Friday Feature: Dekalb Christian Home Educators and the Georgia Black Home Educators Network
Colleen HroncichNicole Doyle, president of theDekalb Christian Home Educators (DCHE), has a unique way of looking at parenting. “You are the architect,” she explains. “You can hire all the general contractors and subcontractors you want to. But you have to take ownership as the architect of your child’s physical, mental, spiritual, and academic growth. Because statisticts show us that parental involvement is really w hat’s pushing kids into being successful.”Nicole started homeschooling after one of her children ’s public school teachers suggested it around 10 years ago. “I started researchin...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 7, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colleen Hroncich Source Type: blogs
The Tyranny of Prosecutors
Clark NeilyAmong the most chilling lines of the 20th century was when Josef Stalin ’s chief of secret police Lavrenty Beria sought to assure his boss that literally anyone could be convicted and purged by boasting, “You show me the man, and I will find you the crime. ” Today, few American prosecutors would make that same boast (at least out loud), but they certainly could. Just ask Donald Trump.Is Trump a crook? Probably. Has he shown consistent disdain for norms throughout his professional and political career, including legal norms like honoring contracts, paying taxes, and truth in advertising? Absolutel...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 7, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Clark Neily Source Type: blogs
Treasury Department Can ’t Help but Recognize DeFi Is Unique
Jack Solowey andJennifer J. SchulpYesterday, the Treasury Department released anIllicit Finance Risk Assessment of Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Looking past the report ’s, frankly half‐hearted, fear mongering and skepticism that disintermediated financial toolsdeserve different regulatory treatment than financial intermediaries, the report makes important acknowledgements that DeFi ’s illicit finance risk is relatively small and that DeFi technology is unique. The report’s sparks of recognition that, on some level,DeFi is different from traditional finance —in enabling peer‐to‐peer financial transac...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 7, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jack Solowey, Jennifer J. Schulp Source Type: blogs
Moving Beyond the Politics of Pity
Erec SmithWhen it comes to social justice and the advancement of marginalized groups, the “politics of pity” brand of activism posits trauma as the salient aspect of a downtrodden group —especially African Americans. The idea is that playing the victim can be an effective rhetorical practice for achieving social justice, and sometimes it can. People may not help you if you cannot sufficiently prove that you do, indeed, need help.However, there is a difference between pointing out instances of victimhood and defining an entire group as the collective personification of victimhood. Is a political tactic ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 7, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Erec Smith Source Type: blogs
Arkansas and Alabama Make Much Needed Progress on Occupational Licensing Reform
Marc JoffePreviously, I reported on an Archbridge Institute analysis that ranked Arkansas first in the nation for imposing occupational licensing burdens. “The Natural State” has erected licensing barriers to more professions than any other. After Texas, the study placed Alabama at number three. Although Texas does not appear to be doing anything about its licensing barriers, Arkansas and Alabama are making some progress.This week, Arkansas became the 21st state to adopt universal licensing recognition when Governor Sarah Huckabee SanderssignedSB 90 into law. The act requires Arkansas agencies to automatically gra...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 7, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Marc Joffe Source Type: blogs
Judge Willett Concurrence Highlights Qualified Immunity ’s Flawed Foundation
Jay SchweikertJudge Don Willett of the Fifth Circuit has long been one of the foremost judicial critics of qualified immunity and a leading voice urging the Supreme Court to reconsider thisunjust and unlawful doctrine. In 2018, he wrote a separate opinion“concurring dubitante” in a decision granting immunity to register his concern with “the kudzu‐like creep of the modern immunity regime” and explaining how the doctrine “smacks of unqualified impunity, letting public officials duck consequences for bad behavior—no matter how palpably unreasonable—as long as they were thefirst to behave bad...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jay Schweikert Source Type: blogs
Fewer Than One Percent Of Accounts Are Above The FDIC Limit
Norbert MichelYesterday, the Brookings Institution hosted anonline debate titledShould the Ceiling on Deposit Insurance be Lifted?Most of the participants didnot support lifting the cap so that all deposits would be covered by FDIC deposit insurance, and everyone seemed to acknowledge (atleast some of) the risks and challenges of federally insuring all deposits. They also seemed to agree that raising the cap above $250,000 would only help the wealthiest depositors at the expense of everyone else.While the participants did use data to support their arguments, and we have no quibble with their figures, there is important add...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Norbert Michel Source Type: blogs
The Economic Wisdom of Nigel Lawson
