The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the outcome of the Presidential election in Ohio may not be known until mid-November. This is because state election officials will not count provisional ballots until at least ten days after the election. Given the large number of provisional ballots in Ohio — a number that could increase due […]
Archive | October, 2012
The Popular Vote and Presidential Legitimacy
Recent polling results present the possibility that Mitt Romney could win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote. Would this matter? It shouldn’t. We’ve seen this before, and it is not at all unusual for a President to be elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote, as some voters support third-party […]
Putting Sandy in Perspective
How does Sandy compare with prior hurricanes to make landfall on the eastern seaboard? Roger Pielke Jr. has posted a table of the ten most damaging storms to make landfall within 50 miles of Sandy. If Sandy doesn’t top the list, it’s likely to be close.
Threatening to Fire Someone for Signing an Initiative or Referendum Petition = Improper Influence on a “Voter”?
State statutes in Maine, New Hampshire, and Utah ban “improper influence” on “voters.” Each provides, with immaterial variations, that, A person is guilty of improper influence if he … [t]hreatens any harm to a public servant, party official or voter with the purpose of influencing his action, decision, opinion, recommendation, nomination, vote or other exercise […]
May an Employer Require Employees to Show Up at a Pro-Candidate-X Rally?
I blogged earlier today about whether employers may fire employees based on how they voted (no), and whether employers may urge employees to vote a particular way (generally yes). But may employers require employees to participate in campaign activity, such as by showing up at a rally supporting a particular candidate? It depends on the […]
Because One Department of Commerce Isn’t Enough
The Hill reports: President Obama says he would like to establish a “secretary of Business” if he wins a second term. In an interview with MSNBC, the president said he wants to consolidate a number of business and trade-related agencies, creating a “one-stop shop” for oversight. “I’ve said that I want to consolidate a whole […]
Oral Argument in Clapper v. Amnesty International
Today the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Clapper v. Amnesty International. The case involves Article III standing to challenge a part of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which is a statute designed to regulate surveillance for national security purposes. The transcript from today’s oral argument is here. My primary reaction to the Clapper […]
That Seems Like a Pretty Narrow Provision
Utah Code Ann. § 20A-7-202(5)(b) provides: The lieutenant governor shall reject the application or application addendum [for a proposed initiative] and not issue circulation sheets if: … the law proposed by the initiative is nonsensical ….
Employers’ Urging Employees to Vote a Particular Way, and Warning of Dangers if a Particular Candidate Is Elected
As I mentioned below, employers generally may not fire or threaten to fire employees based on their votes. But may they try to persuade their employees to vote a particular way? And, in particular, may they argue that, if a particular candidate is elected, things will go badly for the business and therefore for its […]
My Forthcoming Article on the Individual Mandate and the Meaning of “Proper” in the Necessary and Proper Clause
By Ilya Somin on October 29, 2012 1:40 pm in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper
My forthcoming book chapter, “The Individual Mandate and the Proper Meaning of ‘Proper,’” is now available on SSRN. It is forthcoming in The Health Care Cases, edited by Gillian Metzger, Trevor Morrison, and Nathaniel Persily, eds. (Oxford University Press). The book is a collection of essays on NFIB v. Sebelius, the case where the Court […]
Schumpeter on the Effects of College on the Willingness to Do Manual Labor
The Wall Street Journal today features a quote from Joseph Schumpeter, writing in 1942, on ways in which college education can make a person less psychologically fit and less willing to engage in manual labor, notwithstanding greater employment opportunities in manual trades: The man who has gone through a college or university easily becomes psychically […]
Firing (or Threatening to Fire) Employee Based on His Vote
I’ve recently heard some uncertainty about whether employers may fire employees based on how they voted, or threaten to fire them based on how they voted. The answer — based on my own research — is that all states have laws that ban this sort of conduct as to state elections, and the federal government […]
Ford Caps Turnaround Effort
That’s the headline in the WSJ today as Ford finishes up its plan that began in 2006 to turnaround the company. Ford turned a $20 billion profit in 2011. Ford’s radical business philosophy, according to Mark Fields, who reportedly supervised Ford’s turnaround plan: “Our whole approach is to make sure we deal with reality and we […]
Review of Neil Barofsky, Bailout
I have a review of Neil Barofsky’s book Bailout over at the Liberty Law Blog today. Barfosky was the original Special Inspector General for the TARP and wrote a memoir of his experience. Interesting book.
Marijuana Legalization on this Year’s Ballot
Six states have marijuana legalization referendum questions on the ballot in this year’s election. Philip Smith has a good summary of them on the Stop the Drug War website [HT: Tom Angell]. Colorado, Oregon, and Washington will vote on initiatives to legalize marijuana generally, though all three would impose fairly extensive regulation on the new […]