BLOGSeptember 20, 2017

Beyond Affirmative Action? Law Professor Says It's Time to 'Blow up' College Admissions

What’s the problem?

A recent New York Times analysis found that fewer black and Hispanic students are at elite colleges compared with 35 years ago – despite “decades of affirmative action.”

Black students make up 15 percent of 18-year-olds but just 6 percent of freshmen at elite colleges, while Hispanic students constitute 22 percent of the 18-year-old population and only 13 percent of incoming students at these particular schools.

How do progressives want to fix this?

Affirmative action hasn’t done enough, so it’s time to “blow up the system” of admissions, Georgetown law professor Sheryll Cashin told the Times. She proposed ending the practice of looking at standardized test scores as part of the admissions process.

Glenn’s take:

Diversity efforts aren’t working, and “this is a crisis for progressives,” Glenn said on Wednesday’s “The Glenn Beck Radio Program.”

But their “crisis” could become a problem for everyone else if colleges throw out any kind of measurement for admitting students.

“Do you want these people graduating from colleges like this building airplanes that you’re going to fly in?” Glenn asked. “Because I don’t.”

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: What is the point of diversity? Seriously. I mean, diversity for diversity's sake is absolutely meaningless. For college campuses, the educational system here in America -- let me rephrase that. America's educational industry, diversity is very meaningful. Apparently, diversity in American elite colleges, however, is in jeopardy.

According to the New York Times, 15 percent of American 18-year-olds were black, and 22 percent Hispanic in 2015. Yet, college freshmen at elite colleges were only 6 percent black and 13 percent Hispanic. And those numbers were lower than they were in 1980.

Now, this is a crisis for progressives. The New York Times say these colleges need to go above and beyond affirmative action and fix this problem. We need more than affirmative action.

A Georgetown law professor says elite colleges will only reflect America's overall diversity when colleges blow up the system of admissions.

They even propose that colleges stop using standardized test scores. I mean, we can't test people. Do you -- do you -- do you want these people graduating from colleges like this, building airplanes that you're going to fly in? Because I am just saying.

I like a standard -- can I see your test scores, please? We have to stop with the diversity hand-wringing. Affirmative action is inherently unfair. And perhaps it started with good intentions. But like most progressive ideas, it's imploded.

How about an admissions system that is simply merit-based? I don't care about the color of your skin. I don't care! I don't care what you call yourself. I don't care what gender you -- I don't care if you think you're a space alien.

What have you been doing? Show me your work. That's it. Is it too much to ask?

Maybe it's also time to look at how much we're paying for an education. College is now insanely expensive. Insanely.

Even though our elite colleges have endowments that are worth billions of dollars, all tax-exempt, tuition is more expensive than ever and goes up about 41 percent over the last few years. Why? Because college is big business. And progressivism and affirmative action are all part of the game.

RADIO

The REAL reason for Trump’s Alaska meeting with Putin

The media is WRONG to believe President Trump’s meeting in Anchorage with Vladimir Putin is a gift to Russia, which wants to own Alaska. In fact, it’s the exact opposite, Glenn Beck believes. Glenn speaks with The Free Press columnist Matthew Continetti, who makes the case that Trump pressured Putin into having this face-to-face meeting, where he can use the full power of his negotiation skills. Plus, he explains why he believes this is just the first of many meetings as Trump tries to end the war in Ukraine…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. Matthew, welcome to the program.

How are you?

MATTHEW: I'm well, Glenn. Thank you for having me.

GLENN: You bet.

I think only contrary to whatever in the mainstream is saying. They're saying, oh, he's bringing him over to Alaska, and that's such a win for Putin. I don't think it's a win at all for Putin.

And it has taken him more than one day, because he had to change the dynamics of American policy.

And I think the policies of the world. And you point that out in your article.

You want to go a little deeper into that?

MATTHEW: Oh, sure. Absolutely. I think Trump is going to the summit today in Anchorage with a lot of leverage over Vladimir Putin. And you're right, the mainstream media is -- wants already to characterize this as a win for Putin because there's a meeting taking place at all.

