Charles Lane seizes on one under-discussed element of President Obama’s proposed “American Jobs Act”: “Prohibiting employers from discriminating against unemployed workers when hiring.” That’s right, the White House (and some members of Congress) want to make it illegal to refuse to hire someone based on their current employment status, and subject employers to litigation if […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
The Fires This Time
If Texas Governor Rick Perry deserves credit for Texas’ recent economic performance, does he also deserve the blame for the wildfires? This year’s fires are reportedly the worst in the state’s history, and there must be a reason for that. Isn’t it reasonable to assume Texas policies bear some portion of the blame? I am […]
Doesn’t Anyone in the White House Know History?
Some commentators have had fun pointing out the President’s inaccurate claim about Abraham Lincoln founding the Republican Party in his address to the Joint Session of Congress. Specifically, the President said: We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the leader who saved our Union. Founder of the Republican Party. But in the middle of a civil […]
Decision Invalidating Michigan Civil Rights Initiative Goes En Banc
Via Ed Whelan comes news that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has voted to rehear Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Regents of the University of Michigan en banc — something I suggested would happen. In this case, a divided panel held that Michigan’s Proposal 2, aka the “Michigan Civil Rights […]
The IRS Wants to Give Tax Credits for Health Insurance Purchases Beyond Those Provided for in the ACA
By Jonathan H. Adler on September 9, 2011 11:43 am in Administrative Law, Federalism, Health Care, Insurance Exchanges, Regulation
The Internal Revenue Service is beginning to promulgate regulations to implement the tax-related provisions of the Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”). A proposed rule issued last month provides that eligible taxpayers may receive tax credits for the purchase of qualifying health insurance plans established by states under Section 1311 or by the federal government under […]
Vermont Greens’ Wind Power Worries
Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment (VCE), is raising questions about “utility scale” wind developments in Vermont. In a recent op-ed, she identified numerous environmental concerns and suggested postponing proposed wind farm developments until there is an opportunity to evaluate the environmental consequences of a planned 16-turbine development near Sheffield. Former […]
Jobs vs the Environment One More Time
The New York Times tries to provide some perspective to the renewed debate over the economic effect of environmental regulation, and the effect of regulation on jobs in particular. The story was prompted by President Obama’s decision to ask Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw a proposed revision of the National Ambient Air […]
24-Hour Solar Power
James Wimberley reports on a potentially significant technological breakthrough for solar power.
White House Halts New Federal Smog Standards
President Obama today told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set aside plans to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground-level ozone (aka “smog”). The proposed tightening was fiercely opposed by business groups as well as state and local governments, as the latter are charged with developing plans to meet the standards. In […]
Market Failure vs. Government Failure
Nobel-laureate economist Gary Becker provides a useful reminder that the existence of widespread “market failures,” such as those that contributed to the financial collapse and subsequent recession, does not by itself justify government intervention. However bad markets may be at times, there’s no guarantee that government will be better. Here’s an excerpt from Becker’s op-ed. […]
WSJ Hearts Huntsman
Earlier this week, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman introduced an ambitious economic plan, including an income tax overhaul that would create a flatter, fairer and more efficient tax code by eliminating all income tax deductions and creating three relatively low rates. Like other GOP candidates he also called for repeal of the Dodd-Frank and health care […]
Justice Liu
Yesterday the California Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed University of California at Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to a seat on the California Supreme Court. The LA Times reports on the confirmation here.
When Zero Calories Isn’t
Number of calories in an 8 oz serving of Diet Mountain Dew: 0 Number of calories in a 20 oz bottle of Diet Mountain Dew: 10 How can this be? A manufacturer may list something as zero calories so long as it has fewer than five calories per serving.
Review of Doug Kysar’s Regulating from Nowhere
I reviewed Douglas Kysar’s Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental Law and the Search for Objectivity for the Spring 2011 issue of The New Atlantis. Overall, I found Kysar’s book thoughtful, provocative, wide-ranging and well-written, but not persuasive. In many ways, I think Kysar pursues the wrong quarry, and ignores some of the deeper problems in contemporary environmental […]
Wind Power Clipping Wings
Wind power provides substantial environmental benefits, not the least of which is that it produces electricity without emitting greenhouse gases or traditional air pollutants. It can also be useful source of distributed power. But (like anything else) it also has its drawbacks, such as its unsuitability for baseload power and (as some environmentalists are increasingly […]