Your Grade is [REDACTED]
What to know: Freshmen at the University of Michigan next year will get a semester-long break from having letter grades appear on their transcripts as school officials look for new ways to combat the “mental health crisis” affecting higher education.
The TPPF take: It’s a transcript witness protection program because the University of Michigan has decided that grades are now a form of emotional violence.
“An institution that spent years cultivating fragility now solemnly protects the resulting product from evidence of its own failed performance,” says TPPF’s Thomas Lindsay. “There is no opt-out for students because, according to University of Michigan, reality is apparently too dangerous to be voluntary.”
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Protect the Kids
What to know: In 2024, the FBI received nearly 55,000 reports of sextortion and extortion crimes, a 59% increase from the previous year, with $33.5 million in reported financial losses.
The TPPF take: This is a sophisticated criminal exploitation of children. Technology has evolved faster than the laws designed to protect our children, and it is time for Congress to close the gap.
“Congress should also ensure that federal law clearly defines sextortion and recognizes coercion and threats as central elements of the crime,” says TPPF’s Brett Tolman. “Penalties should reflect the seriousness of exploiting minors, including repeated coercion, multiple victims, extensive distribution and the severity of threats.”
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Technically Legal
What to know: Since October 2023, the City of Austin has paid $1.58 million to a progressive nonprofit with deep ties to Democratic socialism: the Workers Defense Project (WDP). Curiously, three councilmembers who oversee that spending won their seats with support from a political committee run by WDP’s own affiliate.
The TPPF take: Austin’s NGO machine isn’t breaking any rules. That’s the problem.
“Federal law drew this line long ago: government contractors may not make contributions or expenditures to candidates, parties, or committees — on the simple theory that money received from the public shouldn’t come back around as help getting elected,” says TPPF’s Ben Crockett. “Austin built itself a loophole instead. The city’s anti-lobbying ordinance exempts social service contracting, meaning nonprofits like WDP are immune from similar restrictions, even though the city’s own audit team flagged the exemption in 2019 and is flagging it again now.”