Politics, Moderate

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Politics

Why We Are Still Arguing About the Health Effects of Moderate Drinking: The Evidence Is Vast but Open to Interpretation Because Observational Studies Are Inherently Ambiguous

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

Even moderate drinking could give you cancer, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned last week. But according to a congressionally commissioned report published last month, moderate drinking is associated with reduced overall mortality.

Although those findings are not as contradictory as they might seem, the dueling glosses reflect the ...Read more

SCOTUS Can Protect Property Owners From Eminent Domain Abuse: A Utica, New York, Land Grab Offers an Opportunity to Revisit a Widely Criticized Precedent

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

Bryan Bowers and his business partner, Mike Licata, planned to build medical office space across from a new hospital in downtown Utica, New York. The Oneida County Industrial Development Agency nixed that plan by agreeing to take the property so a competing business next door could use it for a parking lot -- a land grab that a state appeals ...Read more

Shooting the Messenger and Blaming the Victim: How Cops, Politicians and Bureaucrats Tried to Dodge Responsibility in 2024

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

Last February, explaining why he thought President Joe Biden could not be successfully prosecuted for mishandling classified documents, Special Counsel Robert Hur suggested that jurors would be apt to view the president as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and "diminished faculties." That amply supported ...Read more

Trump's Jan. 6 Pardons Could Address Some Real Injustices: The President-Elect Makes Valid Points in Highlighting Potential Abuses of Prosecutorial Power

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

On his first day in office, President-elect Donald Trump promises, he will pardon at least some of the 1,500 or so people who have been charged with crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He notes that most of those defendants were not violent and that they faced a lot of pressure to plead guilty, as about 1,000 have ...Read more

Trump, the Self-Described 'Tariff Man,' Does Not Understand How Tariffs Work: Since the President-Elect Refuses to Admit That Tariffs Are Taxes Paid by Americans, He Sees No Downside to Raising Them

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

"I'm a big believer in tariffs," President-elect Donald Trump said this week, not for the first time. "I think they're beautiful."

Trump claims the heavy tariffs he plans to impose during his second term are "going to make us rich," at no cost to American businesses or consumers. That is a dangerous fantasy.

Trump's position on tariffs ...Read more

The President Still Has Time to Show His Mercy Extends Beyond His Own Son: The Draconian Penalties That Hunter Biden Escaped Affect Many People Whose Fathers Cannot Save Them

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

"Hunter was singled out only because he is my son," Joe Biden said on Sunday, when he issued a pardon that saved Hunter Biden from serving time for his gun and tax crimes. That much was accurate, but not in the way the president meant.

Naked nepotism allowed Hunter Biden to avoid the consequences of a criminal justice system that punishes ...Read more

Trump Cannot Restrict Birthright Citizenship by Presidential Edict: The Executive Order That the President-Elect Plans to Issue Contradicts the Historical Understanding of the 14th Amendment

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

For 126 years, U.S. courts have recognized children born in this country as American citizens. President-elect Donald Trump plans to overturn that understanding by issuing an executive order on his first day in office.

That order, Trump claims, will "end automatic citizenship for children of illegal aliens." But the president cannot do that ...Read more

The New FCC Chairman's Agenda Contradicts Conservative Principles: Brendan Carr's Plans for 'Reining in Big Tech' Are a Threat to Limited Government, Free Speech, Free Markets and the Rule of Law

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

"The censorship cartel must be dismantled," Brendan Carr declared two days before President-elect Donald Trump picked him to chair the Federal Communications Commission. Trump described Carr as "a warrior for Free Speech."

Carr's plans for "reining in Big Tech" understandably appeal to Trump, who has long complained that the leading social ...Read more

Trump Has No Discernible Interest in Fiscal Responsibility: The President-Elect's Record and Campaign Positions Belie Elon Musk's Talk of Spending Cuts

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

Elon Musk, President-elect Donald Trump's bounciest adviser, thinks he can identify "at least" $2 trillion in federal budget cuts. Although critics derided the billionaire entrepreneur's suggestion as improbably ambitious, that assessment hinges on political assumptions rather than a cleareyed understanding of what could be accomplished if ...Read more

Nearly Five Years After Breonna Taylor's Death, Justice Remains Elusive: A Long-Delayed Conviction Illustrates the Difficulty of Holding Cops Accountable for Abusing Their Powers

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

On the night Breonna Taylor died, Detective Brett Hankison stood outside her apartment and blindly fired 10 rounds through a bedroom window and a sliding glass door, both of which were covered by blinds and curtains. Based on that reckless conduct, a federal jury in Louisville, Kentucky, last week convicted Hankison of willfully violating ...Read more

Trump Is Not Thoughtful Enough to Be a Fascist: The Republican Presidential Candidate's Views Do Not Reflect Any Unifying Principle Other Than Self-Interest

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

John Kelly, the former Marine general who served as Donald Trump's second chief of staff, thinks the former president "falls into the general definition of 'fascist.'" Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump appointed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, goes further, describing his ex-boss as "fascist to the core."

Rebutting those charges, John ...Read more

The Georgia Case Against a School Shooter's Father Treats an Inattentive Parent as a Murderer: The Charges, Which Could Send Colin Gray to Prison for the Rest of His Life, Are Part of a Broader Attempt to Criminalize Parental Failures

Politics, Moderate / Jacob Sullum /

Colin Gray, whose 14-year-old son is charged with murdering two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school last month, himself faces 29 criminal charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. The case is part of a troubling trend in which prosecutors seek to spread the blame for school shootings by criminalizing ...Read more

 

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