But I think this fundamentally misunderstands President Trump.
President Trump wants to meet anybody.

He doesn't care. He's happy to talk to anybody.

The question is always, what will come out? And if you remember, he met with Kim Jong-un twice.

And in Hanoi, when Kim Jong-un just wouldn't give up concessions on his nuclear program. Trump walked away.

So that could easily happen this time.

But I think the overall dynamic changed in just the past few months.

The first step was, getting Ukraine on board.

A proposal for a 30-day cease-fire. On the ground. And in the air.

And as we know, you know, Zelinsky, the president of Ukraine was reluctant to even sign on top of my to that.

Before that Oval Office does stuff earlier this year.

He got on board. That meant Trump could then go and say to Europe. Let's get additional leverage, by agreeing to increasing our defense budgets.

And then, Trump agreed to this deal, where NATO will purchase weapons in the United States. We're not spending any money.

We're getting the money in Europe for these weapons.

And then Europe would hand the weapons to Ukraine.

That definitely got Putin's attention, as did our successful strike against Iran's nuclear program.

In -- in June. Remember, Iran is a Russian ally. Iran is supplying a lot of those drones that are raining down on the Ukrainian cities.

And we basically took Iran out.

I mean, Israel helped quite a bit, of course. In the 12-day war.

But so we've slowly ratcheted up the pressure on Putin.

Thanks to President Trump's policies.

Most recent one was this 50 percent tariff on India.

Now, you might say, well, what does that have to do with Ukraine and Russia?

Well, India is a huge purchaser of Russian energy.

So when Trump says, look, we will punish third parties, that are financing the Russian war effort, well, that's when Putin said, look, I would like to talk to you directly.

GLENN: Wow. You know, I've been trying to figure out the India angle.

Because India is a huge trade partner.

And we really want them on our side.

That makes a lot of sense.

So if they stop purchasing the Russian oil, then that trade barrier comes down?

MATTHEW: Absolutely. This is how President Trump uses tariffs.

Sure, he likes them for a variety of reasons.

They raise revenue for the government. They want to incentivize foreign investments to build factories in the United States.

But he -- he likes them in particular, because there are ways that he can use America's economic might to get results. In the foreign policy sphere.

And in this case, you're exactly right. The tariff is going on in India, because of the purchases of Russian oil.

And they said, we will reduce those purchases. Then the tariff would come off.

Let's not forget too, the energy sector is hurting in Russia. That's really Russia's main source of economic growth into government revenue.

And oil has declined from 19 percent from year over year, since Trump has taken office.

That's partly because of Trump's energy policy.

The drill, baby, drill policy.

That freed up that supply. And, of course, more supply means lower price. And that hurts Vladimir Putin as well.

GLENN: They have like, I think it's -- when it goes -- what is it?

Below $80 a barrel. They can't -- they have to start dipping into reserves. They can't -- they can't afford it.

MATTHEW: Yeah, and I think when it crosses 60. It goes over 60, then they really start to hurt.

GLENN: Right.

JASON: Hey, Matthew, Jason Buttrill here, Glenn's chief researcher. There's been a lot of, I guess, word from the Europeans. Ukrainians even the Russians, talking about territorial concessions. And, like, that's everybody's red line. Do you think with some of the setup discussions with Witkoff, with Putin earlier, do you think that there's any room for -- you know, for leeway here?

Do you think that possibly Trump might have an upper hand with that as well?

Will we see anything, when that's always the huge red line between the two?

MATTHEW: Right.

Well, I think the administration, and it may have gotten a little bit ahead of itself right after Witkoff's meeting. When you heard the president mention these land swaps. Very quickly, president Zelinsky said, whoa. I'm not ready for that.

And then the Europeans said, well, we also need to be part of that table as well.

