I have a review of America’s Water and Wastewater Crisis: The Role of Private Enterprise by Lewis Solomon now up on the Liberty Law Blog. Here’s how my review begins: Many environmental problems are exaggerated. Water scarcity is not. If anything, water supply problems are ignored. Inefficient water allocations and deteriorating urban infrastructure cannot compete […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Baude on Shelby County
For those who are not familiar with Will Baude’s blogging, here are two recent posts on Shelby County from PrawfsBlawg. Congressional Power and the Reconstruction Amendments Problems with Shelby County These posts might be of particular interest to those who found my post on the decision inadequate.
Amicus Brief on Standing in ProgressOhio.Org v. JobsOhio
One of Ohio Governor John Kasich’s more controversial initiatives has been the creation of JobsOhio, a private, nonprofit corporation to encourage investment and economic development within the state. The controversy stems, in part, from the fact that JobsOhio is funded by state liquor revenues. The state’s limited ability to audit JobsOhio also remains a point of contention. […]
NYT on Potential “Unlawful Command Influence”
Today’s NYT reports on how the President’s remarks calling for military service members accused of sexual assault to face stiff consequences is creating problems for the prosecution of sexual assault cases in the military. As I noted last month, the President made a speech saying those accused of sexual assault in the military should be “prosecuted, […]
The End of Peak Oil
It seems the neo-Malthusian “peak oil” movement is finally petering out. As Ron Bailey reports, the leading peak oil website, the Oil Drum, will be converting to a static archive. Peak oil arguments seem to have peaked well before oil and gas supplies.
Liberty University v. Lew
On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decided Liberty University v. Lew on remand from the Supreme Court after NFIB v. Sebelius. The headline is that the panel unanimously rejected Liberty University’s constitutional and statutory challenges to the individual and employer mandates. The court did not find Liberty University’s Commerce Clause […]
Rethinking “Calories In, Calories Out”
I came across an interesting new paper on SSRN looking at caloric intake and obesity across populations “Macronutrients and Obesity: Revisiting the Calories in, Calories out Framework” by Daniel Riera-Crichton and Nathan Tefft. Here’s the abstract: Recent clinical research has studied weight responses to varying diet composition, but the contribution of changes in macronutrient intake […]
McConnell on the Obama Administration’s Decision to Delay the Employer Mandate
By Jonathan H. Adler on July 8, 2013 11:40 pm in Administrative Law, Health Care, Insurance Exchanges
In tomorrow’s WSJ, Stanford’s Michael McConnell has an op-ed discussing the constitutional implications of the Obama Administration’s decision to delay enforcement of the PPACA’s employer mandate. Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution states that the president “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This is a duty, not a discretionary power. While the […]
Did the Taxman Make Howard a Rocket?
All-Star Center Dwight Howard accepted less money to sign with the Houston Rockets than he could have earned had he remained on the Los Angeles Lakers, yet it appears he actually increased his after-tax income. According to analyses rounded up by Paul Caron at TaxProfBlog, Howard stands to make more money with the smaller contract. […]
A Rare Non-Delegation Decision
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held in Association of American Railroads v. U.S. Department of Transportation that Section 207 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 constitutes an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to a private entity. Here is how Judge Janice Rogers Brown summarizes the […]
DNI Clapper Apologizes for Giving False Testimony to Congress
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has written an apology to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein for giving false testimony about the National Security Agency’s collection of information about U.S. citizens. In the letter, Clapper apologizes for the “mistake” of giving an “erroneous” response to a question from Senator Wyden. GWU law professor Jonathan […]
The Implications of Delaying the Employer Mandate
The Obama Administration’s decision to delay enforcement of the PPACA’s employer mandate could have far-reaching implications for PPACA implementation and the politics of health care reform. First, it’s important to recognize what the Administration’s decision does not do. Contrary to some suggestions, this decision does not affect the so-called “contraception mandate” that is currently the […]
ObamaCare Employer Mandate Delayed Until 2015
This afternoon the Obama Administration announced that it would delay implementation and enforcement of the requirement that employers provide health insurance for their employees until 2015. Bloomberg reports: Businesses won’t be penalized next year if they fail to provide workers health insurance after the Obama administration decided to delay a key requirement under its signature […]
Is the Prop. 8 Litigation Really Over?
Same-sex marriages may have resumed in California, but the litigation over Proposition 8 may sputter along for a bit. At SCOTUSBlog, Tom Goldstein reports on some interesting post-decision filings in Hollingsworth v. Perry. Proponents of Proposition 8 are seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention to prevent the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from […]
IRS Chief Confirms Targeting of Tea Party Groups
Do recent reports and releases show that “progressive” groups received the same level of scrutiny as “Tea Party” and other conservative groups? No. CNN reports: The acting head of the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday that evidence so far shows only conservative groups underwent extra scrutiny cited by an inspector general’s disclosure of the agency’s […]