Whether its shutting down a lemonade stand or handcuffing teens whose only crime was selling water bottles, the state is holding back the most economically vulnerable from rising above their situations.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the direction of the Trump administration, will revoke a rule that gives the agency broad authority over regulating the pollution of tributaries and wetlands that flow into the country’s largest rivers. [1]
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told Congress on June 27, 2017, that the agency would “provide clarity” by “withdrawing” the rule, and follow standards set in 2008. Pruitt had previously said he would recuse himself from working on litigation to the rule.
Said Pruitt:
Last Thursday, a new bill was introduced that would effectively end the federal prohibition on medical cannabis. While I was certainly happy to see this bipartisan effort created, I was also reminded of how frustrating it is that such a bill needs to be introduced in the first place. As an unapologetic capitalist, I believe one of the greatest forces for good is the free market. When an industry has as much economic swagger as cannabis, it becomes difficult for anyone to shut it down. And this is one of the reasons I invest in the cannabis industry.
The legal profession is, in the words of Benjamin Barton, “facing a major retrenchment” and remains mired in outmoded tasks that artificial intelligence may replace. It’s stuck in a bygone period when lawyers felt threatened by entrepreneurial upstarts who breached longstanding protocols such as prohibitions on advertising or contingency fees. It’s time for an energetic rethinking of the goals and purpose of legal education and the legal profession.
Ending American Bar Association accreditation authority would be an exciting first step.
It is silly that there are any federal laws regarding showerheads, but now the Department of Energy is doubling down on rules that are already heavy-handed and ridiculous. These regulations are so crazy that entrepreneurs think they're being scammed.
In 2013, 1 out of every 10 American homes was valued at more than double the production costs. Demand for housing alone isn't driving up costs, because if it was we would expect high cost places to also have high levels of construction. So why is the cost of housing so high?
More than 80 percent of its business goes to a literal top-ten list of beneficiaries, which also includes GE, Caterpillar, and other large firms that have invested in political connections. This is in direct violation of Ex-Im’s charter, which requires it to give at least 20 percent of the dollar-value of its business to smaller firms.
The United States has the worst rate of maternal deaths in the developed world, NPR reports. Some of these deaths are due to poor maternal health, but a big part of the problem is high rates of intervention. For starters, let’s look at how a typical American woman gives birth.
Alberto Alemanno is an Italian public interest lawyer, author, and activist who has made a name for himself in the EU's capital. He co-founded The Good Lobby – an NGO pretending to lobby for the interest of everyday people – and specializes in risk regulation, public health, consumer rights, food policy, and nudge theory, which enacts surrounding policies to indirectly push consumers into conducting themselves in certain ways.
President Trump and congressional Republicans have a second chance to take a whack at the Obamacare piñata – and the beauty of it is that this time, Democrats may want to take a swing at it, too. “It” being the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). As soon as the actuary for Medicare/Medicaid Services issues a report – already overdue for 2017 – that the "targets" have been exceeded, the IPAB automatically rises to life – in order to dispense death.
