The vague and open-ended nature of those questions has some housing activists concerned that the tool will prove overly burdensome, and even unworkable, for property owners trying to do something simple like changing their lot’s zoning from residential to commercial use.
Month: October 2022
A Jury Acquitted Them of Various Charges. They Served Prison Time for Them Anyway.
Can you do prison time for a criminal charge of which you were never convicted? Known as acquitted conduct sentencing, the practice allows judges to bloat a prison term when sentencing a defendant by punishing them for a separate charge or charges on which a jury deemed them not guilty.
Taxes and Interstate Migration of Seniors
One group that states want to attract with tax cuts are seniors and retirees. Just this year, 10 states cut their taxes on retirement income, which means income from Social Security, defined‐benefit (DB) plans, and defined contribution (DC) plans, such as 401(k)s.
https://www.cato.org/blog/taxes-interstate-migration-seniors
A Birthday Appreciation for Trade Economist Henry George — He Wrote Milton Friedman’s Favorite Book on International Trade
Happy Birthday to Henry George — his brilliant and timeless insights about international trade, protectionism, and trade retaliation are just as fresh and relevant today as in the late 1800s, maybe even more so today than ever before given the resurgence during Trump’s presidency of the popularity of the discredited trade “theories” of protectionism, mercantilism, and scarcityism.
Required Diversity Statements on Campus: Are They Constitutional?
“Academics seeking employment or promotion will almost inescapably feel pressured to say things that accommodate the perceived ideological preferences of an institution demanding a diversity statement, notwithstanding the actual beliefs or commitments of those forced to speak.”
Biden Administration Guts Due Process Protections for Students Accused of Sexual Misconduct
Under the new regulations, Title IX investigators can deny students access to the evidence against them. …The new rules also allow schools to deny accused students a live hearing and the opportunity to question their accusers.
https://reason.com/2022/09/15/biden-guts-title-ix-due-process/
21 Years After 9/11, TSA Still Insists on Grabbing Your Dick When You Fly
The agency misses as much as 70 percent of the fake bombs, guns, and explosives that undercover government auditors try to sneak through their security checkpoints. Surveyed passengers report a near-90 percent success rate at getting illicit substances and items through security.
The Scourge of Rent Control
Defenders of the poor and virtuous promoters of income redistribution are often only proponents of “solutions” that increase government power.
Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Needs to Go Further
Prohibition encourages violence because illicit suppliers cannot use the legal and judicial systems to resolve disputes. Prohibition also incentivizes high potency products because traffickers can more easily conceal these from law enforcement.
https://www.cato.org/blog/oregons-drug-decriminalization-needs-go-further
It’s (Almost) Always the Feds: How the FBI Fabricates Schemes To Entrap Would-Be Radicals
The war on terror allowed the FBI to build a massive spy network and shrug off post-Watergate restrictions limiting its ability to snoop on Americans. The fear of another 9/11 overcame our memories of Hoover’s FBI wiretapping, burgling, and blackmailing of the government’s political enemies, and so the bureau could once again investigate people for who they knew and what they said.