Over at Cato, David Boaz writes about The Divide between Pro-Market and Pro-Business. (I’ve also linked to Boaz’s post at my libertarian website, Daily Adams.) Boaz observes that, too often, business (especially big business) is an opponent of free markets: In 2014 big business opposed several of the most free-market members of Congress, and even a Ron Paul-aligned…
Liberty
City, Culture, Liberty, Local Government, New Whitewater, Politics
The (Welcome) End of ‘Big’ in a Small Town
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I don’t think much of the term ‘movers and shakers’ (that a nearby newspaper used to describe supposedly influential people) or ‘big’ people, etc. The terms almost always exaggerate actual influence. I am sure, though, that a combination of diverse social media, the decline of print, the shifting demographics within Whitewater, and the next generation’s…
Federal Government, Law, Liberty, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records, State Government, Wisconsin
The Public Records Law Still Stands
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
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…
Education, Government Spending, Libertarians, Liberty, Public Relations, School District
On the Whitewater Schools
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Today is the first of a series of posts about the upcoming, contested WUSD board elections. Three candidates are running for two seats: Kelly Davis, Dan McCrea, and Jim Stewart. In today’s post, I’ll summarize some of my own views. (I’ve been direct these last several years; it makes sense to state one’s convictions plainly,…
Corporate Welfare, Education, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Labor, Liberty, Local Government, School District, University, WEDC, Wisconsin
Education: Substance & Spending
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Following comments to yesterday’s post on proposed cuts to the UW System schools (Caution arrives late, doesn’t recognize its surroundings), here are nine quick comments about education. 1. Act 10 as a budgetary tool. This centrally-planned idea didn’t work. Reductions in public-union bargaining powers in exchange for the ‘tools’ to balance school and other public…
Freedom of Speech, Libertarians, Liberty, New Media, Politics
Message Independence
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Look at Whitewater, and one sees scores of groups with press releases, community announcements, or political viewpoints to publicize. Even much smaller communities have similar conditions: a dozen people are likely to have more than a dozen views. Each day, and especially in an election year, it helps to have the independence to offer views…
America, History, Law, Liberty
Understanding America Backwards
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s a longstanding maxim of liberty that Americans inherited from England: ‘those things not prohibited by law are permitted.’ The burden is on the state: if there’s no express ban under law, then a person is free to act. Since government has to enumerate restrictions if it wants to enforce them, a free society places…
Humor, Liberty
Rule Breakers
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
City, Liberty, New Whitewater
Why Whitewater?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
This post is the third of a trilogy about Whitewater. Months ago, I posted the first two of this series. (See, How Many Rights for Whitewater? and What Standards for Whitewater?). Those earlier posts may be summarized simply: Of rights — All of America, and all of Wisconsin, for all of Whitewater. Of standards — The…
Free Markets, Liberty
Why Do Doctors Oppose Nurse Practitioners?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
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 • • Comments
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,…
City, Freedom of Speech, Liberty, New Media
An Anecdote About an Appeal to (but not of) Authority
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Years ago, around when I first started writing, someone told me about a conversation that person heard about blogging. I’ll share it with you, and explain why it was, initially, hard for me to understand. The person telling me about the conversation was reputed to be especially clever, and that reputation actually made it harder…
Business, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Update: Victory for the Entrepreneurial Monks of Saint Joseph Abbey in Louisiana
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Over three years ago, I posted about Louisiana’s attempt to prevent the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey from making and selling handmade caskets. Their products were of fine craftsmanship and durability, and so sought-after. Despite the quality of their work, Louisiana insisted that only a state-licensed funeral director could sell caskets, and that it was a crime…