Since then in the days leading up to today's summit. Trump has been very careful to lower expectations. He said that this is a feeling out meeting. Caroline Leavitt called it a listening session. Trump has said, look, if Putin is not ready for a cease-fire, then I'm going to leave.

And he also said, this is just the first meeting.

He's been very clear, the past couple of days. Any settlement that would probably include some type of territorial lines being drawn.

Would only happen between a meeting between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine.

And then as President Trump said the other day.

Maple take Europeans to the meeting as well.

So I think we heard that land swap talk, early on. In the days since, the president has had a much more realistic view on of what could be attainable in this first meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Remember, he hasn't met Putin in person, since 2018. He wants to get a direct sense of Putin's body language.

And psychology.

GLENN: Yeah. That's important for the president.

Because he -- I kind of studied some of the deals he's done in the last, I don't know.

15 years. On land. And, you know, Trump -- you know, as a company.

And there's a story about, when he was trying to sell the New York plaza.

And he met with the Japanese people.

And it was all arranged. All they had to do was just close the deal with him.

And he got into the room. And he spent maybe three or four minutes, talking and listening to them.

Within five minutes, he had changed the teal, and said, you know what, I'm building something oar on the East River.

Or the west side how. That I think you're really going to like. And he started. And everybody on his team, when they broke, they said, what are you doing? He said, they're not interested in the -- in the plaza.

He's like, I can tell right away. We're not going to be able to close that deal. I switched to this deal. So him face-to-face. There's something about him, when he's negotiating face-to-face.

He feels the room clearly. That even his closest advisers can't translate. And can't give him.

Would you agree with that?

MATTHEW: Oh, I agree, completely. I mean, he -- he makes very gut decisions, based on people's appearances.

Based on people's body language.

Are they fidgeting?

What sort of health are they in?

And these are things that are hard to assess over the phone. And even hard to assess, when you have an intelligence briefer there. Trump, of course, wants to see for himself.

That's why I think this meeting will be exploratory.

Remember too, Trump has had this string of diplomatic success. During his second term. Just last week. He presided over the bill. Between Armenia and Azerbaijan, this the White House.

That was part of it as well.

That's part of the world. The caucuses has always been considered part of the Russian sphere of influence. And here we have, two nations from that part of the world, not going to Moscow.

But going to the White House.

And shaking hands with President Trump. To arrange a deal. And that -- Putin there too, is saying, okay.

I'm losing my influence. Not just in Europe.

Where, of course, NATO has expanded, rather than contracted. Since the Ukraine, in Beijing.

But even in my own backyard.

We have these two nations: Armenia, Azerbaijan looking to Trump. Then, of course, we have the recent flare-up between Thailand and Cambodia that Trump is able to stop from escalating out of control.

Earlier in the year, India and Pakistan, the same thing.

These sorts of agreements that Trump has been able to marshal, preside over. Use our economic leverage, to obtain.

I think it's one reason he wants to have this meeting with Putin.

Because he's beginning to understand his method of bringing the two size to the table. And forging an agreement.

GLENN: We're talking to Matthew Continetti. He's with AEI. He's a senior fellow. And also columnist for the Free Press.

Matthew, I don't think anybody today, really gives him the credit that he deserves, as a master negotiator.

You know, he's -- he was known as that. You know, in business. But what he's done in the last seven months, to the world, and changing the dynamics in the world. To bring all these people together.

You know, he's never going to get a Nobel Peace Prize.

Somebody will nominate. Yeah. Let's watch that happen.

Do you think -- at some point, assuming all these things continue to hold. And he continues this trend.

I mean, he could be one of the greatest peacemakers in American history.

MATTHEW: Well, I think though, he's taking a real lesson from Theodore Roosevelt.

GLENN: Yes.

MATTHEW: Who --

GLENN: Who won the Nobel Prize 100 years after he died. Yeah.

MATTHEW: Exactly. And, you know, Teddy Roosevelt's foreign policy was gumbo diplomacy, right? No -- no regime change. And nation building. Gumbo diplomacy. You have a strong military, might have to do a raid every now and then.

