January 2012

Trumka’s Empty Threat to Democrats

by Ivan Osorio on May 20, 2011

in Economy, Employment, Labor, Politics as Usual, Regulation

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is warning Democratic politicians today: Push our agenda, or we won’t support you in the 2012 election. It’s hard to imagine those Democrats quaking in their boots. As The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein notes,

The labor community — the AFL-CIO especially — has been taking steps towards greater independence from the Democratic Party as its disappointments with the Obama administration and congressional Democrats have mounted. The typical response from party insiders has been dismissive assumptions that labor has nowhere else to go.

Indeed, Trumka’s threats ring hollow. It’s not like the Obama administration hasn’t been trying to advance Big Labor’s agenda. It’s been Republican opposition in Congress that has thwarted card check legislation and the confirmation of some pro-union executive branch nominees. Yet it seems that Trumka still had to find some reason to throw a public tantrum. The HuffPo’s Stein reports:

Trumka also says in the prepared remarks that party affiliation alone won’t determine how the federation allocates its resources in 2012. If Republican lawmakers embrace parts of the AFL-CIO’s agenda, the union federation will respond in kind.

The likelihood of a rush of Republican politicians (beyond perhaps a couple of rust belt outliers) seeking union endorsements by supporting Obamacare, card check, foreign trade barriers, more spending, and higher taxes  is, to put it mildly, nil.

Today, government employees make up a majority of all union members, so it is in public sector employment where the future of organized labor will be decided. So far, the unions aren’t doing well.

At the state and local level, a growing number of Democrat elected officials are taking on public employee unions for the simple reason that their jurisdictions are broke. Facing a decision between angering either the general public through increased taxes and service cuts or their union supporters through spending cuts, many are choosing the latter.

The taxpaying public will put up with the diffuse costs they bear to pay for public sector unions’ concentrated benefits only as long they remain relatively low enough per payee. When those costs start rising and government employee compensation starts to drain resources from essential public services, public resistance will tend to rise with it.

By the same token, voters aware of their states’ and cities’ deep financial problems will likely reward elected officials who seriously address those problems. Thus, Democrats for whom losing union endorsements was once a worrying prospect may now find taxpayer ire a bigger concern.

For more on labor see here and here.

Regulation of the Day 175: Firing Dwarves

by Ryan Young on May 20, 2011

in Legal, Regulation, Regulation of the Day

Starbucks is in some hot water for firing an El Paso employee on her third day back in 2009. The employee happens to be a dwarf. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing the coffee chain for violating federal law. Starbucks counters by saying that the employee posed a safety hazard to her colleagues.

She asked to be given a stool to help her perform her duties. That could pose a tripping hazard for others. In a business built around piping-hot liquid, tripping hazards can be dangerous indeed.

Maybe Starbucks broke the law; maybe it didn’t. The courts will decide in due time. But there’s good reason to think that this law is a bad one.

That’s because EEOC is ignoring an important unintended consequence. It’s trying to help.  But it is actually hurting the very people it wants to protect.

Starbucks is learning — the hard way — that every dwarf and every disabled person it hires is a lawsuit waiting to happen. It is easy to imagine this having a chilling effect on its hiring practices. Why hire any disabled people at all? It would be nice to help out and give a job to someone who needs it. Bt  for many employers, it’s just not worth the litigation risk.

With the economy as it is, it’s hard enough as it is to find a job, especially for people with disabilities. The EEOC is only making it harder on them. Good intentions are nice. But results are what matter. And the result of EEOC’s lawsuits is less employment equality, not more.

Feds Say “Prepare for a Zombie Apocalypse!”

by Greg Conko on May 20, 2011

in Culture, Features, Health and Illness, Precaution & Risk, Zeitgeist

Post image for Feds Say “Prepare for a Zombie Apocalypse!”

