, so I don't get it. It's not South Carolina.

 

[Mr. X]

What's the long game of this, or Governor McCrory's doubling down? They're already poised to lose millions in business alone. I wonder what silver lining he sees in all of this.

An early retirement.

 

[LUFTRAUSER]

It's the south. This is their life anyway.

Have you ever been to North Carolina? To Charlotte? To Asehville?

Yeah, but this is a state in the process of changing to a swing state, so I don't get it. It's not South Carolina.

Didn't the governor of South Carolina say they'd never pass a law like this there though?

 

[Wilsongt]

Literally admitted to just doing the opposite of whatever Obama does.

Your tax dollars at work

Sure. Analysis, like all the analysis you did passing this shit law in 12 hours flat.

 

[crackhead_bob]

The creation of bigot paradise.

Yes, but there is the notion of diminishing returns coming into play here. McCrory seemed genuinely blindsided by the widespread backlash coming from businesses and public figures. I honest feel that he wouldn't have taken this tact if he had any foresight knowing what this would bring. But because of who his constituents are, he's now forced to double down. HB2 seems like it will be more of an albatross than it's worth.

 

[littleworm]

At the very least if the trend continues HB2 is gonna be the end of Gov. McCory and possibly senator Burr. HB2 is already quite negatively viewed in the state, that coupled with Trump being the republican nomination, democrats could make some gains come election time.

 

[liquidtmd]

What's the long game of this, or Governor McCrory's doubling down? They're already poised to lose millions in business alone. I wonder what silver lining he sees in all of this.

None, but

 

[PillarEN]

I'm actually very surprised that there is likely no reversal coming. Just from a financial standpoint.

 

[Nudull]

Say goodbye to whatever respect you had from the rest of the planet, North Carolina.

 

[Eumi]

This whole situation has been incredibly embarrassing for America coming off the full gay marriage legalisation high. Pretty much everyone I know seems back to seeing America as a place of discrimination rather than acceptance.

 

[GaimeGuy]

So, for the lawyers here: How viable is the Justice Department's strategy of attack? They are essentially arguing that this law violates the civil rights act because it discriminates against people whose gender and sex differ. Will the courts accept that argument?

 

[Wilsongt]

So, for the lawyers here: How viable is the Justice Department's strategy of attack? They are essentially arguing that this law violates the civil rights act because it discriminates against people whose gender and sex differ. Will the courts accept that argument?

Didn't Virginia grant a transgendered student the right to use the bathroom that matches their gender? If that's the case, a ruling like that will automatically apply to NC.

I'm not sure, though. Our resident laywer Meta has been mum on this subject for reasons unexplained.

 

[Beartruck]

I really wish the governor flagrantly violating a federal order would just result in his arrest, but nooooo, we gotta fuck over the people who live there instead.

 

[capitalCORN]

I expect the NC government to spontaneously burst into "We shall Overcome" any minute now....

 

[Link]

The federal government, Mr. McCrory said, had given North Carolina just “three working days to respond to a pretty complex letter and to a pretty big threat” and that state officials “don’t think three working days is enough to respond to such a threat.”

Funny, considering this law was rammed through the legislature and into law over the course of a day. Fuck these assholes.

 

[Grover Cleveland]

Maybe more people should vote instead of just bitching after the fact.

Horrible law, made by horrible people, but people voted for this fuckwit and not enough people went out to vote against them.

Yep.

(Full Disclosure: I've lived in NC for 22 years. Despite all of this I still love the state and I still think it has great places to live/work/visit etc etc)

I see a lot of liberal-leaning individuals complaining about folks being inconvenienced by the financial repercussions of this bill's passing. It's almost turned into a reflexive anger towards Bruce Springsteen, or PayPal, or the NBA, or the federal government. Why punish the kids/Boss fans/NBA fans/ PayPal workers when it was the GENERAL ASSEMBLY that passed the law?

The problem with that argument is the GENERAL ASSEMBLY only have jobs because we let them. Each and every liberal who stay home when it's time for state level elections as opposed to voting because it's "inconvenient" are to blame for House Bill 2. That includes me. I voted in 2012 when POTUS was on the ballot but didn't in the 2014 midterms. Why?

I've forfeited my right to get angry at how outsiders have reacted to this law when I only have myself and others like me to blame.

If you believe our form of government to be truly democratic (which, yes voter ID laws and gerrymandering are there, but those could also be thrown out if we voted for people who disagree with them) then the the pen of the Governor expresses the will of the people of the state. Stop blaming the GA when the buck stops at us. We, the citizens of the state of North Carolina, passed this law. We should deal with the consequences.

The good news is this bill has 0% chance to survive the courts if it gets there. We can avoid that whole charade though, if we take the same anger we hold towards Springsteen or the Feds with us to the polls in the Fall. Hope this is the wake-up call that young liberals in the state needed.

Yes, but there is the notion of diminishing returns coming into play here. McCrory seemed genuinely blindsided by the widespread backlash coming from businesses and public figures. I honest feel that he wouldn't have taken this tact if he had any foresight knowing what this would bring. But because of who his constituents are, he's now forced to double down. HB2 seems like it will be more of an albatross than it's worth.

McCrory's refusal to lead in first place coming back to bite him. Anyone could have seen that this law wasn't going to fly in 2016. Why do you think the NCGA felt they had to pass it in the dark of the night with as little deliberation and public debate as possible?

If McCrory wasn't such a coward beholden to conservative special interests, he would have vetoed the law. Too late now

But again, we should have never voted for him to get a second term. And we certainly shouldn't let him get a 3rd

I'm actually very surprised that there is likely no reversal coming. Just from a financial standpoint.

