The Roundup 9

The Guardian has an article on the border wall that touches on a deeper, and equally divisive issue: drug prohibition. A former customs agent is quoted: ” “You got to ask yourself: why are all the drugs and illegal immigrants coming through? Why? Because of the demand for illegal drugs and illegal labour, not much different from Al Capone and prohibition.”

______

Last week, the Texas Senate passed an eminent domain reform bill. While the bill will not protect property rights, it will mitigate some abuses of the process and is a step in the right direction.

______

TribTalk has a very good article about the injustice of business regulations. The article focuses on three examples from very different industries. It is worth reading.

Many food trucks are completely banned from working on South Padre Island, the craft brewers are collectively losing millions, while Mbogo faced thousands in fines.

Similar Posts

  • Friday Roundup 9-3-21

    Ardent Residential wants to build a 275-unit apartment building in Austin. The company plans to set aside 10 percent of the units for low-income families. But the project requires rezoning to allow for higher density housing. When the Austin Zoning and Platting Commission (ZAP) recently heard the case, commissioners were deadlocked on approving the rezoning….

  • Friday Roundup 10-1-21

    This summer, Oregon passed a law that prohibits the transmission of love letters. Love letters are written by a prospective home buyer to the owner, and they explain why the buyer loves the home. Oregon lawmakers concluded that “these letters can be a tool of discrimination by including identifying information concerning race, sex or familial…

  • |

    The Roundup 11

    As the destruction caused by lock downs continues to grow, housing advocates have called for numerous measures to protect tenants, including rent control. And while economists have long agreed that rent control is destructive to the housing market, that hasn’t stopped politicians from catering to “tenants’ rights” groups. As an example, in Spain, a law…

  • The Roundup 2

    The Echo Chamber I have recently been giving a lot of thought to the “echo chamber”–the tendency of people to associate primarily with people who share their views. As a result, the information they receive on political issues generally conforms with their beliefs. It becomes a form of political tribalism. While studies have come to…

  • Friday Roundup 2-4-22

    A Scottish man was recently convicted for sending a tweet that was deemed offensive. The tweet was disgusting, saying that the only good British soldier is a dead one. Freedom of speech protects our right to make offensive and disgusting statements. Rather than prosecute those who are intentionally offensive, we should recognize such statements for…

  • Friday Roundup 10-15-21

    It is easy to find things about California’s government to criticize. While the legislature hasn’t done a U-turn and reversed all of its rights-violating laws, they have recently taken steps in the right direction. SB9 and SB10 restored a little freedom to property owners by allowing for greater housing density. And on October 1, Gov….