Who says bureaucrats don’t have a sense of humor? The Wall Street Journal‘s Health Blog points to a new advisory from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, giving us citizens helpful hints on how to prepare for … wait for it … an invasion of zombies. From the site:

There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That’s right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two …

The rise of zombies in pop culture has given credence to the idea that a zombie apocalypse could happen. In such a scenario zombies would take over entire countries, roaming city streets eating anything living that got in their way. The proliferation of this idea has led many people to wonder “How do I prepare for a zombie apocalypse?”
Well, we’re here to answer that question for you, and hopefully share a few tips about preparing for real emergencies too!”

As you might guess from that last line, the essay is meant rather tongue-in-cheek. Here’s Betsy McKay’s explanation from the WSJ Health Blog: “[T]he agency really is just looking for a clever way to get people to heed its advice on how to prepare for emergencies such as hurricanes — which on its own, let’s face it, is rather dry.”

It’s clever, I think. The page is a little light on serious recommendations, though, and quite a bit heavier on CDC self-promotion. But there ARE some useful tips on the CDC site that people living in an area prone to hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, or even zombie infestations might want to take into consideration.

So, what CAN you do to prepare? Designate a couple of  family meeting places — one right outside your home, and another outside your neighborhood in cases were you’re not able to stick around. But also, “have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp.” That’s good advice.

Online Poker Showdown: States Step Over Feds to Legalize iGaming

by Michelle Minton on May 20, 2011

in Nanny State, Personal Liberty

In the wake of a federal clamp-down on Internet poker, states are forging ahead with their efforts to explicitly legalize, regulate, and tax online poker. On Thursday, the Nevada state assembly unanimously approved legislation that would license and regulate online poker if and when the federal government explicitly legalizes online poker.

This stripped-down, caveat-laden version of the bill comes in the wake of the DOJ April 15 shutdown of prominent online poker rooms. Prior to “Black Friday,” several bills had been under consideration in the Nevada state assembly to legalize online poker, regardless of federal action.

The original bill, from which the current proposal was derived, would have given the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) the authority to develop and implement licensing procedures for interstate and intrastate gambling. Notably, the original proposal stated that the NGC could not deny operators simply because they had been operating in the states prior to explicit legalization — this is different from recent federal proposals which would have blocked foreign operators for at least two years or permanently if it is determined that they broke federal law by offering unlawful online gambling to Americans after the implementation of UIGEA.

Not surprisingly, PokerStars, one of the off-shore poker sites that was shutdown by the DOJ on Black Friday and would likely be barred from the U.S. under last year’s federal proposal to legalize online gambling. Reportedly, PokerStars contributed around $272,000 to political campaigns in Nevada, but most of the funds have been returned.

The approved bill calls for the NGC to develop rules for licensing and taxing by January 2012 which will be implemented only if the federal government passes legislation approving online poker.  This bill also requires that the online poker websites operate in a partnership with an existing gambling license holder or an affiliate that has been in business for at least five years.

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Morning Media Summary

by Lee Doren on May 20, 2011

in Odds & Ends

Tech:

Verizon: Say So Long to Unlimited Data:
“Got a smartphone on Verizon Wireless? Get ready to wave goodbye to the days of unlimited data.”

Intel speeds up road map to tackle threat from ARM:
“Intel will dramatically shake up its microprocessor road map to meet the demand for very-low-power processors and to fend off the competitive threat from rival chip design company ARM, CEO Paul Otellini said Tuesday.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

Ban Shopping Bags Says EU:
“Shops in Britain could be outlawed from stocking them, or alternatively there might be a new tax to dramatically reduce their use.”

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Forced Unionization: Bad for Business?

by Adam Michel on May 20, 2011

in Labor, Regulation

Only four short months ago President Obama said:

If we make America the best place to do business, businesses should make their mark in America.  They should set up shop here, and hire our workers, and pay decent wages, and invest in the future of this nation.  That’s their obligation.

