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President Obama’s budget proposal includes a hike in tobacco taxes. Right now, taxes are so high in some places (e.g., New York City, Chicago) that evasion happens on a grand scale and the black market in untaxed cigarettes is thriving. Meanwhile, taxes are so low in other places that there is little incentive not to [...]
Archive for the ‘Constitutional politics’ Category
April 13th, 2013
March 28th, 2013
The Orwellian “Defense of Marriage Act” seems to have had a bad day with the Supremes yesterday, which is a good thing. Let’s assume that the Court strikes down section 3, which bans federal benefits for same-sex couples, and does what the plaintiff wants, namely, make one’s marital status depend upon which state the couple [...]
February 18th, 2013
The strange belief that militias are necessary for liberty.
September 13th, 2012
George Will, channeling (and hacking to pieces) Charles Kesler, claims that the President’s belief in progress blasphemes the Founder’s belief in natural rights and limited government. He has half a point. But it doesn’t much matter. The Founders’ beliefs deserve to be challenged. And once one jumps outside the conservative bubble, where all that matteres is culture and rhetoric, is to realize that progressive critics of the original constitution won on the institutional level, definitively, about a century ago.
July 5th, 2012
Orin Kerr tells an interesting, albeit speculative, story.
June 29th, 2012
Category: Affordable Care Act, Constitutional politics
If Chief Justice Roberts wanted to protect the Court from being regarded as political, he should have been less transparently political in his motivation.
June 28th, 2012
John Roberts actually understands that health care ain’t broccoli, but had ideological reasons for pretending he didn’t.
June 28th, 2012
Category: Constitutional politics, Health Care
Today’s decision is both eminently reasonable and utterly consistent with conservatism.
June 28th, 2012
Category: Constitutional politics, Health Care
If you were born in a hospital, you’ve already been “active” in the market for health care.