Colorado Poised to Become Sixth State to Allow Patients Access to Prescribing Psychologists
Jeffrey A. SingerAfter passing the Colorado House of Representatives by a vote of 56 –6, the Colorado Senate, last week, unanimously approvedHB 1071, which allows licensed, doctorate ‐level clinical psychologists who undergo additional training to prescribe psychiatric medications to their mental health patients. The House today approved a few changes made in the Senate and sent the bill to Governor Jared Polis for his signature. Governor Polis has expressed support for the proposal and isexpected to sign the bill into law within the next ten days.As I explained in mypolicy brief, prescribing psycholo...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 27, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
SCOTUS Tackles Unconstitutional, and Unwise, Student Loan Cancelation
Clark Neily andNeal McCluskeyWhen President Bidenannounced that he would unilaterally cancel up to $20,000 of federal student debt for almost everyone holding any, he may have thought his action unstoppable. No one, he might have concluded, would have standing in court to block him. But the legal sailing hasn ’t been so smooth, with two courts finding that the plaintiffs had standing, and the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear their cases tomorrow. If the Supreme Court agrees that the plaintiffs have standing, Biden’s declaration is in big trouble, because it’s clearly unconstitutional.It ’s also terrible policy.Biden ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 27, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Clark Neily, Neal McCluskey Source Type: blogs
“Ingratiating” Compliance and the Modern Regulatory State
Walter OlsonIrecently recommended a piece intwoinstallments by financial technology blogger Patrick McKenzie, in particular a section on how laws against lying to banks enable (and are meant to enable) prosecutors togo after offenses unrelated to banking. There ’s much more in McKenzie’s piece, including a pointed discussion of how the modern regulatory apparatus tends to inculcate a certain posture from the compliance staff of regulated entities:Regulation is an iterated game; both regulators and financial institutions expect to meet each other many times over the years. Regulators, in particu...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 27, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Walter Olson Source Type: blogs
Section 301 Tariffs Cost Americans, Not the Chinese
Gabriella Beaumont-SmithThe United States Trade Representative (USTR) is conducting a four‐year review of the Section 301 tariffs imposed on imports from China. In 2018, the USTR initiatedan investigation into China ’s technology and intellectual property practices and concluded that they adversely affected U.S. businesses. As a result, the U.S. imposed punitive tariffs up to 25 percent on over $300 billion worth of imports from China.As part of the review process, interested Americans could provide comments to the USTR. The almost 1,500 comments filedpaint an ugly picture —higher costs and prices, and less inv...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 27, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Gabriella Beaumont-Smith Source Type: blogs
The Government Can ’t Criminalize Words of Mere “Encouragement”
Thomas A. Berry andGregory MillThe First Amendment requires that Congress shall make no law “abridging the freedom of speech.” That means Congress generally can’t make speech a crime. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court has found a few rare and specific categories of speech to be outside the protection of the First Amendment, such as true threats, obscenity, incitement of imminent violence, and speech integral to criminal conduct.But what if Congress passes a law that applies tobothprotected and unprotected speech? Although some applications of such a law might be permissible, many others would violate...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 24, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas A. Berry, Gregory Mill Source Type: blogs
Friday Feature: Aquinas Learning
Colleen HroncichNecessity is the mother of invention. This simple phrase sums up the origins ofAquinas Learning.Rosario Reilly was a homeschooling mom and coordinator of a local homeschool co ‐op. While she liked having the community, there were a lot of unknowns with the co ‐op. She had to teach different classes each year, and she never knew who would return from one year to the next. She still had to be the primary curriculum planner for her children.She wanted something that was still flexible but had a bit more structure. They tried outClassical Conversations, which gave Rosario much of w...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 24, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Colleen Hroncich Source Type: blogs
South Dakota Becomes the Latest State to Legalize Fentanyl Test Strips
Jeffrey A. SingerLast month I reported on state lawmakers ’ growing appreciation for fentanyl test strips as a valuable harm reduction tool to help nonmedical drug users learn if what they are about to consume contains fentanyl. Unfortunately, as Sophia Heimowitz and I explained in a June 2022policy analysis, every state but Alaska prohibits the possession, sale, use, or distribution of drug paraphernalia. And most states consider fentanyl test strips, a product used to test illicit substances, as forbidden drug paraphernalia.In January,Ohio took fentanyl test strips off its illegal drug parapher...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 24, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
States Show How Criminal Justice Reform Can Help Millions of American Workers
Scott Lincicome and Ilana BlumsackThe Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC) recently released new reports oncriminal record expungement policies andmarijuana legalization and expungement policies across the country. State officials report that over 60,000 records have beenautomatically expunged in Utah since the beginning of 2022, and in Missouri, over 5,000 marijuana convictions have beenautomatically expunged since legalizing recreational marijuana just this past December.This is welcome news —for these individuals and the U.S. labor market more broadly.As we discuss in ourchapter onCriminal Justice inEmpoweri...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 24, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Scott Lincicome, Ilana Blumsack Source Type: blogs
