The sight of people donning replica jerseys to lobby their elected officials to force some taxpayers to pay for their hobby makes me a bit sad: “Don’t you have a life,” I quietly ask. But I think I’ve found the hints of a silver lining in that passion: Perhaps this is a point for us to remember that commerce–freely and successfully conducted–is a beautiful thing […]
John LaPlante
About John LaPlante
Posts by John LaPlante:
Backlash from Health Care Law is a Good Sign for Freedom
Sometime in the future, historians may point to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) as the time when the centralizing power of the federal power reached its peak. The resulting push back from citizen activists and officials in the states set off a wave of successful efforts to reduce the size and scope of government generally, and the federal government, […]
CISPA in your casa: Federal snoopervision without search warrants?
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) has shepherded CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, through the U.S. House. That’s good for the federal government, and bad for Americans. According to the tech site CNET, the measure “would usher in a new era of information sharing between companies and government agencies — with limited oversight and privacy safeguards.” Privacy and civil liberties groups beg to differ. While […]
Minnesota #41 out of 50 on economic outlook
By current standards, Minnesota’s economy is among the best in the nation. But will it continue to be in the top tier? Last year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said that Minnesota ranked 13th in per capital personal income. The state’s average income of $42,843, was six percent higher than the national average. That’s pretty good, though I suspect it’s lower than most Minnesotans would have […]
The State-by-State Economic Impact of Proposed EPA Regulations
As a nation, we’ve made great strides in combining growing the economy and cleaning up air pollution. But as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is setting up to roll out nine new new rules or regulations, most of which are related to coal-powered electricity, it’s worth asking, “Is the gain worth the pain?” The report, Economy Derailed: State-by-State Impacts of the EPA Regulatory Trainwreck, comes in four […]
New EPA regs to hit Michigan hard
Regulators regulate, and if there’s any government office that’s good at coming up with new regulations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is one of the top contenders. The regulations will have economic effects (read: your wallet or even your job), sometimes with minimal environmental benefit. A new report on the EPA pegs Michigan as getting hit harder than all but four other states. Expect […]
Ron Paul: Winning at the wrong time
When it comes to selecting candidates for the general election ballot, some states have a primary. What happens when a state has both? Contests that grant fleeting victories. Back in February, Republicans in Minnesota (where I live) held their party caucuses. They took a vote on the presidential candidates. Rick Santorum won, which gave him a boost in publicity, and most likely, fundraising as well. […]
Minnesota #41 out of 50 on economic outlook
By current standards, Minnesota’s economy is among the best in the nation. But will it continue to be in the top tier? Last year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said that Minnesota ranked 13th in per capital personal income. The state’s average income of $42,843, was six percent higher than the national average. That’s pretty good, though I suspect it’s lower than most Minnesotans would have […]
Over in Badgerland
Wisconsin is having a primary election today. Mitt Romney will most likely win it, but as one observer notes, today’s election is a mere undercard to an election on June 5, in which Gov. Scott Walker could be removed from office for the offense of crossing public-sector union bosses. I should have followed the Wisconsin primary more closely, but I haven’t, so I’ll go with the safe […]
Daily Grope: 87 percent say changes in airline security have done more harm than good
The world of air travel has changed a lot since 9-11, and not for the good. After a recent debate (Oxford Union-style), 87 percent of respondents agreed with the statement,“changes made to airport security since 9/11 have done more harm than good.” The number from the online debate conducted by the Economist magazine doesn’t come from a scientifically valid survey, but it is part of […]