Issues

We've heard a lot about draining the swamp over the past eight years, from President-elect Donald Trump when he first landed on the national stage and now, from the dual heads of his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. But what does that actually mean and entail? In short, draining the swamp should mean ...

In one of the first legislative exactions opinions issued since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division just struck down a provision of New York City's rezoning plan that would have imposed "Arts Fund" fees on certain landowners. New York's SoHo and NoHo districts have long be ...

Health care shortages are a nationwide problem, but they are particularly concerning in Oregon – the state with the second fewest hospital beds and second fewest rehabilitation beds per capita. This problem didn't pop up overnight. Instead, Oregon's "certificate of need" laws have been restricting growth for decades, leaving Oregonians witho ...

Good news for North Dakota's Northland Township this month, as it appears its case against the federal government will come to an end before it even began. Represented by Pacific Legal Foundation, the small town of just 56 people was gearing up to take on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) over its regulatory abuse of what is known as a "pr ...

You don't have to be a fan of flavored vapes to find the White Lion case, argued on December 2 at the Supreme Court, a fascinating example of a company struggling against an opaque and changing regulatory process.  The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, passed in 2009 under President Barack Obama, gives the Food and Drug Adminis ...

For many, going to college is a rite of passage—a step toward opportunity and realizing the American dream. College is where students meet like-minded peers, experience life away from home, and begin to find their place and purpose in the world. But if sky-high tuition and housing costs weren't already significant barriers for many prospective st ...

If you want to build housing on your property, can the government demand that you first give your land to someone else to live on? Or that you pay for someone else's house (on someone else's property) before you get a permit to build housing for yourself? You would think the answer would be a resounding, "Of course not!" But consider the case of Je ...

History is littered with manmade institutions conceived for the noblest ends dashed on the rocks of human frailty. The Egyptian god-king, Athenian democracy, the Roman Senate, the divine right of kings, pitchers hitting in the National League. But among those institutions that have stood the test of time, we find a shining example—inherited from ...

"Eminent domain abuse." Thanks to Susette Kelo and her brave stand against the government's taking of her now-iconic pink house, "eminent domain abuse" is a commonly understood and widely disdained government practice. In Susette Kelo's case, Kelo v. City of New London, the City used its power of eminent domain to take her home (and over a hundred ...