Ryan BourneFormer UK Conservative MPNigel Lawson passed away this week. As Margaret Thatcher ’s longest‐serving Chancellor of the Exchequer (1983–1989), Lawson’s legacy on economics is a complex one. While his policies in the late 1980s led to a boom and bust cycle, exacerbated by the mistaken decision to enter the European exchange rate mechanism, his overall impact was positively transformative, steering the country towards a smaller government, free ‐market economic policy.Lawson ’s ingenuity came to the fore in opposition, when he brokered an amendment with Labour rebels to the 1977 Fin...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Ryan Bourne Source Type: blogs
Lessons Still Not Learned from the Infant Formula Crisis
Gabriella Beaumont-SmithOn March 28, the House Oversight Committee heldpart one of hearings on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its handling of the infant formula crisis. Former FDA Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas testified that the crisis could have been averted, or at the very least, the magnitude lessened. At Cato, we completelyagree.Unfortunately, Yiannas ’ proposed solution was more of what got us into this mess in the first place: overregulation of the formula industry and overbearing FDA authority. Other policymakers argue for much the same.Yet the infant formula industry ’s weakness is not owed to a...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Gabriella Beaumont-Smith Source Type: blogs
Farm Bill 2023 and Obesity
This study found U.S. farm policies “have generally small and mixed effects on farm commodity prices, which in turn have even smaller and still mixed effects on the relative prices of more‐ and less‐fattening foods.”Farm subsidy/ nutrition issues are hotly debated, and I have not done a detailed research review. If Congress withdrew subsidies from corn, wheat, soybeans, and rice, would U.S. farming shift toward healthier fruits and vegetables? Are the subsidized crops and related oils a cause of obesity, and has the go vernment given Americans bad nutrition advice about these products for decades, asNina T...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
Questions Congress Should Ask About the OECD Two ‐Pillar Plan
Adam N. MichelEarlier this week,I wrote about how the OECD has lost its way by advocating for higher and more complicated taxes and leaving behind its historical mission of global free-market economic development. The Biden Administration has also used the OECD to circumvent Congress ’ role in developing tax rules and signed the United States on to the OECD’s Two-Pillar plan to increase taxes on large multinational companies.As theEuropean Union and other countries begin to adopt the OECD rules, Congress will face continued pressure to follow their lead. However, Congress should resist these pressures and work to keep ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Adam N. Michel Source Type: blogs
Analyzing the Consequences of Recent Youth Online Safety Proposals
Jennifer HuddlestonMany policymakers at both the state and federal levels have called for additional regulations to protect children ’s online privacy and improve online safety. While the desire to protect children is a well ‐intentioned motivation, these proposals have significant consequences, and in many cases may even diminish children’s online privacy. In a new policy brief out today, I discuss the potential impact of these proposals for all internet users, not just children.In general, these proposed online safety regulations tend to fall into three major categories:A total or near total ban o...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jennifer Huddleston Source Type: blogs
And Your Protectionist Madness 2023 Champion Is …
Scott Lincicome…The Jones Act.What a ride it’s been.Cato ’sProtectionist Madness 2023 put 32 harmful U.S. trade policies in a classic, single‐elimination tournament to let the public decide the worst of the bunch. After seven rounds of voting, 31 matchups, and almost26,000 votes, we ’ve crowned our very first ever Protectionist Madness champion.It ’s the Jones Act, and – as we’ve discussed for years here at Cato – it couldn’t be any more deserving of this “honor.” For those of you just tuning in, here’s how the tournament page summarized the law:This 1920 law restricts the transportation of...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Scott Lincicome Source Type: blogs
Cato Wins Webby Honor for Study on How Qualified Immunity Hurts Law Enforcement
James CravenAn interactive study from the Cato Institute —How Qualified Immunity Hurts Law Enforcement—is an honoree inthis year ’s Webby Awards for “Best Individual Editorial Feature.” The Webby Awards are the most prestigious awards for websites and online content. Out of thousands of entries, many submitted by nationally recognized brands, Cato’s study on how qualified immunity impacts police was one of just eight features to receive re cognition in this category.While much of Cato ’s qualified immunity work focuses on the harm the doctrine has wrought on victims of government abuse, this feature explored ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 5, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: James Craven Source Type: blogs
PoliTikTok
Paul MatzkoFDR Looks Longingly at TikTok Emblem (Dall ‑E 2)Rep. Jeff Jackson (D ‑NC) went onMeet the Press and wasasked why he doesn ’t delete his TikTok account given the risk of Chinese surveillance. He responded with a paradigm‐shattering statistic: nearly a third of his constituents follow him on TikTok, where he posts weekly videos explaining the nuts and bolts of Congress. A THIRD.Contrast that with how most members of Congress still do constituent outreach. A couple of times a year a little pamphlet shows up in my mailbox from one of my legislators. Since I don’t need more boilerplate self‐...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 5, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Paul Matzko Source Type: blogs
