In an oddity of legal and political history, two major expansions of federal power have been enabled by two different members on the U.S. Supreme Court, both with the surname “Roberts.” People say “no more Bushes in the White House.” Perhaps it’s time for a new slogan: “No more Roberts on the Supreme Court.” In the 1930s, president Franklin D. Roosevelt to increase the role […]
John LaPlante
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Happy Electoral College Day!
Today is the day that the Electoral College meets, in 51 locations across the United States. It’s one of those important features by which the United States is constituted as a representative republic, not a direct democracy. Under the electoral college, a group of people in each state, called electors, vote for the presidential candidate who won the popular vote within the state. Each state gets […]
Snyder surprises
From the moment he stepped on the political scene, I was skeptical of Rick Snyder, thinking he was another go-along, get-along business-leader-turned politician. I also doubted that his business skills would translate into political leadership. It wasn’t the first time I’ve been wrong, of course. While Gov. Snyder has a history of discouraging the right-to-work cause, he recently saw a need, opportunity, or both, to […]
How right-to-work came to Michigan
How is it that Michigan, of all states, is set to become the latest state to have a right-to-work law? Economic distress is one factor, but personalities and over-reach are factors as well. Long-term decline leads to a one-state recession One factor in Michigan’s move to right-to-work is the state’s dismal economic performance. In the 1970s and 1980s, many people fled the state for economic […]
Is right to work freedom payback for Obamacare?
Did the passage of Obamacare play a role in setting up Michigan’s move to right to work? Certainly, competitive pressures from Indiana are key, as Henry Payne points out. But the lessons of Obamacare should not be overlooked, either. Consider how Washington Democrats passed the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA), as the law is formally known. It on a strict party-line vote: The majority party […]
The Daily Grope: TSA chief refuses to appear before Congress
When I went on a business trip a few weeks ago, I opted out (again) of the TSA’s scanners, and wondered: Is it just me, or have the pat downs become even more invasive? Instead of terrorists hiding bombs in their nether regions or shoes, have they taken to hiding them in their armpits? (Insert your own joke about armpits and the TSA.) It’s an […]
Feds fudge true deficit number: It’s 5 times worse than you thought
Sometimes it’s good for governments to operate by rules that don’t apply to the rest of us (see the Bill of Rights). At other times, a different set of rules is to our peril. Take, for example, the financial state of the federal government (which is to say, all of us). The federal debt is not the widely reported $16 trillion–already larger than the national […]
Conservatives need to do some cultural-building and engaging
The ideas of the political left are taught, echoed, and amplified in the major cultural institutions of our country. Is it any surprise that our politics is on a long-term path towards the left? Hollywood pours out movies that paint business owners as evil exploiters who must be restrained by government regulation. Major religious institutions teach that the way to take care of the poor […]
Prove me wrong, Michigan Legislature: Enact right-to-work
Will Gov. Snyder and the Legislature make Michigan a right-to-work state, as my blogging colleague Charles Owens recommends? Even though unions, in the words of another blogging colleague, Shikha Dalmia “lost big time,” I just don’t see that happening. For one thing, it’s easier in politics to play defense than offense. Shutting down Prop 2 was a fine act of defense. But bringing about right-to-work? That’s like sending Luke […]
The broken windows of the next 4 years
It looks like we’re going to be breaking a lot more windows over the next four years, and crowing about what government can do. Barack Obama proclaims “We saved GM.” There’s a lot to argue with in that statement, but here’s one point I’d like to camp on: It neglects the fact that we could used the “investment” ($55 billion in lost money, from what […]