The Bible says that eth by hearing, but some believe eth by earmarks. One congressman pared government spending with eternal salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. Earmarks are dedicated spending amendments that congressmen often attached to larger, “must-pass” legislation. They fund projects in thee congressman’s home district, typically awarding the contract to a specific vendor. Since most earmarks support indefensible projects that could never garner enough votes to pass on their own, congressmen often trade votes or use them to...

Imagine a world where you log into your social media account and find pictures of babies, discussion of ideas, notifications munity groups with which you are involved, updates from family and friends, and cat memes. Curiously absent is any news. This is the world Australian Facebook users have been living in since yesterday, the product of the unintended consequence of government intervention. Writing for the Financial Times, Richard Waters, Hannah Murphy, and Alex Baker give a good overview of these...

Johnson & Johnson’s new COVID-19 vaccine brings the hope that all American adults could be vaccinated by June and, with it, the prospect of returning to a normal life. To this, Dr. Anthony Fauci has emerged to tell the public, “Not so fast.” “There are things, even if you’re vaccinated, that you’re not going to be able to do in society … For example, indoor dining, theaters, places where people congregate,” Fauci said. “That’s because of the safety of society.”...

The Biden-Harris administration has made stamping out racial “inequities” the focus of all its policies. But the government interventions proposed to close these gaps will only “accentuate inequalities for extended periods” of time, according to a recent study. Days before the 2020 election, Kamala Harris announced a plan to replace equality with equity in government policymaking. Rather than treating people equally, mitted to advancing equity would try to assure an equality of e between racial and ethnic groups. In one...

On Monday, a grim milestone was passed: 500,000 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in just over a year since the arrival of the pandemic in the United States. President Joe Biden has ordered the American flag to be flown at half-staff on public buildings and grounds until sunset on Friday. This pandemic has brought forth change and sacrifice by ordinary citizens, remarkable scientific innovation, resentment and anger, and a political crisis of responsibility. Last year, the World Health Organization told...

The onset of COVID-19 brings new attention to correctional facilities and the number of prisoners remanded because of the virus’ ability to spread rapidly through human contact. A recent study by the Pew Charitable Trust focuses on jails, which are generally operated by local municipalities, and how their budgets are currently allocated. The good news is that those released due to the pandemic saw lower rates of reimprisonment. The bad news is that, while both crime rates and incarceration rates...

The role of the state, in spheres ranging from public morality to the economy, is one of several axes around which debates about the conservative movement’s future are presently revolving. In a 2020 article, I mon-good constitutionalism for its misreading of how the natural law tradition treats the role of the state and law vis-à-vis morality. Far from giving legislators, judges, and governments a free hand to aggressively shape the moral culture, I maintained that the natural law’s conception of...

If Xavier Becerra wins confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services, he will make history, because Becerra would likely e the first Cabinet secretary to believe the First Amendment does not grant churches the freedom of religion. Such an extreme view, endowed with the full power of the federal government, would vitiate the religious liberty of all Americans. For those tempted to dismiss this as a caricature of Becerra’s position, allow him to dispel that notion – under oath....

The Cato Institute recently released a fascinating study explaining why fears about job losses via automation may be exaggerated. Many people today fear that our technological innovations, particularly automation, will result in permanent job losses. The fear especially applies to e jobs, which usually act as an entrance into the workforce for young people or others. This data, including new figures from the twentieth century, shows that this may be an historically misplaced fear. According to the study, in the...

After a year-long legal battle, a British hospital apologized for placing 51-year-old Andrew Waters under a “Do Not Resuscitate” order without his family’s consent during his 2011 hospital stay, because he suffered from Down syndrome and “learning difficulties.” A disturbing news report shows that doctors have placed blanket “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) orders against people with learning disabilities in order to mitigate an NHS shortage of medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mencap, a group that advocates for those with...