Like we just did against the Iranian nuclear infrastructure, but also mediation.

Theodore Roosevelt wanted the United States to mediate between different powers, and get them to the table. And I see that working in Trump's foreign policy. As well.

You know, within let's not forget, even in his first term. He had the Abraham accords. Between Israel. And several Arab nations.

You're right, Glenn. He's a peacemaker.

I think, even though he won't get any credit from the liberal media now. The test of time will, I think, ensure his legacy. Because, you know, going back to the first term.

Abrahamic Accords. The Biden administration which followed him never really gave Trump any credit.

But they also didn't do anything to disturb the Abrahamic Accords. And also, wanted to try to expand, as Trump wants to do right now. So what I think he's doing is building a foundation, that will last.

And I also hope, he's -- he's teaching lessons, that future presidents, can take to heart.

America can use our economic power, in a way, to obtain peace agreements. To make sure that our position is maximized in different negotiations. We don't always have to resort to military force.

Even, as we keep it as an option in a case like the Iranian nuclear threat.

GLENN: Matthew, thank you for the insight.

Appreciate it.

Wait. Wait. Before you go. One more thing. Expecting anything to come out of this?

MATTHEW: I -- I have pretty low expectations, Glenn.

GLENN: Yeah.

MATTHEW: I think there's a chance we can get some sort of cease-fire.

But I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.

GLENN: Yeah. Thank you, Matt. We'll talk again.

RADIO

Energy Secretary reveals Trump's plan to LOWER your electricity bill

President Trump's Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, joins Glenn Beck to discuss Trump's plan to lower your electricity bill. While he says it can't happen every night, he assures Glenn's listeners that Trump is asking for updates on this "every single day." Plus, he reveals how the administration plans to cut red tape, use nuclear energy, and stop the immature closure of coal plants to boost American energy.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Okay. We have Chris -- Chris Wright on. US Energy Secretary. We are concerned about our energy, and thank God, Donald Trump. Can you imagine how bad this would be, if Joe Biden's policies would have continued? Thank God we're doing a lot of really good things. But I wanted to get a sense from Chris, on where we are, and what he thinks of what's happening in Maryland, and the warning, that Goldman is giving this week?

Chris, welcome to the program.

CHRIS: Thanks for having me on, Glenn. Yeah. You hit the hot topic, right away.

GLENN: Okay. So I would assume that you agree with what Goldman said?

CHRIS: Oh. Absolutely. In fact, we've released a report from the department, just a few weeks ago. And if you had continued the Biden policies, which are to permit and subsidize energy sources that might be there. Might not. They generally aren't there at peak demand.

If we had continued those policies, they would have shut down another hundred gigawatts of firm production capacity, that's there when you need it. And they have permits to improve and planned to add -- add 22 gigawatts of that. Check out 100, add 22.

So a net loss of 78 gigawatts, to an electricity grid that's already tight, that already delivers blackouts and peak demand. They were on a trajectory to increase blackouts by 100 fold, by the end of the first Paris term, if she had won that election.

It is just -- we were driving over a cliff, and they were hitting the accelerator to go faster. It's ridiculous.

GLENN: What really bothered me was the policy that when they shut these plants down, we would actually pay the power companies, to shut these down, if they dismantled the coal power plants. They actually could get subsidy. If they made sure, there was no going back into that.

Which I found terrifying, and horribly irresponsible.

CHRIS: Glenn, it's just crazy. An environmentalist melted down a few weeks ago, when I used my authority at the Department of Energy, to stop the closure of a one and a half gigawatt coal plant in southwestern Michigan.

Oh, you're going to post tax -- costs on the -- we don't know that coal plant. It's slated to close.

Two days later, there was a blackout in my zone, the Midwestern independent system operator. Two days later, that plant was running at full capacity. It would have been massively worse. Crisis would have been massively higher.

You just talked about Baltimore. We also stopped the closure of a very old power plant in Baltimore, but a critical power plant that keeps the lights on at peak demand, that's also running at full capacity as we speak today and has for much of the last few weeks.