Don ’t Push Crypto Offshore, Don’t Outlaw Disruptive Innovation
Jack SoloweyU.S. regulators arecracking down on crypto. Aggressive enforcement actions,cautionary guidance, and continuingrefusals to provide crypto projects with clear approval pathways are threatening to make the U.S. an increasingly difficult place for crypto entrepreneurs, developers, and users.Some welcome this, consideringhostility to crypto a policy feature, not a bug. However, wishing and pushing away a potentially disruptive technology is no long ‐term solution, even for those who fear disruption. Instead, policymakers should take a risk ‐based approach to crypto technology,...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 24, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jack Solowey Source Type: blogs
Two Years Later: Biden Has Finally Taken the First Step on Stopping Risky Arms Transfers
Jordan CohenPresident Joe Biden ’s administration just released itsConventional Arms Transfer policy, which dictates who can buy U.S. weapons and how the arms transfers process should function. These policies come directly from the White House; former President Donald Trump issued the last Conventional Arms Transfer policy in 2018, which was primarily focused on the economic benefits from weapons transfers.The Biden administration ’s Conventional Arms Transfer policy makes two notable changes. First, it adds text about norms and human rights. Specifically, it notes that the U.S. should “prevent arms transfers that ri...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 23, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jordan Cohen Source Type: blogs
Is Operation Chokepoint Back and Targeting Cryptocurrencies?
Nicholas AnthonyOperation Chokepoint may be the most infamous example of the U.S. government using its weight to pressure the financial system in recent history. The operation was thought to have ended with the Obama administration, but now many fear that cryptocurrencies have been caught in the crosshairs of a similar effort.For those that are unfamiliar,Operation Chokepoint was a coordinated effort between the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to shut down politically controversial businesses by restricting their access to banks....
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 23, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Nicholas Anthony Source Type: blogs
The State of Taxes: How the Feds Fund (and Don ’t Fund) Spending
Adam N. MichelThis tax season, the IRS expects to receive more than168 million individual tax returns, which will take Americans approximately2 billion collective hours to complete. As we file our taxes, it is natural to wonder where the $4.9 trillion the Federal government collected last year came from and what it funds.Government data shows that the federal tax system is highly progressive. The highest-income Americans pay a disproportionate share of income taxes and face the highest average tax rates across all federal taxes. We are also lucky to live in a relatively low-tax country, but Congress continues to spend well...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 23, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Adam N. Michel Source Type: blogs
Game Over or Game On?: Regulatory Scrutiny of Microsoft ’s Activision Acquisition and the Future of Gaming and Antitrust
Jennifer HuddlestonIn January 2022, Microsoft announced plans to acquire video game giant Activision Blizzard, the maker of popular video games includingCall of Duty. Over the course of the year that followed, this proposed acquisition faced scrutiny and challenges from competition regulators in the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union.Just this week, theEuropean Commission held a hearing to air some of the concerns around this proposed acquisition. This is just the latest example of technology sector mergers or acquisitions facing challenges from competition regulators. But do attempts to block the ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 23, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Jennifer Huddleston Source Type: blogs
Russia ’s New START Suspension and the Bleak Future for Arms Control
Eric GomezNuclear arms control has had a very rough few years. The latest piece of bad news comes from Russia. Earlier this week,Vladimir Putin announced that Russia is “suspending its membership” in New START, a treaty that limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads and launchers for Russia and the United States. While New START is not completely dead yet, Putin ’s announcement is the latest in a series of unfortunate events for the arms control regime.What is New START?Arms control negotiations and treaties have helped restrain nuclear competition between the United States and Russia, the world ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 22, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Eric Gomez Source Type: blogs
U.S. Baby Formula Market Update: Federal Policy Continues to Reckitt
Scott Lincicome,Gabriella Beaumont-Smith, and Alfredo Carrillo ObregonBloombergreports that yet another baby formula recall is stressing the U.S. market —and American parents. As major producer Reckitt voluntarily pulled 145,000 cans of its Enfamil brand formula (to guard against “potential cross‐contamination with bacteria”), the U.S. Census Bureau’sHousehold Pulse Survey reports that American households have experienced increased difficulty finding baby formula in stores around the country:(Chart credits toBloomberg)As weexplained in a January briefing paper and relatedWall Street Journal piece last week, ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 22, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Scott Lincicome, Gabriella Beaumont-Smith, Alfredo Carrillo Obregon Source Type: blogs