Obama’s rhetoric may be pro-business, but the actions taken by his National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are well on their way to making America one of the worst places to do business. In an unprecedented action, the NLRB has filed a complaint against Boeing to stop production of their 787 Dreamliner in a new South Carolina facility. An internal NLRB memorandum shows that the unelected body of Obama appointees wants to allow unions even more control in future management decisions.

The Obama administration’s attack on South Carolina, a right-to work state, is an attack on growing economies and employee freedom of choice. Right-to-work states have seen private sector employment grow faster than forced unionization states, such as Washington. Not only are there more new jobs but personal incomes in right to work states have grown at a faster rate. Both these statistics are a result of the 46 percent more private businesses that open in right-to-work states. These trends tell us one thing: right-to-work states are better for businesses and employees.

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Republicans Filibuster Left-Wing Lawyer’s Nomination to Key Appeals Court; Block Confirmation of Goodwin Liu

by Hans Bader on May 20, 2011

in Economy, Healthcare, Legal, Nanny State, Personal Liberty, Property Rights, Regulation

“Goodwin Liu’s nomination to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals appears to be done for” thanks to a Republican filibuster, says David Freddoso of the Washington Examiner. The Senate has blocked his nomination to sit on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over the western fifth of the United States. By a 52-to-43 vote, the Senate failed to override a Republican filibuster. All Republicans except Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against Liu. All Democrats except Ben Nelson of Nebraska voted for Liu.

Liu, a Berkeley law professor, has many radical positions, and is a big user of politically-correct psychobabble designed to hide judicial activism.  For example, he has written that a judge is supposed to be a “culturally situated interpreter of social meaning” rather than an impartial umpire who interprets the law in accord with its plain meaning or its framers’ intent. Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro notes that Liu has suggested that the Constitution creates a right to welfare entitlements in areas like health care.

The defeat of Liu’s nomination could affect a great many high-profile cases.  As lawyer and former federal appeals court clerk Ted Frank notes,

“The Ninth Circuit is a court that was one vote away from striking down the Pledge of Allegiance; regularly abuses the law to disregard states’ wishes to impose capital punishment; has ordered California to release 25% of its prisoners; has forbidden Los Angeles from enforcing laws against sleeping on sidewalks; has said it has seen no reason why animals should not be allowed to sue the federal government; held an ex-police officer could sue his employer for firing him for running a porn site in his uniform; said that gun manufacturers could be held civilly liable for the shooting sprees of the mentally ill.”

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Trade Week: Why I Learned to Hate Civilization

by Iain Murray on May 19, 2011 · 1 comment

in Features, International, Odds & Ends, Trade, Zeitgeist

Post image for Trade Week: Why I Learned to Hate <i>Civilization</i>

When I first played the strategy game Civilization — on an Amiga computer in the early 1990s — I was instantly hooked. I was a wargamer, and Civilization (or Civ as it quickly became known) was the ultimate computer wargame, taking you through the ages of warfare from spears to nuclear bombs, all in the interest of building an “empire to stand the test of time,” as the advertising tag line went. Like many other Civ addicts, I would decide to play just one more turn before going to bed and then turn around to see the sun rising. In winter. In Britain.

So of course, I graduated from Civ to Civ II when it came out, then to Civ III and finally, long after it had come out (having a family really puts the brakes on playing addictive computer games), Civ IV. That’s where I stopped, because, as the game had developed, I came to dislike it as much as a politician who “grows in office.” As it became less a wargame and more a political simulation, it started imposing an authoritarian view of the world. The worst example of this was trade.

Trade is, as Matt Ridley shows in The Rational Optimist, probably the most important advance in the history of mankind – the essential catalyst for, well, civilization. The voluntary exchange of resources is vital to the division of labor and the progress of humanity. Yet Civ IV has a distinctly mercantilist view of the world. From the beginning, you are jealously searching for and guarding vital resources — from fish to  uranium, from copper to coal — to make sure no-one else gets them. You can rebuff an enemy and keep them in the Dark Ages by refusing to trade your spare iron to them, for example, while building your legions to plunder his territory.