Oh, no. We don't need it. We're going to close it. It -- it's just when politics gets in the middle of energy, it truly impacts people's lives.

At least the blackouts. Rising costs. You know, we had 30 percent rise in power prices during just four years of President Joe Biden.

And now we're going to launch the AI race against China? And we are going to have our lights going off, without data centers, without new industry in our country?

Just thank God, the American people, overwhelmingly elected President Trump. We brought common sense back. We're swimming seven days a week, to try to fix the train wreck they left us. So it's exciting. It's more stressful than I would like. But I can assure you, we're headed in the right direction now.

GLENN: So what really bothers me, is how dangerous nuclear power is, and how we can't use that.

Even though, that solves the global warming thing. We've never been able to have that. We have to reduce our power usage. You know, go back to the good old days in, I don't know, medieval times. And -- but now that AI is here. Now that the big tech companies step up and say, no, no, no. We -- we have to have power for AI. Now all of those rules are out the window.

Which -- which bothers me so much, because it is -- it's as if the left and the power structures, don't really care about the average person. And them having power.

They care about these big corporations, and -- and AI being able to have compute power.

But not the average person. And it's -- it's -- it's disgusting.

It's really disgusting.

CHRIS: I -- I think that's right, Glenn.

It also shows that they never really cared about incremental changes in greenhouse gas emissions. The climate change thing is mostly a classroom for power. We're going to decide the way the world works. And make rules for you.

Because you stupid rubes out there in America, you can't make your own decisions.

We must make them for you. But yet, they were never about a rational approach to reduce greenhouse gases.

They don't even know that much about greenhouse gas emissions.

You said, they hated nuclear then. Now they see we're on a train wreck. They don't want to admit their climate alarmism was wrong. And wildly exaggerated.

Now, nuclear power is okay.

Because we need. We need these data centers, these big companies need power. It's not just -- it's not just those crazy routes in Middle America, like you and I.

GLENN: So, you know, in your report, you said, you know, we will increase blackouts by 100 times in the next five years, if we don't keep more base load power online.

How rapidly are we going to see these nuclear power plants, et cetera, et cetera, being built?

And is it only to serve those server farms, or are we going to redo the American power grid, itself?

CHRIS: It will be across the grid. So it is an exciting development, Glenn.

But it's the government. It's this overweening, fear-mongering government that actually smothered and killed nuclear industry, for most of the last four decades. So since it's been my mothered for so long, it will take time to get that ball really moving. We will have an already closed nuclear power plant, back open in Michigan. Later this year, January. Hopefully, at the latest.

You know, there's some developments that will happen in the next few months.

But most of it, will take a few years.

Really, what's going to feed the data centers that are going to be built, and the reindustrialization of our country.

And keep the lights on, and our air-conditioning on in the summertime.

Most of that is going to come from stopping the closure of the coal plant.

GLENN: Right.

CHRIS: That the Biden administration and Obama administration wanted to shrink our ability to generate electricity.

And it's going to come from the expansion and rapid construction of new natural gas burning power plants. Natural gas is, by far, the biggest source of electricity.

It's by far the lowest cost -- source of new electricity. So we are doing everything we can, to permit, allow the construction of natural gas plants as fast as possible, and removing these ridiculous requirements.

That, well, if you spend a billion dollars to build a new power plant, within six or seven or eight years, you're going to have to capture all the carbon dioxide emissions, and eject them underground. No matter how much it costs. No matter how much it burdens our power sector.

The direction they were in, just didn't care about American people, or American business.

GLENN: How long before we see these things? I mean, you know, China is building at the speed of at least one coal power plant, a week. They are building nuclear power plants. They are on an energy surge right now.

They know what's coming.

How -- how -- when should we see this actually starting to happen? And how long before power prices come down?

