Laws/Regulations
Agriculture, Business, Food, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations
Boosting Big Farms at the Expense of Small Ones
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s about as hard as ever to be a small famer in America. Some difficulties are simply a consequence of competition, by which both farmers (compelled to be more innovative) and consumers (getting better goods at lower prices) benefit. Yet, when government, itself, becomes a burden and hardship for small famers, we have tolerated what…
Drink, Food, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
The War on Really Big Cups of Cola
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Development, Economy, Laws/Regulations, Planning
The 6.11.12 Joint City Council and Plan Commission Zoning Rewrite Workshop
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a combined meeting of Whitewater’s City Council and her Planning Commission scheduled for Monday, June 11th at 6 PM. The agenda for the meeting includes a packet describing the work of the Zoning Rewrite members, proposals they are considering, and a timeline for the zoning rewrite effort (extending from this year into next). I…
Business, Laws/Regulations, Poverty
How Occupational Licensing Disproportionately Harms the Poor
by JOHN ADAMS •
Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Reason’s April 2012 ‘Nanny of the Month’
by JOHN ADAMS •
The accompanying narrative from Reason: We’ve got Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal demanding clean urine in exchange for welfare benefits (a bad idea that also doesn’t work as advertised, but hey, at least the boozers are safe!), North Carolina regulators busting a blogger for praising the paleo diet (an offense that can get you tossed in…
Education, Laws/Regulations
Ten down, forty to go
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin’s still stuck: The Associated Press has learned that President Barack Obama on Thursday will free 10 states from the strict requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. The move gives long-sought leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students. A White House official says the states are…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Local Government, Planning
The Williamsburg Neighborhood in Brooklyn
by JOHN ADAMS •
I mentioned that I would write a bit about the Williamsburg neighborhood. Brooklyn’s huge (millions of residents) and there are many neighborhoods (themselves large) within that borough. One of them is Williamsburg, a diverse and eclectic community, with both Hasidim and hipsters, and a thriving arts scene. These groups within the neighborhood do not always…
Business, City, Laws/Regulations, Planning
The Overpowering Fear of a … Sports Bar
by JOHN ADAMS •
Perhaps some fret all day, dreading the prospect of a sports bar in a business district in a town that has too few businesses of any kind. I am not among them. In small-town Whitewater, the main thoroughfare is called, creatively, Main Street. Along it one finds dozens of commercial businesses. Fast-food restaurants, strip malls,…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Technology
The ACLU on SOPA/PIPA
by JOHN ADAMS •
The ACLU’s Rights Blog posted today on the controversy over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and the post mentions the ACLU’s constructive role in limiting this latest regulatory overreach. (See, Online Protest Over SOPA Helps » Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.) I have reproduced parts of their post…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Libertarians
LP Calls for Regulating Marijuana like Wine
by JOHN ADAMS •
America regulates marijuana, mostly, by prohibition. Despite criminalizing cannabis, and spending vast sums to find, fine, arrest, and jail pot smokers, the level of actual consumption seems unchanged. (Americans, by the way, are increasingly supportive of marijuana decriminalization. Government officials can only sell expensive ineffectiveness for so long. The trend toward decriminalization is clear.) I’ve…
Free Markets, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Institute for Justice fighting the good fight
by JOHN ADAMS •
From the IJ, highlights of ongoing work: Litigating for Liberty. The Wall Street Journal featured IJ’s founder and president, Chip Mellor, this past Sunday. Read the in-depth interview here. Georgia property owners are fed up with forfeiture. The state’s forfeiture law allows law enforcement to seize the property of innocent owners without convicting or even…
Free Markets, Immigration, Laws/Regulations, Politics
The GOP’s Wrong Turn on Immigration
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at National Review, libertarian Daniel Griswold makes the case for liberalized immigration policies, by reminding Republicans that current GOP Candidates Betray the Spirit of Reagan on Immigration. Commenters at the site will have none of it, and are highly critical of Griswold’s views. Their criticism matters no more than if flat-earthers railed against the…
Federal Government, Laws/Regulations
Dallas teen missing since 2010 was deported to Colombia
by JOHN ADAMS •
Some of the same gentlemen who campaign on the need for small government are willing to support aggressive federal immigration enforcement. Their confidence in the efficiency and fairness of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is absurdly misplaced: There are still many unanswered questions about how an African-American girl who speaks no Spanish is mistaken for a…