This isn’t how it worked — or works, for that matter.  People who discover this sort of resource instantly start to trade it, sharing the benefits with everyone, to mutual advantage. They get the benefit of new inventions that other make with the resource. In Civ game terms, if you get a resource, everyone you trade with should get the resource too, and everyone’s research points should increase accordingly. Similarly, societies that shut themselves off from trade should suffer. Yet the civic government form of “mercantilism” is one of the best in the game, giving you valuable specialists in every city that outweigh the lost benefits of trade routes. Similarly, “state property” is better than “free market,” magically increasing the amount of money your empire has at its disposal by somehow reducing corruption (which anyone who was alive under real state property regimes would laugh at).

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In Other TSA News…

by Ryan Young on May 19, 2011

in Mobility, Personal Liberty

TSA officials recently performed a bomb drill at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and didn’t tell anyone about it in advance. Local police surrounded a TSA-employed “bomber” with guns drawn before someone finally told them it was only a drill. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

A spokeswoman says that TSA will “ensure the correct procedures will be followed in the future.”

Time will tell.

Alan Bock, RIP (1943-2011)

by Marc Scribner on May 19, 2011

in Culture, Features, Zeitgeist

Post image for Alan Bock, RIP (1943-2011)

Venerable libertarian journalist Alan W. Bock, who served as a columnist and senior editorial writer for the excellent Orange County Register for three decades, passed away yesterday from cancer shortly after beginning hospice care. He was 67. In March, he retired from the paper and filed this final column. Even when told by doctors that time was quickly running out, Bock remained optimistic about the future of liberty and society, closing his final column with:

We knew in the early 1990s that California’s electricity re-regulation wouldn’t work and said so. We have consistently pointed out the dangers to liberty and the country’s fiscal situation of wars and rampant interventionism into other countries. We have been relentless in pointing out that the prohibitionist War on (some) Drugs has had far more negative than positive effects, and in fact has made almost every problem associated with illicit drug use worse rather than better.

I remain convinced that the cause of individual liberty is the most noble and constructive political cause around. Albert J. Nock noted that there are two ways for people to relate: through honest exchange and mutual agreement or by one party imposing its will on the other through force, the threat of force, or fraud. He called these the economic means and the political means.

There are plenty of things more important than politics: your family and friends and treating them right, the search for spiritual meaning in an often confusing and ambiguous world, art, music, science, simple enjoyment of the good things in life, struggling to make good choices rather than destructive ones, and supporting your children in their intellectual endeavors and at soccer and softball games. All these challenges, however, can be handled better – not necessarily easily, but better – in an atmosphere of personal liberty and freedom to make one’s own choices than in a repressive regime that makes choices for you and forces them on you.

Thomas Jefferson put it strikingly when he said that the majority of mankind was not born with saddles and bridles so as to be ridden by their natural masters. He also said that the natural order of things is for government to advance and liberty to recede.

There are reasons to wonder about his pessimism, however, with the recent turmoil in the Middle East providing the latest example. Most revolutions (ours was a rare exception) replace on old regime with one just as bad or worse. But the restiveness of the ruled, the death of communism, and other events show that the desire for liberty is also a constant – that most people sense that they can make decisions about their own lives better than a bureaucrat in a faraway capital and that it is their natural right to do so.

Liberty is forever under siege and forever on the advance. I remain optimistic about the long haul.

Thanks for bearing with me all these years.

A former Washington correspondent for Reason magazine in the ’70s, and author of the classic Ambush at Ruby Ridge and 2000′s Waiting to Inhale: The Politics of Medical Marijuana, Bock’s incisive analysis and top-notch writing on nearly every topic imaginable was well known among both libertarians and not-so-libertarians alike — and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Former CEI Warren T. Brookes Journalism Fellow Jim Bovard writes about Bock’s legacy at Antiwar.com, where Bock had also been a regular columnist.

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