The Resurrection of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
Vanessa Brown CalderAffirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), a controversial Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule first introduced by the Obama administration, is being resurrected by Biden ’s HUD.The history of AFFH is winding, and the rule has been through various evolutions since its introduction. Under Secretary Castro, AFFH was proposed in 2013 and gradually revised through a public comment process. Thefinalized 2015 rule created various reporting and planning requirements intended to ensure that program participants were taking steps to “affirmatively further fair housing” throu...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 28, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Vanessa Brown Calder Source Type: blogs
The Ohio Train Derailment, Safety Regulation, and the Historical Improvement in Rail Safety
David Kemp andPeter Van DorenEarlier this month, a Norfolk Southern freight trainderailed in East Palestine, Ohio, causing a large fire, releasing hazardous materials, and prompting emergency crews to conduct a controlled release and burn of toxic vinyl chloride. Fortunately, no lives were lost, but up to two thousand nearby residents were evacuated from their homes for nearly a week, and there are still concerns about pollution. Sober analysis is rarely welcomed after an accident like this. We believe it is worthwhile, however, to illuminate some journalistic errors and place the derailment in the context of increasing fr...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 27, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David Kemp, Peter Van Doren 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
As I was saying
I seldom link to the NYT (or, as Atrios calls it, " that f.ing newspaper) because it ' s paywalled. But I believe you get three free reads a month, and in any case I ' m going to pull the good stuff fromKrugthulu ' s latest.It ' s about this:Many House Republicans arereportedly listening to Russell Vought, Donald Trump ’s former budget director, who has a new think tank and has been circulating abudget proposal titled “A Commitment to End Woke and Weaponized Government,” which purports to show a way to balance the budget without touching Medicare and Social Security. The document uses the word “woke” 77 tim...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 25, 2023 Category: American Health 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
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
More Cold Water Thrown on Some Alarmist Election Claims
This article is the first to tackle this important question. We examine all states’ district plans before and after th e 2020 round of redistricting at the congressional, state senate, and state house levels. Our primary finding is that there was little retrogression in formerly covered states. In sum, the number of minority ability districts in these states actually rose slightly. We also show that formerly covered states were largely indistinguishable from formerly uncovered states in terms of retrogression. If anything, states unaffected by Shelby County retrogressed marginally more than did states impacted by the rul...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 21, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Walter Olson Source Type: blogs
Presidents and Presidents ’ Day
David BoazAs government workers —thoughfewer than a third of private ‐sector office workers—get a day off Monday for Presidents ’ Day (legally, though not in fact, George Washington’s Birthday), I’m thinking about presidents.Every few years Siena College asks historians and political scientists torate the presidents. Presidential scholars love presidents who expand the size, scope and power of the federal government. Thus they put the Roosevelts at the top of the list. And for a long time they rated Woodrow Wilson —theanti ‐Madisonian president who gave usthe entirely unnecessary World ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 17, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
2022 U.S.-China Trade Data Shows No Signs of Widespread Decoupling
Clark Packard and Alfredo Carrillo ObregonEarlier this week, the Census Bureau released its official 2022 trade data. As our Cato colleague Scott Lincicomenoted, the overall data continues to undercut the popular narrative pushed by politicians and pundits about the demise of globalization. On a more granular level, the data are revealing for U.S.-China trade watchers.First, for all of the talk about “strategic decoupling,” trade ties remain strong between the United States and China. Over the last five years, policymakers in Washington and Beijing have erected large trade barriers between the two countries: tariffs ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 9, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Clark Packard, Alfredo Carrillo Obregon Source Type: blogs
Debt, Deficits, and Default in President Biden ’s State of the Union
Romina BocciaPresident Biden devoted quite a few lines in hisState of the Union address to making various claims about deficits, debt, and the debt limit. President ’s Biden’s statements are indented below, my reactions follow.“In the last two years, my administration cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion — the largest deficit reduction in American history.”This claim is untrue. Deficits declined due to COVID-19 emergency spending waning, not because “the administration cut the deficit.” President Biden is claiming victory over deficits when his administration’s policies significantly increased de...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 8, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Romina Boccia Source Type: blogs
Comments to USTR Show the Real ‐World Harms of the Trump‐Biden China Tariffs
Clark Packard and Alfredo Carrillo ObregonIn recent weeks, about 1,500 comments were filed with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) concerning the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration —and maintained by the Biden administration—on imports from China as a result of the recent trade war. The majority of the comments paint a bleak picture: the tariffs have—contrary to unsupported assertions you may have read elsewhere—caused very real pain for domestic firms, their workers, and the U.S. economy. These facts, coupled with the fact that the tariffs have not forced Beijing to change its troublesome econo...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 2, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Clark Packard, Alfredo Carrillo Obregon Source Type: blogs
CBP Has Found 40 Tunnels under Trump ’s Border Wall
David J. BierCustoms and Border Protection (CBP) discovered 40 tunnels from 2017 to 2021, according to data obtained through a Cato Institute Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. CBP discovered these tunnels as former President Trump extended his 30‐foot wall across hundreds of miles along the border. The former president was warned about the potential for tunnels but insisted that his wallwould have anti ‐tunnel “technology.”The annual figures reveal an interesting jump in tunnel discovery in 2020. As President Trump frantically built out over 300 miles of his border wall in 2020, the agency discov...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 31, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David J. Bier Source Type: blogs
What Is the Legal Authority for Biden ’s Parole Programs?
David J. BierPresident Bidenannounced on January 5, 2023 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be creating new programs for Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans that would grant parole —a temporary discretionary status—to qualified applicants with U.S. sponsors for up to 2 years. Now several statesare suing to stop the programs, which will lead to more illegal immigration. Without getting into the states ’ various administrative law claims, my view is that there is little support for the states ' narrow view of the parole power in the legislative history or judicial precedent.[1]Parole is com...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 25, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David J. Bier Source Type: blogs
The Beauty of Conflict
Conflict. It’s a word that can strike fear into the hearts of many, especially those who consider themselves “spiritual” people. After all, isn’t the goal of spirituality to move beyond conflict and find inner peace?
Conflict is not something to be feared or avoided. Conflict is a powerful aspect of human life to embrace and even celebrate.
The existence of conflict in this reality is not a mistake. Conflict has many benefits, both for our individual growth and for society as a whole. It helps us sculpt our characters, upgrade our thinking, and add more depth and nuance to our understanding of...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - January 21, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Relationships Values Source Type: blogs
Decline in Union Density No Cause for Worry
Daniel GriswoldUnion organizers have been winning a few battles to organize workers in coffee shops and distribution warehouses, but they continue to lose the war over the relative importance of unions in the private-sector labor market.This week the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the share of private sector workers who belong to unions, the so-called “union density,” fell to another post-war low of 6.0 percent in 2022. The number of workers in private-sector unions actually grew last year, but not enough to keep up with the overall growth in private-sector employment.The decline in union membership isn ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 20, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Daniel Griswold Source Type: blogs
