Charles Blow writes of the work ahead for those many citizens who now find themselves compelled to defend their rights: I fully understand that elevated outrage is hard to maintain. It’s exhausting. But the alternative is surrender to national nihilism and the welcoming of woe. The next four years could be epochal years in the history…
Federal Government
Economy, Federal Government, Free Markets, Liberty, State Capitalism
Who Runs the Economy?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Consider this Twitter exchange between liberty-oriented Republican Justin Amash and a Trump supporter, over the suitability of Trump’s cabinet appointments: The Trump supporter thinks that the credentials of a cabinet nominee justify the appointment; Rep. Amash rightly sees that credentials do not define the scope of legitimate state action.
Federal Government, Foreign Affairs, Government Spending, Military
How Much, and What Kind, of Military Spending?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Analysts from five Washington policy institutes[1] have published a joint report asking (1) what should American defense strategy be? (2) what capabilities, investments, and force structure might that strategy require? and (3) what would such a military cost? (The five institutes are not of the same views, with the Cato Institute’s Benjamin H. Friedman notable…
America, City, Federal Government, Local Government, Politics
The National-Local Mix
by JOHN ADAMS •
Federal Government, Language, Trump
Kakistocracy
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a vast difference between the average Trump supporter (similar in most ways to most people) and the people who served in the Trump Campaign and who will serve in a Trump Administration (composed of generous helpings of mediocrities, liars, or bigots). Ryan Lizza’s found the Greek term kakistocracy, a term that will apply nicely to…
Federal Government, Trump
Eliot Cohen’s Wise Advice: Don’t Serve Trump
by JOHN ADAMS •
Conservative foreign policy scholar (and member of the Bush Administration) Eliot Cohen admits, “I told conservatives to work for Trump. One talk with his team changed my mind” — Nemesis pursues and punishes all administrations, but this one will get a double dose. Until it can acquire some measure of humility about what it knows,…
Cato, Environment, Federal Government, Trump
The Next Secretary of the Interior?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embed from Getty Images While there is much talk about high-profile cabinet posts like State, Defense, and Justice, there are lower-profile posts that will still attract both interested parties and occasional controversies. The Department of the Interior is among them. Prospects for that cabinet secretary include oil baron Forrest Lucas (a big contributor to Mike…
Federal Government, Law, Liberty, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records, State Government, Wisconsin
The Public Records Law Still Stands
by JOHN ADAMS •
After a push to alter Wisconsin’s Public Records Law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31-19.39), we’re now secure with the original law intact. Below one will find a recording of Wisconsin A.G. Brad Schimel’s Open Government Summit, held earlier this week at the Concourse in Madison. J.B. Hollen, Schimel’s immediate predecessor, started strongly in favor of the…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, Federal Government, Government Spending, Libertarians, Official Misconduct, University
If Universities Want Federal Money…
by JOHN ADAMS •
If universities want federal money (and they want as much as they can get), then it’s wrong for them to shirk federal legal standards for reporting assault and for proper treatment of those alleging assault. (Make no mistake: I’d contend that universities have a duty to manage campuses well and fairly even if there were…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, Federal Government, Law, Official Misconduct, University
UW-Madison Now Joins UW-Whitewater Under Federal Title IX Investigation
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the Wisconsin State Journal this morning, one reads that a second Wisconsin school is under investigation for its handling of sexual assault complaints. Dan Simmons writes that UW-Madison is now the second university in the state to be included in a growing probe of possible violations of federal law over the handling of sexual…
Federal Government, Local Government, State Government
The Public-Sector Public-Relations Problem
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s almost no part of government, down to the smallest unit, that doesn’t approach the public as though a salesperson, as a matter of persuasion through public or media relations. Consider how odd, how ironic, this situation is: government, whose authority derives in a free society only from the public, uses public resources to present…
Federal Government, Local Government, Politics
Public Choice Theory Inoculates People from Poor Policy
by JOHN ADAMS •
In places big and small, one of the many questions for residents is this: is holding government office, whether elected or appointed, a more virtuous way of life than private activity? If it should prove more virtuous, then one can reasonably contend that long-tenured government officials are, themselves, more virtuous than private citizens. One could…
Federal Government, Freedom of Speech, Liberty, Local Government, New Media, Open Government, Politics, State Government, Writing
Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal
by JOHN ADAMS •
For bloggers who cover politics, policy-making, etc., just as would have been true of essayists and pamphleteers in an earlier time, it helps to have a method to one’s writing. In the paragraphs below, I’ll list steps one should take when approaching a topic. The steps are in a rough order, but in any method,…