CHRIS: Oh, man. That is -- that is the big question. President Trump asked me that, every single day. Every single day. Let's get oil prices down. Let's get gas prices down. Let's get electricity prices down. And it takes a while to build infrastructure.

Fortunately, quickly, we can stop the closure of coal plants and still have lots of lifetime left. We've already done that.

That's why we don't have much worse blackouts, already today. We do have new gas plants coming on this year, a lot more coming on next year. We will have nuclear plants on, later this term. We will have a whole bunch of them under construction. But yet, to turn the giant, you know, aircraft carrier that is the electricity grid, that's going to take a few years. But hopefully, we can watch the huge rise in prices.

We can build the capacity so that the United States can keep our lead on artificial intelligence over China.

We get behind China, and they control AI, our national security is at risk.

GLENN: Yeah. I know.

CHRIS: The whole administration is seven days a week, working on this effort.

I see dramatically fewer blackouts this summer, than you would have, had the election gone the other way.

And I think we will be in a little better situation next summer. And somewhere in between there, this winter. We're rapidly swimming the right way.

I wish, I could say power prices are going down 20 percent next year. But it's simply not possible to do that, in 12 months. But I will tell you, President Trump is seven days a week doing everything he can, towards that goal.

GLENN: What regions are the worst in the country?

As far as stability and prices?

CHRIS: The Midwest.

You know, the -- the -- where that Michigan coal plant was kept open.

Where that nuclear power plant will reopen later that year. The Midwest Independent System Operator, that's our tightest region.

The southeast and PJM, where Washington, DC, is in the mid-Atlantic states.

They're rapidly getting tighter as well. Everything in the inner connection cue that was new to come on, is a wind or solar project.

But when it's dark out, and when it's really hot, and you're in a high-pressure system.

And the wind doesn't blow. Those things don't help to meet demand. They just provide electricity -- well, you don't know when. But at some points in time, that's not very helpful for an electricity grid. But we're going to stop the closure of the firm capacity.

And we are doing everything we can. We are permitting and approving plants, every week. New construction, new plants, that will be built. And that be here to provide relief to Americans in the next 12 to 24 months.

GLENN: And the most stable region?

CHRIS: The -- the most stable region is actually Texas. Which is by far the biggest electricity grid. They produce more than twice as much electricity as California. And just -- just a little bit less nonsense in Texas.

They still went crazy on the wind stuff. They still have more expensive, and less stable grid than they had ten years ago.

GLENN: Yeah. They do.

CHRIS: But they also have the mindset and the regulatory regime to fix their problem. Texas is rapidly growing its firm capacity, and they will stay out of this crisis, probably a little faster than the more Biden-influenced rest of the country.

GLENN: Hmm. I can't thank you enough for everything you guys are doing. I'm -- I'm amazed at -- at how rapidly you guys have turned things around.

I'm just -- I'm thrilled at the work, you all are doing.

And, Chris, you really are leading us in energy.

And I really appreciate that. Thank you.

CHRIS: Appreciate you, Glenn. Appreciate all your viewers. We're doing everything we can.

We think about the American people. That's the only agenda we have.

GLENN: Thank you so much, Chris.

That's our US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright.

RADIO

The most COMPLETE look at the Deep State we've ever seen

Thanks to release after release of government documents by the Trump administration, we now have the most complete look at the Deep State - how it works, who's involved, and who's funding it - that we've ever had. Most recently, Just The News has released proof that former United States Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told the FBI to shut down investigations into the Clinton Foundation. Glenn's head researcher, Jason Buttrill, joins to recap these latest revelations.

Watch Glenn Beck's full breakdown of the Deep State network HERE

Glenn's Show Prep

Beyond Affirmative Action? Law Professor Says It's Time to 'Blow up' College Admissions

The REAL reason for Trump’s Alaska meeting with Putin

Transcript

Energy Secretary reveals Trump's plan to LOWER your electricity bill

Transcript

The most COMPLETE look at the Deep State we've ever seen

Will Trump-Putin Alaska Meeting END the Nuclear War Threat... For Now?