Did you

CalTrans, the huge state agency that spends billions in federal highway construction funds, "sets a

--African American, Asian-Pacific American, and Native America, but not Latinos or other groups." Not a "goal"--a quota.

. But why is a lawsuit even required? Stimulus money

. And aren't "quotas" are what every poll-tested politician says he or she is against? Don't you think if the GOPs (or anyone) made a big stink about the stimulus bill's race quotas, Obama would back off?  ... Plus it's another bone he could toss to Latinos! ...

If "quotas" have always tested badly in polls, the words "affirmative action" has often tested much better. But

, which

American voters say 55 - 36 percent that affirmative action should be abolished

Backfill: Jennifer Rubin explains how explicit race quotas in contracting survived the Supreme Court's 1995 Adarand decision, which many people (me too) thought had killed the practice. "Strict scrutiny" isn't what it used to be. ... No doubt Justice Sotomayor will clean up this mess.

 **--You wouldn't know if you relied on the L.A. Times, which apparently hasn't covered the CalTrans quota controversy (though its  competitors have ). ...  1:40 A.M.

Why was Pennsylvania relatively unscathed by foreclosures in 2008 while neighboring Ohio was hammered ? A friend at a conference I recently attended pointed out the contrast. I don't know the answer, but it might be instructive. ...  Update: Thanks to Tom Maguire , who forwards a newspaper article and a summary of three Fed studies on the topic. Regulatory differences are suspected. ...  1:54 A.M.

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Los Angeles Democrats have succeeded in using the state's fiscal crisis to recreate welfare , some thirteen years after the hated federal AFDC entitlement was abolished. The local Dem-controlled Board of Supervisors is proposing to pay mothers for "caring for their own children" --which was the original idea of the welfare program when it was inserted into the New Deal's cash-granting structure in 1935. It seemed to make sense--caring for children is a type of work, after all. Except that subsidizing non-working parenthood--especially single motherhood--turned out to be a recipe for epic social disaster (something that was predicted by not a few dissenting antipoverty activists back in FDR's day). In 1996, Congress finally decided the better policy was to require mothers receiving welfare to work,  outside the home, even if that was more expensive than just mailing them checks. At the time, the favored liberal Democratic battle cry was a demand for more day care. But now the Dem Board of Supervisors'  proposes to cut the day care and just mail out the checks again, at least to all mothers with two children under age 6. (Message: Have a second kid and you don't have to go to work!). 

Doesn't Obama's HHS Department have some say in this? Does he really want to resume subsidizing the culture of dependent single motherhood? ... P.S.: If he plays his cards right he could come out for both welfare and quotas in the same week , and give the GOPs a fair shot. ... [ via Drudge ] 2:07 A.M.

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WaPo media critic Howard "I'm A Star--The Rules Don't Apply to Me" Kurtz, who failed to disclose that he is paid by CNN when he defended CNN in an online chat this week, promises to disclose in the future :

"That was an oversight and won’t be repeated."

We've heard that tune before! ... P.S.: My beef with Kurtz isn't so much that he has a giant crippling conflict of interest (one that would never be tolerated for a Post reporter writing about, say, GM). It's that he has a giant crippling conflict of interest while he runs around chastising other journalists for minor conflicts of interest . Franklin Foer called him an "East German figure skating judge." He once tried to zing me for an Amazon Associates payment of $1.92 (which I'd overzealously disclosed). ... P.P.S.: The Post' s Omblogger Andy Alexander produces a laboriously crafted corporate PR-style paragraph defending his employer--

An archival examination of his writings for The Post shows that when CNN has received a significant mention in his columns or stories, they typically end with this disclosure: "Howard Kurtz hosts's CNN's weekly media program, 'Reliable Sources.'" [ Weasel-word emphasis added. ]

a) BS ; b) What about stories trashing CNN's competitors (without 'significantly' mentioning CNN)? c) This isn't the sort of conflict-- getting a paycheck from one of the companies you are covering --that disclosure is held to cure, according to the normal rules of journalism. ...

Update: Bill Wyman argues--and he has a good example--that  what Kurtz doesn't write about matters just as much. ... 2:36 A.M.

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Imagine how cool President McCain would be in the Iran crisis . ... Would he go on TV to declare "we are all Moussavists now," or suspend all government activities while he parachuted into Tehran? ... 3:08 A.M.

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