The people who support this don't give a fuck. They're also being well-supported by various conservative lobbying organizations for putting this in place.


Like Shake says below, they also wouldn't be terribly broken up to see a liberal breeding ground like the UNC system hurt over this. Just like they don't mind seeing liberal Charlotte hurt over this.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Willing to bet there are some legislators in the General Assembly that are rubbing their hands at the idea that the gutting of the UNC system can be blamed on someone else for once. They tend to show open contempt for the state's education.

 

[Grakl]

If I was the University of North Carolina I would take like 1% of that money (or even less) and sit with the trans students/workers and say "So ... do you people acept that money to have your surgeries/medicines instead of using the bathroom at the university? Will even pay for urinary problems of not pissing for long time ..."

What?

 

[deadlast]

Maybe more people should vote instead of just bitching after the fact.

Horrible law, made by horrible people, but people voted for this fuckwit and not enough people went out to vote against them.

I will be voting against anyone who signed HB2. We can bitch after the fact since it was an emergency session and public opinion/vote wasn't considered.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I will be voting against anyone who signed HB2. We can bitch after the fact since it was an emergency session and public opinion/vote wasn't considered.

We can bitch about people who didn't vote, especially in 2010 and 2014. There were plenty of warnings about the consequences of Republicans taking control of the state.

 

[mclem]

A spokesman for Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for governor and the state’s attorney general, criticized Mr. McCrory’s stand.

I didn't realise that the rival candidate for governor is the AG. I wonder if part of this is to get him on record with a clear stance on the issue for future attack ads?

Given how this is panning out, this may be a plan that's backfiring...

(Also, I misread "Roy Cooper" as "Roy Cropper". Which is somewhat appropriate)

 

[PhoncipleBone]

What's the long game of this, or Governor McCrory's doubling down? They're already poised to lose millions in business alone. I wonder what silver lining he sees in all of this.

His soul won't be damned?

 

[The Jackdog]

What's the long game of this, or Governor McCrory's doubling down? They're already poised to lose millions in business alone. I wonder what silver lining he sees in all of this.

"salvation"

 

[Deft Beck]

It's disgusting that it even got this far. What petty, paranoid people screwing over an already prejudiced group of people.

 

[Shake Appeal]

His soul won't be damned?

LOL, McCrory doesn't care about any of that — or a lot of things the GA sends to his desk, honestly. He just wanted to go full conservative in a re-election year when he was already deeply unpopular with Dems and independents. He made a bad political calculation, and now he's stuck with it.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Have you ever been to North Carolina? To Charlotte? To Asehville?

I lived in Asheville and my girlfriend went to college in Chapel Hill.

You're kidding yourself if you think the majority of people there still aren't religious bigots.

 

[Ivan 3414]

It's the south. This is their life anyway.

This is a really shitty post.

 

[entremet]

Crazy how this Governor is going to affect the UNC system, for the worse, so thoroughly due to boogie man tactics.

 

[ryseing]

I lived in Asheville and my girlfriend went to college in Chapel Hill.

You're kidding yourself if you think the majority of people there still aren't religious bigots.

In the cities? Nope. I live in Raleigh and the bigots don't have a large presence here. It's a rural/urban divide that is killing the state.

You clearly have an agenda as indicated by this:

It's the south. This is their life anyway.

I love my state but I am ashamed as hell about the way our politicians are acting. You can bet that I'll be voting in November to kick them out.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

This is a really shitty post.

Republicans gathered and passed a discriminatory law in 12 hours without public knowledge or a chance to discuss. This is your life if you live there. It's fact.

 

[PopeReal]

This shit is so insane.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Crazy how this Governor is going to affect the UNC system, for the worse, so thoroughly due to boogie man tactics.

He likely sees it as a bonus. Plus it'll cost tax payer money fighting the big brother Obama regime in court for this. STATE'S RIGHTS!

 

[User 73706]

I lived in Asheville and my girlfriend went to college in Chapel Hill.

You're kidding yourself if you think the majority of people there still aren't religious bigots.

It's Ersatzkopf.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Republicans gathered and passed a discriminatory law in 12 hours without public knowledge or a chance to discuss. This is your life if you live there. It's fact.

This is the most conservative governance (relative to the national climate) that North Carolina has had in maybe a century. Prior to McCrory getting in office, N.C. had not had a Republican governor for 28 years.

This is not the norm for the state.

 

[Abstrusity]

He likely sees it as a bonus. Plus it'll cost tax payer money fighting the big brother Obama regime in court for this. STATE'S RIGHTS!

Rights were a mistake, it's all trash.

In any case, I think a lower court has rules on this exact matter, that treating transgender individuals who are transitioning or in the process of starting as their birth sex and enforcing compliance through said birth sex constitutes sex discrimination because if their birth sex was the opposite, there would be no problems. It's one of, if not the, first step in deciding whether or not something is sex discrimination, "If their sex was flipped, would there be a problem?"

The argument against this ruling is more likely to come in as "it doesn't matter what sex they were, it goes against moral values to try to change it, life style choices, etc.," which...well, ruled for a long while as the go-to argument against LGB, as well.

It's not likely then, that they'll be able to argue their way out of this one.

 

[Fox318]

This article on the matter featured this quote from McCrory on the Feds:

http://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article76471037.html

McCrory said the Justice Department gave him an unrealistic “three working days” to respond. “It’s the federal government being a bully,” he said.

Bully... really

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Welp.