Similar Posts
The Choices We Make
In any discussion regarding public policy, we must consider the full context. In regard to affordable housing, the full context includes the choices that individuals make. Housing advocates conveniently ignore this issue. They point to poor families paying a large percentage of their income for housing, but fail to address the choices that have led…
The Real Tragedy of Bullying
ByjbpThis was originally posted on Live Oaks on October 11, 2010. Comments have not been migrated. An OpEd in Sunday’s Chronicle tells us that we must protect kids from bullying. Citing a growing number of suicides by bullied teenagers, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, write: The…
Signs and Printing Presses
ByjbpThis was originally posted on Live Oaks on July 12, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. In keeping with its unstated policy of supporting any idea or policy that increases government control, on Saturday the Chronicle editorial supported the city’s new restrictions on signs: Houston brings out the nagging mother in us: She’d be such…
Private vs. Public “Property” Rights
It is rare that an opinion piece provides me with three distinct issues to address in separate posts. A piece at Capegazette.com, which “covers Delaware’s Cape Region” does just that. The first post about this piece addressed “givings” vs. takings. The topic of this post is private vs. public property rights. The opinion piece claims…
Discrimination is a Property Right (and a Necessity)
A Washington state court recently struck down a Seattle ordinance that forced landlords to rent to the next tenant in line if that individual met the landlord’s minimum standards. In short, once the landlord set minimum standards, he could not discriminate on the basis of anything else. The Washington court ruled that this constituted a…
A Compromise in San Antonio
San Antonio has become the latest Texas city to regulate short-term rentals (STRs). The city’s new regulations limit the number of STRs on a block, require owners to register with the city, and require owners to pay the city’s hotel occupancy test. Many opponents of STRs wanted a complete ban on the activity. While opponents…