Here is one straw in the wind that does not bode well for a Sotomayor appointment. Justice Stevens of the current court came in for a fair share of criticism (all justified in my view) for his expansive reading in Kelo v. City of New London (2005) of the “public use language.” Of course, the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment is as complex as it is short: “Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” But he was surely done one better in the Summary …

President Obama announces but fails to compute fractions
“So, you know, when you see — those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I’m not very popular and you see folks waving tea bags around, let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we’re going to stabilize Social Security.”
“But let’s not play games and pretend that the reason is because of the [$787 billion stimulus …

So, here’s my question: Are you angry enough about taxes to go to jail? Are you angry enough about taxes to forfeit some of the federal benefits you might collect, starting with Social Security and including Medicare (if that relates in your case) or any other benefits? Are you angry enough to go stand at the gates of Ft. Bragg and set fire to copies of your taxes to protest federal spending on the military? Are you angry enough to break into an IRS office and spill cow blood on …

PARIS—Come May Day I will take in an expected huge march and demonstration celebrating International Labor Day (a holiday that had its origins in Chicago) then later talk to a meeting of Democrats Abroad-France analyzing Obama’s first hundred days.
But there’s a gray cloud hanging over what should otherwise be a highly celebratory hundred-days media fest at home. It’s the debate over whether we as a nation should investigate and bring to justice those in the previous administration who were responsible for torture and other possible war crimes.
Opinion ranges all the …

Accounts vary, but it seems that a few hundred thousand people attended one of about 500 Tax Day Tea Parties on April 15th.  In the aftermath, politicians on both sides of the political aisle were energized.  Conservatives hoped the tea parties signaled renewed support for the idea of limited government, while some liberals called the protests unhealthy and un-patriotic.  Don’t ya just love politics?
The good news is that economists can take a more dispassionate view.  And the way economists contribute to the debate is with Public Choice Theory, fathered by …

Asked about the tea parties, President Barack Obama responded that he was not aware of them. As Marie Antoinette said, “Let them drink Lapsang Souchong.” His Imperial Majesty at Barackingham Palace having declined to acknowledge the tea parties, his courtiers at the Globe and elsewhere fell into line. Talk-show host Michael Graham spoke to one attendee at the 2009 Boston Tea Party who remarked of the press embargo: “If Obama had been the king of England, the Globe wouldn’t have covered the American Revolution.”The American media, having run their own …

Institute CEO John Tillman called on Tax Day protesters to take the lead in making Illinois and the country a shining beacon of liberty once again.
“The governor of this state and this president applied for their jobs, and they are failing us,” John told the Chicago rally, which drew thousands to the Loop. “It is the politicians who are failing us. It is not us. It is not free markets.”
John and Kristina spoke about the Institute’s new campaign to educate and develop Liberty Leaders for Illinois. “We must lead,” John …

The ‘tea parties’ being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cuts taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs. It’s despicable that right-wing Republicans would attempt to cheapen a significant, honorable moment of American history with a shameful political stunt. Not a single American household or business will be taxed at a higher rate this year. Made to look like a grassroots uprising, this is an Obama …

For those of you who’ve seen it, CNN’s coverage of the Chicago anti-tax tea party downtown was intended to be similar to all the other elites’ reaction to conservative movements: disdainful. Usually they allow this to show by the reporter’s supercilious uplifted eyebrow, looking around to find an opponent…in this case the very willing Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky…and summarizing with a summary statement that can be taken as dismissive…winding up with a lefty meaningful dramatic pause. The CNN correspondent here was Susan Roesqen (close enough to my own surname to cause …