A tragedy from regulatory mistakes, preventing the efficient operation of housing markets.
Laws/Regulations
Laws/Regulations
Nanny of the Month for February 2011: Would-Be Brothel Banner Sen. Harry Reid
by JOHN ADAMS •
Laws/Regulations, Press
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism: Despite alternatives, Superior refinery using dangerous chemical
by JOHN ADAMS •
Reporter Lauren Hasler of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WisconsinWatch.org) has a story this morning about Murphy Oil’s continued use of hydrofluoric acid, a dangerous chemical kinow to cause explosions and resulting injury, despite the availablity of alternative substances. Hasler reports that Federal safety inspectors at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in…
Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Politics
Postville judge calls proceedings “travesty” in new documentary
by JOHN ADAMS •
The massive meat packing plant raid in Postville, Iowa – and the prosecutions of immigrant workers arrested there – have been drawing heat since agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement swarmed Agriprocessors Inc. in May 2008. Via Grass Roots: Postville judge calls proceedings “travesty” in new documentary.
Economy, Laws/Regulations
Coming Soon: A 300-Percent Increase in Foreclosures
by JOHN ADAMS •
At Calculated Risk, Tom Lawler, a real estate economist and former risk policy veep at Fannie Mae, tries to figure out how many people have actually lost their homes to foreclosure, short sales or deed-in-lieu desertions. The answer: Not enough. Lawler (who is now living the life of Riley on a Virginia farm) says the…
Laws/Regulations, Libertarians, Liberty
Nanny of the Month (Jan 2011) Drug Testing 11-year-olds! Fining iPod Users!
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Institute for Justice Defends the Rights of Street Vendors
by JOHN ADAMS •
The presence of a street vendor should be a welcome sign for a community, as evidence of a flourishing, diverse economy. More to the point — should government be used to discriminate against popular, efficient street vendors and in favor of less popular, less efficient brick-and-mortar retailers? Shouldn’t picking one over the other be a…
Charity, Laws/Regulations, Poverty
Terrorists in the Soup Kitchen
by JOHN ADAMS •
Reason magazine posts on a request from the United Way of Central Maryland that a local soup kitchen certify that they were in compliance with anti-terrorism laws: Baltimore’s Viva House soup kitchen and food pantry has been feeding the poor since 1968, and for many years, it has gotten funds from the local United Way.…
Freedom of Speech, Laws/Regulations
Update: U.S. Supreme Court Considers Whether to Hear Institute for Justice’s Challenge to Arizona’s “Clean Elections”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Great news — The U.S. Supreme Court had decided to hear a challenge to Arizona’s supposedly “clean,” but actually speech-inhibiting, elections law. See, Supreme Court to Review Arizona Campaign Finance Law. Here’s a FW post from November on the challenge — Think that “clean” elections laws keep elections, well, fair and clean? You might be…
Laws/Regulations, Libertarians
EPA’s Rulemaking Matters! Contest: The Winner
by JOHN ADAMS •
In May, June, and July, I posted about an EPA video contest called “Rulemaking Matters!” in which contestants could send in videos explaining why federal regulations are important. Here’s the winning video — The winner in the Rulemaking Matters contest was a good entry. There are two things worth nothing, however. First, one of the…
City, Laws/Regulations, Planning
How Whitewater’s Municipal Administration Made a Mess of Housing in the City
by JOHN ADAMS •
Live by a regulatory environment, perish by a regulatory environment. What might have been solved through free forces of supply and demand is now a political and economic mess. There are two stories at Walworth County Today that nicely describe, respectively, the defeat of a builder’s request for a zoning change to build student housing,…
Laws/Regulations
Washington Post — As Frustration Grows, Airports Consider Ditching TSA
by JOHN ADAMS •
A wise decision — Some of the nation’s biggest airports are responding to recent public outrage over security screening by weighing whether they should hire private firms such as Covenant to replace the Transportation Security Administration. Sixteen airports, including San Francisco and Kansas City International Airport, have made the switch since 2002. One Orlando airport…
Laws/Regulations, Libertarians
Presenting Reason.tv‘s 2010 Nanny of the Year — Busybodies, Babes, and Bacon!
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the description accompanying the video: They touch our lives in so many ways, and Reason.tv acknowledges those who tell us that if it looks good, tastes good, or feels good, it should be illegal. Live (to tape) from the fourth floor of the Sepulveda Center in Los Angeles, California–it’s the 2010 Nanny of the…
Education, Laws/Regulations
Pierce County Herald: Rep. Nass seeks to repeal Indian nickname law
by JOHN ADAMS •
State Representative Steve Nass, part of the Wisconsin Assembly’s Republican majority, wants to repeal the law that allows the state superintendent to decide whether local public districts may use a tribal name, or other ‘race-based’ name. (Wis. Stat. 118.134, et seq). Although I’m not a proponent of tribal names, I’m surely an opponent of Wisconsin’s…