Articles

The causes of our housing crisis didn't just happen by accident — they were built on purpose. In the first installment of this series, we saw how misguided government policies have made decent housing unaffordable and unattainable for too many Americans. But to fully understand how we got here, we have to go back to the beginning — to the first ...

Editor's Note: Below are excerpts from a column series on housing written by Jim Burling, vice president at Pacific Legal Foundation, and published across Southern California News Group outlets. Nowhere to Live? No Hiding from Bad Government Policies In the mid-1800s, slum housing in cities like New York had no air, no light, no water, no electri ...

In the mid-1800s, slum housing in cities like New York had no air, no light, no water, no electricity, no gas, and no toilets. Thousands of cramped tenement apartments had no outside windows for light and air — only a doorway leading to a common, unlit interior hallway and stairwell. Water was from a well in a courtyard, perilously close to the p ...

In a mythical world, justice proceeds like this: After being wronged by a government injustice, a victim lawyers up and sues the government wrongdoer. After a short time, a court corrects the error and restores the rights and property of the citizen. The government, appropriately chagrined, errs no more. If only. In the real world, lawyers ...

"Where once government was closely constrained to increase the freedom of individuals, now property ownership is closely constrained to increase the power of government. Where once government was a necessary evil because it protected private property, now private property is a necessary evil because it funds government programs." 1San Remo Hotel ...

A few miles from Williamsburg, Virginia, there is a wonderful museum dedicated to the Jamestown Colony. Along the banks of the James River, the museum boasts a re-creation of the stockades, living and work quarters, a few early colony ships, and all those things that make up a colony of settlers in a brand New World. What you don't see are the g ...

One of the biggest cases of the Supreme Court's October term involves a fishing boat, in which the owner has thrown out a line to the court hoping to snag the Chevron Doctrine. To regulate the fishing industry, the federal government demands that fishing boats allow federal "observers" on board to watch how and which fish are caught. Boat owners ar ...

From a single word in the 1977 Amendments to the Clean Water Act, the federal government built a mighty regulatory empire over millions of acres of private property. Last Thursday, thanks to Mike and Chantell Sackett, their attorneys at Pacific Legal Foundation, and nine Justices at the Supreme Court, the borders of that empire receded. Once again, ...

Not every problem has a solution, but that doesn't seem to stop the government from attempting to supply one—even if the solution will make things worse. And even if the government doesn't have the authority to solve a particular problem. Recognizing the history of governments around the world to solve problems by controlling people's lives, t ...