I usually try to avoid outright partisan battles here on Windypundit, but with all the complaining people are doing about the state of the country today, I was struck by a recent tweet by Roger Ebert: Say, how d'ya think we'd be doing about now with McCain and Palin? Yes, let's try to imagine what life in this country would be like if the country had been run by these … [Read more...] about What If McCain and Palin Had Won?
The Republican Pledge To America – A Very Quick Impression
The Republicans' have now revealed their new Pledge to America, an idea based loosely on their old Contract With America. I haven't read any of it yet, but it's 48 pages long. Somehow that strikes me as a bad sign for the future of small government... Update: Yeah, I looked it over and there's nothing much here we haven't heard before, from the impossible, through the vague and … [Read more...] about The Republican Pledge To America – A Very Quick Impression
Making Lawyers Pay
There's one bad policy pattern that politicians tend to repeat over and over, and according to Nathan Koppel at the Wall Street Journal, this time they're inflicting it on lawyers: The Mississippi Supreme Court is considering a proposed rule to require lawyers in the state to provide at least 20 hours of pro bono work. The rule has been proposed to try to help the thousands of … [Read more...] about Making Lawyers Pay
Public Defense Is Free
Thirty years ago, Philip B. Crosby wrote Quality Is Free, in which he explained how a business that improved its products could earn higher profits. The basic insight was that the earlier you catch a product defect, the cheaper it is to fix: Catching a defect during your outgoing quality assurance testing is a lot cheaper than dealing with a product return from a customer, … [Read more...] about Public Defense Is Free
Are Restaurants That Hire Illegal Immigrants Ethical?
I just noticed that ethicist Jack Marshall has addressed the ethics of hiring illegal immigrants: Are Restaurants That Hire Illegal Immigrants Ethical? No. Sigh. I agree with a lot of what Jack Marshall has to say about ethics. For example, he's dead-on to call out the Obama administration for this censorious nonsense. But when it comes to economics issues, especially having … [Read more...] about Are Restaurants That Hire Illegal Immigrants Ethical?