When the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act last month, Attorney General Eric Holder promised that the Justice Department would continue to fight voter suppression using every tool at its disposal. Now he's making good on that promise. Yesterday, at the National Urban League's Annual Conference in Philadelphia, the Attorney General announced that he's calling on the courts to reinstitute the preclearance requirement in Texas. Holder said, “This request to “bail in” the state – and require it to obtain 'pre-approval' from either the Department or a federal court before implementing future voting changes – is available under the Voting Rights Act when intentional voting discrimination is found.”

In 2012, a federal court blocked Texas from instituting new district lines, finding intentional discrimination against Hispanic voters. Based on that ruling, and a long-history of racial discrimination, Attorney General Holder wants Texas to preclear voting law changes for the next decade. Governor Rick Perry said Eric Holder's move showed “utter contempt for our country's system of checks and balances, not to mention the U.S. Constitution.” In his written statement, Governor Perry did not, however, deny any current or previous attempts to disenfranchise minorities.

When the Supreme Court stripped away one of the most important components of the Voting Right Act, Attorney General Holder said he would use every tool at his disposal to block voting discrimination based on race, color, or language, and he appears to be doing just that. During his speech yesterday, the Attorney General said, “This is the [Justice] Department's first action to protect voting rights following the Shelby County decision, but it will not be our last.” Those words gave renewed hope to voting rights advocates around our nation, but the battle in Texas won't be easily won. This is shaping up to be an old-fashioned, wild-west fight. Stay tuned.

-Thom

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Thursday's Daily Stack

Hour One: Obscene for government to profit from students?
- Anthony Randazzo, Reason Foundation

Article: "Sallie Mae and Uncle Sam: Cronyism in Higher Education Finance" by Scott Piazza, Anthony Randazzo and Victor Nava.

The Big Picture
- Nate Sweet, The Big Picture producer

Article: "Holder Wants Texas to Clear Voting Changes With the U.S." by Adam Liptak and Charlie Savage.

Article: "Senate passes bill to lower student loan interest rates" by UPI.

Book: "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", Adam Smith, 1776.

Article: "Land-grant university" by Wikipedia.

Article: "List of land-grant universities" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Limbaugh: "Economic Recovery Is Not Caused By The Middle Class" " by Media Matters.

Article: "Laffer Curve".

Book: "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.

Book: Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith, 1759.

Article: "King's College history".

Article: "William Harvey" by Wikipedia.

Movie: "Charlie Wilson's War".

Site: Move to Amend

Article: "Koch Pledge Tied to Congressional Climate Inaction" by Jane Mayer.

Hour Two: Billionaire plan for Detroit...gated community?
- Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio

Article: "Plan to Privatize Belle Isle Unveiled" by Mackinac Center.

Article: "Detroit: federal judge halts legal challenges to bankruptcy filing" by AP.

Article: "Best Man For The Job? How Bias Affects Hiring" by Isaac Butler and Rachel Godsil.

Article: "Racial Bias in Hiring: Are Emily and Brendan More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?" by Marianne Bertrand, 2003.

Article: "Boehner condemns Steve King remarks, says immigration reform harder" by Deirdre Walsh.

Article: "Ted Nugent, Republican Party mascot, has things to say about black Americans" by Hunters.

Article: "Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan & Kevin McCarthy: Plot To Sabotage US Economy with Frank Luntz" by keepemhonest.

Geeky Science- Gut Microbes Drive New Species Evolution.

Article: "Gut Microbes Drive New Species Evolution" by Catherine Griffin.

Article: "The Great Pension Scare" by Paul Krugman.

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Article: "TRNS News Notes- Thursday, July 25" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- Friday, July 26" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "Rep. Steve King: Young people smuggling drugs across border ‘every night’" by David Sherfinski.

Article: "Pelosi On Weiner, Filner: Do Therapy In Private" by Jennifer Salko.

Article: "Obama calls for infrastructure investment as economic tour continues" by Shawna Thomas and Michael O'Brien.

Article: "Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest en route Jacksonville, Florida", July 25, 2013.

Article: "Obama administration won't use 'coup' for Egypt" by Bradley Klapper.

Article: "U.S. Should Maintain Egyptian Aid, Warns Diplomat" by Steph Dingbaum.

Article: "Proposed No. 2 official at Homeland Security defends self as GOP senators boycott hearing" by AP.

Hour Three: Holder to Perry - "You feelin' lucky?"
- Myrna Pérez, Brennan Center for Justice

Case: "Shelby County v. Holder", 2013.

Clip: "Paul Weyrich - "I don't want everybody to vote" (Goo Goo)".

Article: "Voting Rights Act of 1965" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Obama administration presses Texas over Voting Rights Act" by Anna Fifield.

Article: "Lawsuit Claims Voting Rights Act Violations Against the State" by Dan Carpenter (Alaska).

Article: "Republican’s voter-ID remark brings him under political fire" by Angela Couloumbis.

Article: "Perry’s sister an advocate for surgical centers".

The good: "WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange running for Australian Senate" by UPI.

The bad: "Concussion Truther Rush Limbaugh Doesn't Buy The "Conventional Wisdom" On Long-Term Effects Of Concussions" by Media Matters.

The very, very ugly: "Nugent: Stevie Wonder’s Florida boycott inspired by drug abuse" by Stephen C. Webster.

Documentary: "Power of Nightmares".

Book: "Cracking the Code: How to Win Hearts, Change Minds, and Restore America's Original Vision" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "6th Amendment" (speedy trial, witnesses, defense).

Article: "Barack Obama at Knox College: Reverse economic inequality" by BBC.

Article: "Tepco sees steam again at reactor 3".

Article: "Democrats vow to repeal Alabama's 'Stand Your Ground' law" by Brian Lyman.

Article: "Tampa Passes New Law To Toss Homeless People In Jail For Sleeping In Public" by Scott Keyes.

Article: "U.S. groups call on Obama to suspend trade talks with Vietnam" by Doug Palmer.

Article: "Senator Wyden Warns Against the Surveillance State" by Bob Adelmann.

Article: "NSA surveillance: narrow defeat for amendment to restrict data collection" by Spencer Ackerman.

Hour One: It's Friday and that means it's "Brunch With Bernie"... America's Senator...Senator Bernie Sanders will be here talking about all the important issues of the week and he'll be taking your calls too...

Hour Two: Koch million$ go after nonprofits, colleges
- Charles Lewis, Investigative Reporting Workshop

And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...

We'll have all the latest news and information from the weekend...

Plus, pro-gun groups are gathering money so they can buy a replacement gun for the man who killed Trayvon Martin...I'll confront Bill Frady, from Gun Owners of American & host of Lock & Load Radio about why his group is contributing to re-arm George Zimmerman...seriously?!

Plus, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"...

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