Hey Seattle, How's That $15 Min Wage Working Out For Ya?

by Rick Moran.    The American Enterprise Institute blog reveals the not very surprising news that 10 months into Seattle's radical experiment of boosting the minimum wage to $15 an hour over a period of years, the city has suffered the worst job losses since the Great Recession. Now that the first Seattle minimum wage increase has been in effect for more  ... MORE

Hans A. Von Spakovsky: The Obama Administration Wants To Make Sure Non-Citizens Vote In The Upcoming Election

Why Democrats hate voter ID.   Several well-funded organizations — including the League of Women Voters and the NAACP — are fighting efforts to prevent non-citizens from voting illegally in the upcoming presidential election. And the United States Department of Justice, under the direction of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, is helping    ... MORE

VIDEO: Is Raising Minimum Wage A Bad Idea?

VIDEO: Lower Taxes, Higher Revenue

NYPD Wants To Make "Resisting Arrest" Into A Felony

by Cory Doctorow.      Cops want sharper teeth. It's no secret that "resisting arrest" is the go-to excuse for violence committed against suspects by corrupt cops -- it's practically a running gag. But if NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton gets his way, resisting arrest will offer near-perfect impunity to his force's most violent and sleazy officers,    ... MORE

Baylen Linnekin: Is Mexico's Soda Tax Really Working?

Less consumption, same obesity.    Mexico has become the most obese country in the world. In a purported effort to combat the problem, the country implemented a one-peso-per-liter excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in January 2014. That tax, supporters claim, is working. A 2015 working paper by University of Chicago Prof.   ... MORE

California Grants Driver's Licenses To 605,000 Illegal Aliens

Pass Go, collect $200.  Some 605,000 undocumented immigrants who live in California were granted driver's licenses in 2015, the first year they have been able to enjoy that benefit, officials said Monday. The law known as AB60 took effect on January 2, 2015. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) expects a total of about 1.4 million people   ... MORE

Richard Ebeling: The Proper Role Of Government In Society

Individual rights must be preserved   - without interference from government. What is the role of government in society? This has been and remains the most fundamental question in all political discussions and debates. Its answer determines the nature of the social order and how people are expected and allowed to interact with one another   ... MORE

VIDEO: Milton Friedman & Phil Donahue Debate Regulation

Here’s How To Fix Flint’s Water System: Privatize It

by Adrian Moore.     Social media sites are awash in pictures of Flint’s awful water. Local children exposed to lead will likely face long term health consequences—and it appears that kids suffer from high lead levels in many Michigan cities. Amidst revelations that the state of Michigan made sure its Flint employees had clean water long before taking ... MORE

 

Sheri Fink: Healthcare Rationing Begins - Drug Shortages

The new incentives.   In the operating room at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Brian Fitzsimons has long relied on a decades-old drug to prevent hemorrhages in patients undergoing open-heart surgery. The drug, aminocaproic acid, is widely used, cheap and safe. “It never hurt,” he said. “It only helps.” Then manufacturing issues caused a     ... MORE

Why Government Should Not Regulate The App Economy

by Iain Murray.        In Damon Runyon’s Broadway stories (and in the musical Guys and Dolls), a gambler named Nathan Detroit hosts New York’s oldest established floating crap game, presaging three functions of today’s app revolution. Thinking of the app market in such nontechnological terms shows us what is really happening today and lays bare the      ... MORE

Oakland’s Minimum Wage Is Up, Wal-Mart Is Out

by Leah Jessen.     How that workin' out for ya? A minimum wage of $12.55 an hour in Oakland, Calif., may be the culprit for a Wal-Mart store’s closure. Last Friday, Wal-Mart announced it will close 269 stores globally—including 154 locations in the United States—impacting about 10,000 associates here at home. “The minimum wage in the city of    ... MORE

Adam B. Summers: Killing The Golden Goose Of Capitalism

Be careful what you wish for.   The financial world, and quite a few employees, were taken aback recently when Wal-Mart announced that it will be closing 269 of its 11,600 stores, including 154 in the U.S., although it still plans to open 300 stores worldwide in the coming year. Oakland officials “expressed shock” at Wal-Mart’s decision, according    ... MORE

Boston Police Seek Charges Against Marijuana Advocate

by Milton J. Valencia.      Boston police are seeking criminal charges against Bill Downing, one of the state’s most vocal marijuana legalization supporters, a move that his lawyer calls retaliation for his criticism of the state’s regulation of the medical marijuana industry. A magistrate judge is scheduled to consider whether to approve a complaint filed by  ... MORE

VIDEO: Regulation: Understanding Milton Friedman

Powerball's Biggest Winner: Government

by Michelle Malkin.        Government's tax on stupidity. Ka-ching! Wednesday's Powerball jackpot soared to $1.5 billion as get-rich-quick mania seized America this week. But you don't need to wait for the drawing to know who'll score the royal payoff. The biggest winner of the multistate numbers game is — drumroll, please — Uncle Sam.     ... MORE

VIDEO: The Economics Of Minimum Wage

Textbook Publisher Representative Fired After Admitting On Camera That Common Core Is All About The Money

by Joe Cunningham.   See the video. Project Veritas has a new video out, this time with undercover journalists asking educators and education company executives about whether or not Common Core State Standards and the curricula built around them are really for the kids. The answer from just about everyone is “No,” with one person admitting   ... MORE

6 Big Cities See Hiring Fade After Minimum Wage Hikes

by Jed Graham.     Higher costs mean lower demand. U.S. cities that implemented big minimum-wage hikes to $10 an hour or more in 2015 have seen a strikingly similar aftermath: Job gains have fallen to multiyear lows at restaurants, hotels and other leisure and hospitality venues. The data aren't, for the most part, stark and reliable enough to amount  ... MORE