by Elizabeth Nolan Brown. The White House Council of Economic Advisors gets it. Horse masseurs. Hair braiders. Funeral attendants. Florists. All are
subject, at least in some states, to "occupational licensing," defined
by the Treasury Department as "a government permit allowing workers to
legally practice." Since the 1950s, the ... MORE
"Comply or die" is the new police state motto. Trying to predict the outcome of any encounter with the police is a
bit like playing Russian roulette: most of the time you will emerge
relatively unscathed, although decidedly poorer and less secure about
your rights, but there’s always the chance that an encounter will turn
deadly. The odds weren’t ... MORE
by Jennifer Harper. Even politicians in robes are having a bad year. “Following major, end-of-term rulings on the Affordable Care Act and same-sex marriage, unfavorable opinions of the Supreme Court have reached a 30-year high. And opinions about the court and its ideology have never been more politically divided,” reports the Pew Research ... MORE
by Max Borders and Jeffery A. Tucker. Hillary Clinton talks of cracking down on the gig economy. Donald Trump speaks of telling American corporations where they can and can’t do business abroad. Bernie Sanders says we have too many deodorant choices. They all speak about immigrants as if it were 1863. What the heck are these ... MORE
Because justice is a result, not just a process. A murder case that prompted a Wichita woman’s run for governor last year is in the hands of a Sedgwick County jury. Kyler Carriker, the son of former gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Winn, faces a life sentence without parole eligibility for 20 years if he is convicted of first-degree felony murder in the ... MORE
It seems the truth is seldom her friend. In a column I wrote in early July, based on research by my colleagues
and my own analysis of government documents and eyewitness statements, I
argued that in 2011 and 2012 then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
waged a secret war on the governments of Libya and Syria, with the
approval of President ... MORE
Not just a black problem. This will not be a column about Sandra Bland, although it could be. Certainly there is cause for outrage over the way a Texas state trooper escalated the routine traffic stop of an indignant African-American woman into a violent arrest; she died of an apparent jail cell suicide three days later. But Chuck would say that in ... MORE
by Jacob Sullum. According to the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Council (APAAC),
"an asset forfeiture practice that supplements other law enforcement
activities provides an opportunity that is unique among governmental
agencies—the direct augmentation of the agency's budget through the
performance of its designated function." ... MORE
by Hampton Sides. As the once-vilified drug becomes more accepted, researchers around the world are trying to understand how it works and how it might fight disease. There’s nothing new about cannabis, of course. It’s been around humankind pretty much forever. In Siberia charred seeds have been found inside burial mounds dating back to 3000 B.C. ... MORE
by Christian Parenti. How did we get here? The numbers are chilling: 2.2 million people behind bars, another 4.7 million on parole or probation. Even small-town cops are armed like soldiers, with a thoroughly militarized southern border. The common leftist explanation for this is “the prison-industrial complex,” suggesting that the buildup is largely ... MORE
Agendacrats gone wild. The government's environmental rules defeat even environmentalists. Thomas Collier is a Democrat who managed environmental policy for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Then he noticed a mining opportunity in Alaska, one he calls "the single largest deposit of gold and silver that is not being developed in the entire world." Tom's ... MORE
by Jaana Woiceshyn. Pragmatism—compromising principles to achieve goals—is prevalent not just among politicians (think of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran). It is also a common hazard among business people, many of whom think that to succeed in business you have to compromise principles. It’s OK to compromise honesty and fake a little, ... MORE
A most convenient 2-month gap. Among the approximately 2,000 emails
that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has released from her
private account, there is a conspicuous two-month gap. There are no
emails between Clinton and her State Department staff during May and
June 2012, a period of escalating violence in Libya leading up ... MORE
by Jenna McLaughlin. "Nothing is safe, not even our trash." Civil libertarians are worried about an increasingly common form of domestic surveillance that has nothing to do with listening to your phone calls or reading your emails; it has to do with looking through your garbage. Municipalities across the United States are implementing ... MORE