The House votes today on legislation which would dramatically increase federal involvement in the realm of volunteerism, continuing the trend toward an America in which “public service” means working for the government. This is a topic which has been of particular interest to a certain president, who said, “Our people have in recent years developed a new-found capacity for cooperation among themselves to effect high purposes in public welfare. […] The government should assist and encourage these movements of collective self-help by itself cooperating with them.” He added that without …
The Washington Post reports: The Service Employees International Union, considered the most influential union in the nation, has notified the union that represents about 220 of its national field staff and organizers that 75 of them are being laid off. In return, the workers’ union, which goes by the somewhat postmodern name of the Union of Union Representatives, has filed unfair labor practices charges against SEIU with the National Labor Relations Board. The staff union’s leaders say that SEIU is engaging in the same kind of practices that some businesses …
According to Politico, CNN’s Dana Bash and Ted Barrett reported yesterday on how the $800 billion Stimulus bill managed to not only protect AIG’s bonuses; but a provision that would’ve prevented the executive bonuses was stripped. The obvious question is why these protections were put in place by Congress for AIG’s executive bonuses? A stunning comment from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) says it all: Frankly it was such a rush — we’re talking about the stimulus bill now — to get it passed, I didn’t have time …
According to an Associated Press report “The Czech government on Tuesday postponed a parliamentary vote on a deal to place an American missile defense installation on Czech soil. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said the government withdrew the item because it did not have enough votes to pass. ‘It does not mean that we would give up the ratification process,’ Mr. Topolanek said.” Critics of the planned ground-based missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic that would be used to counter long-range missile threats from Iran against Europe or …
Can President Obama lead the United States out of the recession? In a word, no. Economist Russ Robert opines, “No man or woman runs the economy. No man or woman or team of people can possibly plan the evolution of the economy in the coming months. America will come out of the recession but the time and pace are unknown. Obama can help. But he can just as easily slow down any recovery. Some part of the current mess we’re in is the result of erratic government policy that has …
The late Anna Nicole Smith is back in the news. Smith died from a drug overdose in 2007, but her lawsuit against the estate of her former husband, J. Howard Marshall, lives on. In the latest legal maneuver, the executor of her estate, Howard K. Stern—who is currently facing legal troubles of his own after being charged with conspiring to prescribe and administer drugs to the late model in violation of California law—asked Justice Kennedy to lift a stay issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in order to …
“Since when is the secret ballot a basic tenet of democracy?” – James Phillip Hoffa, March 10, 2009. Before ramming the Employee Free Choice Act down the throats of American workers, maybe Jim Hoffa and his Teamsters should have cracked open the history books. The secret ballot, like democracy itself, was born in classical Antiquity. Ironically, given Big Labor’s backing of EFCA, modern usage of the secret ballot originated within the organized labor movement: A demand for secret ballot elections was one of the six original points of Chartism—a U.K. …
Government mandates, preferences and subsidies don’t work. Here’s another example. When gas prices hit record levels over the summer, companies were furiously pumping out oil to meet surging global demand. As the economy took a turn for the worse and demand slowed, there was a noticeable lag as companies continued to supply oil at a high rate, bringing the price down even further. A similar phenomenon is happening with hybrid car sales. Wes Brown, a partner at Los Angeles-based market research firm Iceology, told the Los Angeles Times:
Proving the old adage that no crisis should go to waste, the unelected European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, has called for Europe to “speak with one voice” at the G-20 summit to be held in London on April 2. It is reported that Americans and Europeans are at odds over whether to spend more or regulate more in the face of the global economic crisis. However, this grossly misrepresents the European picture; Europe itself is at odds over what to do. The Daily Telegraph has speculated that Brussels is …
In light of Obama’s appointment of Judge David Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, Quin Hillyer’s article in DC Examiner is particularly timely, and worth a read. The article features advice offered to Obama by Clinton administration Acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger, National Journal columnist Stuart Taylor, and Bench Memo’s own Jonathan Adler at an event hosted by former Attorney General Edwin Meese here at The Heritage Foundation. Despite their different political and jurisprudential philosophies, Quin notes that all three panelists agreed that Obama should follow President …
