Yesterday, I posted about Wisconsin’s regulatory badgering of dairy farmers trying to sell raw milk within existing legal requirements. Even that’s now hard to do, following Governor Doyle’s veto of a bill that would have allowed expanded, yet still modest, raw milk sales. See, Ongoing Harassment of Dairy Farmers in America’s Dairyland. One of the…
Laws/Regulations
Laws/Regulations
Ongoing Harassment of Dairy Farmers in America’s Dairyland
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin Governor Doyle gave special interests a victory over small farmers when he veteoed a bill that would have permitted limited raw milk sales. Now, during the deepest recession in decades, state inspectors are badgering small farmers about voluntary transctions between adult buyers and sellers of a dairy products. See, Raw Milk Advocates Decry State…
Government Spending, Laws/Regulations
Wisconsin’s Wasteful Smoking Ban Ad Blitz
by JOHN ADAMS •
In a time of a high unemployment and dire budget forecasts, the State of Wisconsin has decided to waste money telling residents that a statewide smoking ban in workplaces begins soon. See, Wis. to Launch Statewide Smoking Ban Ad Blitz. There are a thousand ways to better use this money, from not spending it at…
Laws/Regulations
Can a Private Business Fire a Woman Because She Was Allegedly “Too Hot?”
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a story over at Business Insider about a woman who claims that she was fired from a job at Citibank because she was “too hot.” See, Woman Says Citibank Fired Her Because She Was Too Hot. Debrahlee Lorenzana contends that she was fired because her managers could not handle her steamy looks; Citibank contends…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Police
Maryland: Still Wrong on Civil Liberties
by JOHN ADAMS •
I have written about the disregard for civil liberties in Maryland before. See, Something’s Rotten about Policing in the State of Maryland, and Elsewhere. In that earlier post, I wrote about a SWAT raid gone bad — in almost every which way — at the home of the completely law-abiding mayor of Berwyn Heights. Maryland’s…
Laws/Regulations
Reason’s May 2010 Nanny of the Month (Raw Milk Edition )
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve contended that Wisconsin residents should be able to buy and drink raw milk produced in America’s Dairyland. Sadly, even that’s not legal for consumers. Wisconsin Governor Doyle, under pressure from dairy industry lobbyists and their regulation-loving allies, vetoed legislation that would have made limited raw milk sales possible. See, Wisconsin Governor Doyle as a…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Politics
Institute for Justice: Protecting Grassroots Activism
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of speech and assembly are rights the United States Constitution, and the Wisconsin Constitution, readily recognize. Activism — persuading someone to a cause — should be free in a free society. Better put, we could not be a free society if conditions were otherwise. And yet, that simple truth runs against the schemes of…
Laws/Regulations, Libertarians
Reason.tv: Rulemaking Matters!
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted on May 18th about an Environmental Protection Agency contest, entitled “Rulemaking Matters,” that offers twenty-five hundred deficit-financed dollar ($2,500) prize “for the public to explain federal rulemaking and motivate others to participate in the rulemaking process.” The libertarians of Reason.tv submitted three videos to the EPA, one of which I embedded before. See,…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Government’s Overreach: Trying to Learn What You Read
by JOHN ADAMS •
Government officials often act as more than representatives of their people — they pursue an interest apart from their people, an often intrusive one into the lives of private citizens. In North Carolina, online retailer Amazon has filed a lawsuit to prevent block a North Carolina Department of Revenue request for individually identifiable information on…
City, Development, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Planning
Local Merchants and Whitewater’s Walmart, Co-Existing
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve contended before that many local businesses can do very well alongside Walmart, and will weather an expansion of our current Walmart, store number 1274 of that retail chain. I can safely say this, because in towns across America with Walmarts, there are other businesses, too. They co-exist. Consumers should be able to make choices…
Laws/Regulations, Libertarians
Wisconsin Governor Doyle as a Dairyland Nanny
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets, Law, Laws/Regulations
Freeing Small Farms: Minnesota Farms Fight Protectionism
by JOHN ADAMS •
One often hears that residents should ‘shop locally.’ That’s a choice any consumer should be able to make. What would happen if a city told residents that not only should they shop locally, but that they could only buy products produced locally? Not a suggestion, not a request, but a law that said: Residents can…
Laws/Regulations
Reason.tv: Federal Regulations and You – Partners in Democracy
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Environmental Protection Agency has a contest, entitled “Rulemaking Matters,” that offers twenty-five hundred deficit-financed dollar ($2,500) prize “for the public to explain federal rulemaking and motivate others to participate in the rulemaking process.” Oh, yes. The libertarians of Reason.tv submitted three videos to the EPA, one of which I’ve embedded below. Enjoy. The contest…
City, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Planning
Whitewater’s Planning Commission Meeting: Residential Overlay Miscellany
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a bit more on the proposed overlay — there are arguments that I’ve made before, but did not repeat in my 5/16/10 post about the May 10th Planning Commission meeting. The proposed overlay has a grandfather clause for existing rental properties, but that hardly solves the long-term problem of restrictions on buying and selling…