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…
Laws/Regulations
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…
City, Law, Laws/Regulations, Planning
Whitewater’s Planning Commission Meeting from 5/10/10: Residential Overlay
by JOHN ADAMS •
At Item 10 of the May 10th Planning Commission meeting, the Planning Commission considered a residential overlay ordinance, that would place greater restrictions than there would be, for example, in a conventional R-1 zoning district. (Two or fewer unrelated persons living in the single residence, rather than three or fewer persons.) The item stated that…
City, Laws/Regulations
Banning Drink Specials: Miscellany
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update, 5-13-10: All of what I write below rests on the idea that the all-you-can-drink ban would lead to some reduction in tavern drinking, as proponents certainly hope. If that’s not true, and their lack of confidence is an inability to reduce tavern drinking, then the ordinance is an exercise in futility, and an embarrassment…
City, Laws/Regulations
Whitewater’s Ban on Drink Specials: Bad Origins and False Empiricism
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’m not surprised that a majority on Whitewater’s Common Council made the mistake of banning drink specials at Tuesday night’s Common Council meeting. I wrote about the proposal a few months ago, and I did so in the belief that the ban would be passed. (For remarks on the topic, see, The New Prohibition –…
Laws/Regulations, School District
Tribal Symbols for Schools and Legislative Over-Reach
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s high school has the whippet as a mascot, following the tradition of many schools to choose impressive animals as symbols. There are, though, some schools in Wisconsin that have chosen tribal leaders or tribes as symbols, including some nearby (the Blackhawks of Fort Atkinson come to mind). Governor Doyle has signed legislation that allows…
Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Reason’s Nanny of the Month: Flag Banning at the North Carolina State Capitol Building
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
CNN: Rights Groups Say They Will Challenge New Arizona Immigration Law
by JOHN ADAMS •
A legal challenge is right and inevitable: Arizona’s law will lead to abuse of citizens and non-citizens, and will inhibit a free market in labor, making Arizonans poorer and life there harsher. The law is destined for failure and obloquy, as were the restrictive efforts in California under Gov. Pete Wilson years ago. (That’s something…