Politico has an interesting story on how Democrats are responding to Tuesday’s election results, in which Senator Barbara Boxer is quoted saying that “Every state is now in play.”
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Judge Goodwin Liu?
The Daily Journal reports that President Obama is “poised” to nominate Professor Goodwin Liu, Associate Dean at the University of California at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prof. Liu is an accomplished scholar with an impressive background. But I also suspect his nomination could […]
Citizens United
The Supreme Court’s opinions in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, including the syllabus, are a whopping 183 pages. There are five opinions in all. Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the Court, concurring opinions by Justice Scalia (joined by Alito and Thomas in part) and Chief Justice Roberts (joined by Alito), and opinions concurring in part […]
Fun SCOTUS Lineups
Based on the initial reports from SCOTUSBlog, there were some interesting line ups in today’s opinions. In Wood v. Allen, an AEDPA case, Justice Sotomayor wrote the majority, while Justice Stevens dissented, joined by Justice Kennedy. Also, in South Carolina v. North Carolina, an original jurisdiction case, Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion, while Chief […]
TSA Nominee Withdraws
In other news, the Washington Post reports that Transportation Security Administration nominee Erroll Southers has withdrawn his name from consideration. I assume the next nominee will not have violated the federal Privacy Act nor provide false testimony to the Senate Government Affairs Committee. I think Radley Balko would also like the next nominee to replace […]
Schultz “Misspoke,” But He’d Still Cheat
Radio talker Ed Schultz clarifies his comment from last week that he’d vote ten times in Massachusetts if he could get away with it. From the Radio Equalizer: An apology right off the top here on the Ed Schultz show today, great to have you with us. I misspoke on Friday. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. […]
Feds Stifle Research, But Support for Pot Decriminalization Grows
Many doctors and patients believe there are many legitimate medical uses for marijuana, yet there is relatively little serious scientific evidence to support such claims, particularly as concerns smoking it. One reason for this could be that the federal government makes it so difficult — indeed, virtually impossible — to conduct scientific research on marijuana’s […]
Don’t Bank on Legal Challenge to Bank Tax
By Jonathan H. Adler on January 19, 2010 12:56 am in Economic LIberties, Proposed Legislation, Taxes
Monday’s NYT reported the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is investigating potential constitutional challenges to the President’s proposed $90-billion bank tax. It’s apparently not enough to argue that the President’s various economic and regulatory initiatives are bad policy — as this proposal is — it must also be unconstitutional. Based on the article, SIFMA […]
Is Libertarianism on the Rise? (And Should We Thank the President?)
An interesting tidbit from Sunday’s Washington Post about a new Washington Post-ABC News poll: The poll also shows how much ground Obama has lost during his first year of trying to convince the public that more government is the answer to the country’s problems. By 58 percent to 38 percent, Americans said they prefer smaller […]
When Will the Next Mass. Senator’s Term Begin?
This Tuesday, Massachusetts voters will elect either Martha Coakley or Scott Brown to replace the late Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. It could take weeks to count absentee ballots, resolve and election controversy if the vote is close, and certify the winner under Massachusetts law. But would this mean interim Senator Paul Kirk would […]
Ed Schultz Would “Cheat” to Win an Election
When Rush Limbuagh suggested that his listeners vote in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries — so-called “Operation Chaos” — MSNBC’s Dan Abrams called it “un-American,” and others suggested it might be “criminal.” I wonder what Abrams thinks about MSNBC’s own Ed Schultz, who last week declared he would commit voter fraud to prevent Scott Brown […]
Sunday Song Lyric
Some standards are standards for a reason. “You Go to My Head” is one of those songs. Written by J. Fred Coots (music) and Haven Gillespie (lyrics) in 1938, its been recorded by everyone from Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich to Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra, to Rod Stewart and Bryan Ferry. The Billie Holiday […]
Specter to Support Johnsen for OLC
Facing criticism from a primary challenger, Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) announced he is now willing to support confirmation of Dawn Johnsen to the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel. It is still unclear whether her nomination has 60 votes, however, as some other moderate Democrats have been lukewarm about her nomination. As I’ve written before, […]
Kindler, Gentler Cost-Benefit Analysis
In the new issue of Regulation I review Retaking Rationality: How Cost Benefit Analysis Can Better Protect the Environment and Our Health by NYU’s Richard Revesz and Michael Livermore, a progressive defense of cost-benefit analysis, albeit reformed to make it more regulation-friendly. My review is available here (beginning on the third page of the PDF). […]
Did the Penguins Cheat?
FSN in Pittsburgh allegedly withheld video tape from NHL officials during the review of a contested goal, only to show the video to fans after the goal had been disallowed and play resumed. The NHL is reviewing the incident.